Cisco's Flip Camcorders Bite the Dust

Cisco announced that it will shut down the Flip video camera line as part of a restructuring of its consumer business. In addition to killing the Flip, Cisco will focus its umi video conferencing products on the enterprise, but will continue to sell home Internet routers in retail stores. For current FlipShare users, Cisco says it's working on a transition plan.

In 2009, Cisco bought Pure Digital, creator of the Flip, for $590 million in stock. The acquisition was part of Cisco's plan to capture what it thought was a growing field of video communication among consumers.

While Flip cameras have improved steadily over the last two years -- the latest Flip MinoHD and UltraHD added 60 frames per second video capture -- Cisco rarely experimented with the Flip's familiar candy bar shape. The one recent exception was the Flip SlideHD, a camera with a nice touchscreen but frustrating controls. The latest Flip cameras don't even include optical zoom, which is standard among digital cameras with video recording.

Cisco also swung and missed on FlipShare TV, a set-top box designed to let people watch their videos, along with videos from other Flip camera users, on a big screen through a dedicated online channel. It seemed a bit redundant in the age of YouTube and Facebook.

All the while, the threat of smartphones and iPods loomed. When Apple chief executive Steve Jobs introduced the fifth-generation iPod Nano with a video camera in 2009, he called out the Flip for offering just a single function at the same price as Apple's media player. The same is true for smartphones, and although Flip cameras offer better video quality, they don't match the storage capacity, location features and Internet connectivity of modern handsets.

Cisco foreshadowed the Flip's demise in February, when Jonathan Kaplan, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco Consumer Products, resigned. Kaplan was chairman and chief executive of Pure Digital when Cisco acquired the company. Announcing Kaplan's resignation, Cisco said it was taking its consumer business "to the next level."

Apparently that means laying off 550 employees and discontinuing a once-proud line of digital video cameras.

Source : Cisco's Flip Camcorders Bite the Dust

Bing Closes Gap on Google's Search Engine Lead

Bing, Microsoft's little search engine that could, has taken 30 percent of the U.S. search market share, posing a serious threat to Google's dominance in the field.

According to Hitwise, Bing raked in 30.01 percent in March, with 14.32 percent of those searches coming from Bing.com and the remaining 15.69 percent from Yahoo Search, which Bing has been powering since August 2010. Bing got a 6 percent increase over February, and Yahoo a 5 percent boost, but Google saw its market lead decline, going from 66.69 percent to 64.42 percent.

Business Insider notes that Bing's 30 percent share is a symbolic number because that's what Yahoo had back in 2005, when Microsoft first launched Bing. August 2010 is also symbolic: at the time, Google was at 71.59 percent of the U.S. search market and has since then lost roughly 10 percent.

The likelihood of Bing blasting past Google anytime in the near future is low, but Mashable did a little math and discovered that if Google continues losing two to three percent per month, and Bing continues its trend of gaining five or six percent each month, Bing could overtake Google by 2012. Not bad for a search engine that was accused of stealing results from its competition.

Source : Bing Closes Gap on Google's Search Engine Lead

Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview

Whew, that was fast! In a breakneck browser race where development cycles are measured in weeks rather than months or years, there's no time to rest on your laurels. So it's not entirely surprising that Microsoft has already unveiled its Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview 1, a sneak peak at some of cool new tools in its upcoming version of IE.

Wait, didn't Redmond's just launch Internet Explorer 9? Yes, and critics have praised the browser's simpler interface, faster performance, full support for HTML5, enhanced security, and ability to use your PC's GPU to render graphics. But IE's competitors aren't sitting still, and there's no time to relax while other browsers march onward.

"We're about three weeks into development of IE10, and based on the progress we've made, we want to start engaging the development community now," writes Microsoft corporate vice president Dean Hachamovitch in a Tuesday post on the IEBlog. Also on Tuesday, Microsoft demoed IE10's browsing engine and other features at the MIX conference in Las Vegas.

As for Microsoft's competitors? Mozilla, fresh off its Firefox 4 launch, has announced plans to release Firefox 5 by June 21, and possibly Firefox 6 just two months later. Google, meanwhile, manages Chrome like the Winchester Mystery House: It's always under construction. The speedy Chrome 10 debuted in February, and Chrome 11 is already in beta.

What's New in IE10

Platform Preview 1, which you can download today, is the "next wave of progress" in IE's support of HTML5, writes Hachamovitch. The demo showcases emerging browser standards in action, including several CSS3 features such as multi-column layout, grid layout, flexible box layout, gradients, and 3D transforms.

The Flexin' demo below, for instance, demonstrates the layout capabilities of CSS3 Flexbox, which makes it easier to align, center, and control spaces between boxes on the page.

If you're a developer or a browser buff, you'll want to check out the Platform Preview for more details. Microsoft hasn't announced a release date for IE10, but given the crazy pace of the browser development, it can't be far off.

Source : Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview

Amazon to Release a Kindle with Ads

Amazon's going to release yet another version of the Kindle, the Kindle 3. This time it will be Wifi only and $25 Rs.1,104) cheaper, so the total cost will now be $114 (Rs. 5034). What's the catch? The e-reader will come with advertising. When the device is idle, it will run screen savers from companies like Olay and Visa which are promised to be good looking. They're letting users vote on the screen savers too indicating preferences of which ones they'd like to see on their device. Users will also have to go through the occassional special offer.

The 6 inch device will still have all the same specs. It will be called The Kindle With Special Offers and is available for pre-order now. It will ship in the United States on the 3rd of May. 

Source : Amazon to Release a Kindle with Ads

RIM Launches BlackBerry Mobile Conferencing App

RIM has launched a new app for mobile conferencing for its BlackBerry smartphones. The App is designed for small business users to create up to five different "Conference Profiles" to include necessary teleconferencing dial-in information, such as phone numbers, and participant and moderator access codes.

The main feature of this app is the One Click Join, when your calendar says its time for a conference a pop up appears and all it takes is a single click to join in. The app synchronizes deeply into the native calendar on the phone. It is designed to turn any meeting into a conference call and according to RIM, if by any chance a person is dropped from the call, they can reconnect with just a single click.

The conference calls can also be scheduled from a computer so long as the e-mail has the specific information. The BlackBerry Mobile conferencing app will detect the conference call and be able to join with a click. Security and privacy go hand in hand with BlackBerry, so in the same tradition, when conference calls are sent, participants see only the information they need to join the call.  

The conference app which is in beta right now is free and requires BlackBerry OS 5.0 or higher to use. Those who would want to try it would have to sign up into BlackBerry Beta Zone to access these great features.

Source : RIM Launches BlackBerry Mobile Conferencing App

DoT Blocks Nokia's Push (mail) Efforts

Nokia’s ambitions to integrate the push mail services in the country have been fiercely held back by DoT (Department of Telecommunications). The handset manufacturer has been asked by the regulatory body to first complete all prior security clearances regarding the push mail services it’s been eyeing for a while now.

This move by DoT came about after a report by the Intelligence Bureau reached its table. The report clearly asks the DoT to make a strong move in this direction and ask all service providers to refrain from encouraging Nokia’s ambitions, at least till all details required all filed in by Nokia. The telecommunications ministry has off late come down heavily on such wobbly services provided by handset manufacturers. It has happened with Blackberry before, over the questionable enterprise mail services provided by it. Nokia seemed to have booked its place next. 

The push mail services by Nokia enable users to manage multiple e-mail accounts on various e-mail platforms available – Gmail, Yahoo Mail, to name a few. In the wake of more of such incidents occurring, the home ministry has summoned officials from both the telecom industry, as well as the IT industry to help them make necessary amendments in the age-old Indian Telegraph Act of 1885, the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2007, the Rules under Telegraph & IT Acts to make it more applicable with the current market trends.  

It now remains to be seen, how long it will be before Nokia gets to make its final push!

Source : DoT Blocks Nokia's Push (mail) Efforts

Amkette Launches Flash TV HD Media Player

PC peripheral manufacturer Amkette has launched Flash TV HD media player for Rs. 3,995, which comes free with an HDMI cable worth Rs. 499. The diminutive circular device sports full HD (1080p) video playback and supports all major video and audio formats like MKV, AVI, H.264, M2ts (Blu-ray), MP4 including the photo formats JPEG, GIF and BMP in high resolution 1080p output directly to the television.

Flash TV HD supports DTS/Dolby audio formats and features like Photo Movie with music effect, high definition video upscaling, playlist creation, and the much needed resume feature for power cuts. Like all media players of its type, Amkette Flash TV HD hooks up directly to displays through an HDMI output and plays audio/video content through a connected USB drive or an external hard drive. The device is backed by a 1 year warranty.

  

Source : Amkette Launches Flash TV HD Media Player

Google Unveils A Google A Day

Imagine an examination where instead of your understanding of a certain subject, you were being marked on how good you are at dishing out that news from your source, books in this case.

Google’s official blog mentions a trivia game that works on similar lines. Unveiling its A Google a Day trivia game, Google believes that it’s going to be a cut above the traditional trivia games. A new daily puzzle that promises to keep to keep users on their tips, literally, agoogleaday.com will have new questions posed everyday. Needless to add that if Google offers a peek-a-boo into its search lists, the questions are not going to be a cake walk. 

The level of difficulty of the questions posed will be of a different level each day, from the easiest on the first day of the week, till the most difficult ones by the time it’s a Thursday or a Friday. To guide the users better with their searches, Google will also provide them with search tips and features that should help them.  

However, if you’re expecting that the usual channels of Google’s search engines with real- time updates will be made available to you for this trivia game, you’ll be disappointed. But, for good measure, Google has unveiled a separate search feature (Deja Google) that will be exclusively used by the agoogleaday.com users which will not include real-time updates.

Source : Google Unveils A Google A Day

Nokia Announces E6 Touchscreen Smartphone

The Nokia E6 that we have been seeing in leaked pictures so far has become official. The E6 is a business phone based on the successful E71 smartphone but with some new tricks up its sleeve. For starters, there is a 2.46-inch touchscreen display with VGA resolution, which gives it incredible pixel density of 325 ppi, the same as the iPhone 4's Retina display. The phone boasts of a long battery life and Microsoft's messaging experience out-of-the-box.  

The phone comes loaded with productivity and social networking applications as well as Nokia's free Ovi Maps navigation. The E6 has an 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash that can record videos in 720p resolution. The phone has expandable memory with 8GB built-in. The phone will go on sale for approximately Rs. 22,000 later this quarter.

The E6 will be running the newer version of Symbian OS, nicknamed Anna. It features new icons, faster web browser and a portrait QWERTY keypad (not available on the E6). This new OS will be available on the N8, E7, C7 and C6 soon. 

Source : Nokia Announces E6 Touchscreen Smartphone

Samsung to launch bada 2.0 operating system in July

Looks like India is going to be the first to receive Samsung’s updated bada 2.0 operating system, in July, according to a report. Speaking to the Financial Express, Samsung India executive Dipesh Shah stated that Samsung intends to hit 30% of the smartphone market share in India by 2011, more than twice their 2010’s closing figures.

 

The Samsung Wave and its many variants have been popular in India, and according to Samsung India, these bada handsets have been doing almost as well as its Android devices in the country – perhaps the biggest reason for launching it in India first, apart from the strong bada developer presence here.

The update will bring the version from bada 1.2 to bada 2.0, and will deliver a new UI, SDK support for Linux and Mac, third party SNS integration, HTML5 support, WAC compatibility, and FlashLite. Features like operator billing support are also expected. 

Are you a Samsung Wave user? Tell us what you feel about bada in the comments section below. Does it have a future, are there enough apps, why is it so popular in India?

Source : Samsung to launch bada 2.0 operating system in July

Firefox 5 expected June 21

Mozilla is borrowing a page from Google Chrome and speeding up the development cycle for Firefox releases, setting new iterations of the browser for fixed time periods and bulldozing over features that just aren't ready to make it into a new browser release.

And if Mozilla sticks by its newly proposed plan, that means that we'll be seeing Firefox 5 on June 21 - following a shortened 13-week development cycle instead of the proposed 18-week cycle for all future Firefox builds.

Within this 18-week cycle comes a new development stage that adds on to Mozilla's three previous update channels: Nightly, or builds created from the mozilla-central-repository that are highly unstable, but incorporate the latest texts and fixes; Beta, which ups the quality demands of features and tweaks added via the nightly builds; and Release, which becomes the version of Firefox that most consumers are used to using.

Mozilla's new stage, Aurora, will be a nightly update that splits the difference between the chaos of the company's Mozilla-central build (or Nightly build), and its Beta build.

That's a lot of gobbledygook for non-developer types, so here's a general walkthrough of how Mozilla development is going to be handled in the future. Developers will have a given window to write patches and improvements as part of Mozilla's initial nightly Firefox builds. As this build switches over to the new channel, Aurora, features will be analyzed and dropped off if they're deemed ineligible for the current release cycle - no new features will be added directly into the Aurora build.

However, Mozilla recognizes that some Firefox changes might take longer to develop than the six weeks they're sitting in the Nightly channel.

"Features that end up disabled or miss the scheduled transition to the experimental channel can be pulled again the next time the schedule permits," reads Mozilla's Developmental Process draft. "This policy does allow for features that take a long time to develop. It's just that they'll be present only on mozilla-central until they're ready."

 

Mozilla will pull code from its Nightly database at set intervals instead of a, "when it's ready" approach, which will allow developers to quickly analyze and eliminate problematic features at these critical junctures.

 

"Since Mozilla-central will be pulled into the Firefox-experimental channel at week 6 and week 12, such features will need to have a mechanism allowing them to be easily disabled. Essentially, it needs to be easy to get the code on Mozilla-central into a shippable state by disabling new code," reads Mozilla's draft.

Mozilla estimates that it'll be able to pull 100,000 users to test and tweak its nightly Firefox builds. This number increases to one million for the Aurora build and ten million for the Beta build, which would be a weekly update that's intended to fine-tune the browser for full release. Release managers make a determination on Week 14 as to whether a Firefox release is possible and, if so, the build is scheduled for a full launch to Firefox's complete user base on Week 16.

Source : Mozilla switches Firefox to 18-week development cycle; Firefox 5 expected June 21

Fly Mobile to launch four low-cost Android phones in India soon

Fly Mobile, a U.K. based cellphone manufacturer, has announced it will be bringing four new low-cost Android phones into the Indian market, with prices ranging from Rs. 7,000 to Rs. 10,000. All the phones will have 5MP cameras, and, sport Android 2.2 Froyo onboard.

The announcement was made by Fly Mobile’s CEO, Prem Kumar, who also gave a tentative launch date – the third quarter of the current financial year. He added that Fly Mobile was looking to offer customers an India-specific Android app store, to be launched by the third quarter again. “Fly Mobile is strengthening its app ecosystem and is in the process of launching its app store, which will be India centric. Consumers will be able to experience our store by the third quarter this year.”

The company will also be expanding its service network in India, increasing the number of service centres from 384 to 450 in the near future.

Source : Fly Mobile to launch four low-cost Android phones in India soon

Nokia X7 Launched with 8 Megapixel Camera

Nokia, at a UK-based event, formally launched the much anticipated X7 smartphone. The new Nokia X7-00 features a large 4-inch AMOLED display made with Corning Gorilla Glass technology. Apparently, it looks like a cross between the N8 and E7. Yesterday we spotted a video of Nokia X7 being demoed for Three, British Mobile Operator. The X7-00 will remain Three exclusive in UK. Nokia will offer X7-00 in Dark Steel and Silver Steel colors.  

The New Nokia X7 has a 4-inch AMOLED display that supports 16:9 nHD 640x360 pixel resolution. Under the hood it houses a 680MHz ARM11 processor which seems to be the same one used in the N8 and E7. Weighing 146 grams, the new X7 is just 11.9 mm thick. It comes with 8GB memory card included and has expansion slot that can carry up to 32GB microSD. 

With Nokia X7, the company also introduced the next version of Symbian updated dubbed as Symbian Anna, which was previously referred as PR2. Nokia will release Symbian Anna for N8, C7, C6-01 and E7 in the coming months. The new Symbian Anna update brings fresh set of icons with rounded corners, portrait QWERTY input, better browser, better Ovi Maps, and other enhancements.  

The major focus of the Nokia X7-00 is its entertainment and gaming aspect. This new X7-00 supports the usual audio formats with up to 320 kbps Bit rate and also has Stereo FM radio. Apart from that the on-board graphics supports OpenGL 2.0 that enables 3D graphics and thus games are enjoyable with the help of accelerometer.

At the back lies the 8-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and capable of recording 720p HD video. There's no front facing camera for video chat/call.

   

Here's a snapshot of Nokia X7 features:

Key features:
- Symbian^3 Anna (PR2)    OS
 - 680 MHz ARM11 CPU
- 256MB RAM, 1GB ROM memory
- 4.0-inch AMOLED ClearBlack display, widescreen 16:9 nHD (640x360)
- 8MP camera with Dual LED Flash
- 720p HD Video recording
- Expandable memory of up to 32G
- 3G (HSPA+) support
- WLAN (802.11 b/g/n)
- Bluetooth 3.0
- Ovi store access
- Stereo FM radio
- High-Speed USB 2.0 with USB on-the-go feature
- Integrated GPS with A-GPS support
- Ovi Maps with free car and pedestrian navigations (region specific only)
- Accelerometer
- 1300mAh Li-Ion battery
- Talk time: GSM - 6.5 hours; WCDMA: 4.5 hours

The Nokia X7 will be available in Q2 2011 and, before taxes and operator subsidies, it will cost 380 (Rs. 24,415 approx.). There's no word on its availability in India as yet. 

  

Source : Nokia X7 Launched with 8 Megapixel Camera

Opera 11.10 released; Improves Opera Turbo and the Speed Dial

The latest release of Opera is out, and it brings some great improvements to two of the browsers beloved features, Opera Turbo, and the Speed Dial.

The updated Opera Turbo now promises of offer greater compression than ever while simultaneously improving on quality. Opera Turbo now uses Google's new open WebP image format rather than JPEG making such improvements possible.

Of course since Opera is using WebP in turbo, they have also added support for the format in the browser. While the format is far from popular - in fact it is currently not supported in any major image editor or viewer - supporting this new open format means that there is hope that the format will take off with time. You can check out a gallery of WebP images here.

The other big change is in how Opera's Speed Dial works. In recent versions Opera added support for more speed dial layouts. This feature has not received the ultimate upgrade. It now supports unlimited entries, and the layout fluidly accommodates any new entries you add rather than displaying an inflexible grid with some missing entries. Additionally, you can zoom into or out of the Speed Dial and the entries will fluidly take the optimum layout.

 Another update to Speed Dial is the thumbnails displayed. While thumbnails are useful, most sites when displayed in their entirety in a small thumbnail window become indiscernible. Opera now lets website authors specify what should be shown in this thumbnail. This thumbnail need not be static either, it can provide dynamic content, even animated content that can pull information from your account, making it more personal.

Opera 11.10 also comes with improved support for web standards, with CSS3 multi-column layouts, WOFF fonts support, CSS3 gradients and more.Plug-in detection and installation has now also been automated, so if you visit a website that requires the Flash Player and you don't have it installed, Opera will download and install it automatically.

What lies ahead is Opera 11.50, preview builds of which are already available. This version is expected to finally bring hardware acceleration to the Opera browser, and will feature an HTML5 parser, which is one of the most important parts of the new web standard.

 

Source : Opera 11.10 released; Improves Opera Turbo and the Speed Dial

Aircel to Launch iPhone 4 in India

Indian Telecom provider Aircel will launch iPhone 4 in India in the coming months according to a press statement sent out by the company. This comes immediately after Airtel announced its plans to introduce iPhone 4 in India. There's hardly any difference between the press statement issued by both telecom providers which shows the controlled state of affairs aimed to be kept by the always tight-lipped Apple.

Aircel's Press Statement -
New Delhi, Monday, April 11, 2011: Aircel will launch iPhone 4 in India in the coming months. iPhone 4 is the most innovative phone in the world, featuring Apple's stunning Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone and FaceTime, which makes video calling a reality. For more information on iPhone 4 please visit http://www.apple.com/iphone.

Bharti Airtel's Press Statement -
New Delhi, 11th April 2011: Bharti Airtel will launch iPhone 4 in India in the coming months. iPhone 4 is the most innovative phone in the world, featuring Apple's stunning Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone and FaceTime, which makes video calling a reality. For further information, please visit www.airtel.in. For more information on iPhone 4 please visit http://www.apple.com/iphone.

 Neither of the companies have specified the month when iPhone 4 can be expected. If you want to ask us, then we suppose it might be a fortnight before or after the possible announcement of iPhone 5 sometime in June.

Just when the iPhone 4 is officially launched by both Aircel and Airtel, it would be interesting to see the 3G Data Plans offered by both. However, it looks like a long wait.

Source : Aircel to Launch iPhone 4 in India

Windows 7 Now Most Used Desktop OS

Windows XP has been one of the most stable and most operating systems for a very long time now. It was first released in 2001 and a decade later, it’s still in use. Windows Vista, one of the operating systems to follow didn’t do as well. Windows 7 on the other hand turned out to be a grand success.

A report from Pingdom.com, a service that monitors web sites on the web has released a report stating that Windows XP, which until now was the most used operating system, no longer wears the crown. Windows 7 has just overtaken it as the most used operating system according to statistics from their service. Even we at Tech2 have noticed a shift. Today, more users visit our site using Windows 7 than Windows XP. It’s a tiny margin but the gap is definitely increasing. Windows Vista is the next most used Windows operating system after Windows 7 and Windows XP. Macintosh OS is the next in line followed far behind by Linux.

Source : Windows 7 Now Most Used Desktop OS

Fujifilm Launches 12 Digital Cameras in India

 Fujifilm has flooded the Indian markets with 12 camera models spread across diverse ranges of price and performance. The models introduced are AV200 and AX300 (A series), JV200, JX300 (J series), FinePix X100, T200, F500 EXR, HS20, S2950, S3300, S4000 and Z900. All these models feature the capability to shoot movies in HD (720p).  

Additionally, the new range includes features like digital image stabilization, motion panorama mode, face detection technology, picture search, scene recognition auto, blink detection, smile & shoot mode, and the convenience of easy uploads on Facebook and YouTube. All models are covered by a two year warranty. Consult the image below for more details on the features and pricing for each model.

Source : Fujifilm Launches 12 Digital Cameras in India

Linkedin App for Android Launched

Not to be outdone by other social networking services, Linkedin, one of the most popular business social networking services, has launched an Android app of their own. The app first launched as a beta back in December 2010 and has just been released as a stable product.

The app has six primary modules. The app lets do you most of what you can do on the web site. It allows users to post and receive updates from all contacts in their network. Messaging and accepting invitations to join other networks is also part of the features being offering. Work on future builds has already begun and there’s even a community on the Linkedin service dedicated to the app. Linkedin has an app for Blackberry phones, which was launched early last year. There are also apps for Apple iOS devices and even Palm Pre ones.

Source : Linkedin App for Android Launched

Airtel to Bring iPhone 4 to India, Right on Cue

For all of those Apple aficionados who have been eagerly awaiting the iPhone 4, even though we’re on the cusp of witnessing the coming of the next gen model, the wait is almost over. Early this AM a release was issued stating that Airtel, who have been responsible for bringing us the previous versions, will be brining the iPhone 4 to India.

Although the date is still obscure, the release doesn’t offer too much of a reprieve as it merely states - in the coming months. Their website has no official information just yet but we can expect to see some teasers soon. With 3G here Apple’s FaceTime and all the other goodies the iPhone 4 brings to the table should make it a worthy consideration for your rupee. However, the smartphone business is booming right now so you might want to think real hard about your choices.

This month has seen plenty of new handsets make it to the Indian market from LG’s Optimus 2X and Optimus Black to HTC’s Incredible S and Desire Z and let’s not forget Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Arc and Xperia Play. 

 

Source : Airtel to Bring iPhone 4 to India, Right on Cue

Motorola Glam XT800 Gets a Price Drop

In what should serve as a lesson for companies looking to clear old stock at a premium in India, low sales figures have prompted Motorola to drop the price of India’s first dual-sim Android phone, the Glam XT800, to Rs. 23,990.

The phone did have some serviceable features, like a 3.7-inch touchscreen, an HDMI port and a 5 megapixel camera, along with Bluetooth,WiFi, EDGE and GPRS. However, not even the GSM + CDMA dual-sim mode could justify the Rs. 31,999 price tag Motorola slapped on it when it was launched here.

It doesn’t stop there. The phone had also had an upgraded version, the XT800+, released in China before the Indian launch of the XT800. Either way though, the deluge of high-end phones released in India over the past month, or ones that are going to in the next, has forced Motorola’s hand.

It’s an obvious decision in many ways - I mean, was anyone ever going to pick up the Glam over the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc which was priced the same?

Source : Motorola Glam XT800 Gets a Price Drop

Over 10 Million Scammed On Facebook

Spammers have invited over 10 million Facebook users to fake events in yet another attempt to generate income from online survey scams according to a report by the IT security and data protection firm Sophos. Even as we file this report, the scam is in progress and several thousand unwitting Facebook users are falling prey to it.

One of the event known as "Who blocked you from his friend list?" has already tricked over 165,000 people into signing-up, with an astounding 10.3 million users still deciding whether or not to respond. Scammers embed instructions into the 'More info' section of the event's summary and this convinces Facebook users to unwittingly visit the webpages for online surveys or competitions, which are a source of revenue for the scammers by means of commission. Sometimes, users are asked to provide a mobile phone number, and if the user is naive enough to provide it, he/she will most probably end up getting signed up for an expensive premium rate service.

  Senior Technology Consultant at Sophos, Graham Cluley said, "These spammed-out event invitations and links to survey scams are one of the biggest nuisances on Facebook right now, impacting millions of users every day. It would be great if Facebook was being more proactive in shutting down these obviously bogus events, as currently it's far too easy for the scammers to fill their pockets through schemes like this."

In case you are affected by this scam, then you must cancel your reservation for the event. You must also notify your friends that you have shared a bogus link with them and/or invited them to a fake event. In case you have submitted your mobile phone number, you must contact your mobile service provider and inform them to keep any bogus charges from appearing in your mobile account.

The moral of the story is that Facebook users must beware of such suspicious events and think twice before accepting invitations from an unknown source. 

 

Source : Over 10 Million Scammed On Facebook