Google Inc. will launch its service to bring the web to TV screens in the United States this autumn and worldwide next year, its chief executive officer said Tuesday, as it extends its reach from the desktop to the living room.

Eric Schmidt said the service, which will allow full Internet browsing via the television, would be free, and Google would work with a variety of program makers and electronics manufacturers to bring it to consumers.

“ We will work with content providers, but it is very unlikely that we will get into actual content production,” Schmidt said after a keynote speech to the IFA consumer electronics trade fair in Berlin.

Sony said last week it had agreed to have Google TV on its television sets, and Samsung has said it was looking into using the service.

The announcement comes less than a week after rival Apple unveiled its latest Apple TV product and will intensify a battle for consumers’ attention and potentially for the $180 billion global TV advertising market.

SAN FRANCISCO — Research In Motion unveiled its answer to the iPad on Monday, but the company’s PlayBook may not arrive in time to turn the tide in the battle against Apple Inc.’ s device for control of the next wave of mobile computing.

Mike Lazaridis, president and co-chief executive of the Waterloo, Ont.-based firm, took the wraps off the BlackBerry PlayBook in front of a packed house at the company’s annual developer conference in San Francisco.

He predicted the 9.7-millimetre-thick device with an 18-cm screen would become the “ enterprise standard” for tablet devices, and the PlayBook would integrate seamlessly with the company’s existing business offerings.

“ RIM set out to engineer the best professional-grade tablet in the industry with cuttingedge hardware features and one of the world’s most robust and flexible operating systems,” Lazaridis said.

“ The BlackBerry PlayBook solidly hits the mark with industry-leading power, true multi-tasking, uncompromised web browsing and high performance multimedia.”

There was little doubt RIM’s PlayBook release was designed to counter the growing influence of Apple’s iPad in the rapidly expanding market for tablet computers.

RIM’s tablet will feature both front and rear high-definition cameras and support Adobe Flash technology, features missing from the iPad.

While the PlayBook was met with largely positive reactions from the gadget community, RIM’s choice to delay the launch of the PlayBook until next year could prove costly.

With Apple widely believed to be preparing to update its iPad with new models in the first half of next year, RIM’s first PlayBook could be entering the U. S. market just as consumers begin hearing about the second iteration of the iPad.

Many analysts were hoping that RIM’s answer to the iPad would be available before the holiday season this year, giving shoppers a credible alternative to the iPad before Christmas.

Black Friday — the unofficial first day of Christmas shopping in the U. S. — is typically RIM’s biggest day of the year for selling BlackBerrys, and many were hoping RIM’s tablet would be available by then.

The market for tablet computers is expected to become increasingly crowded in the next six to nine months. Manufacturers such as Hewlett-Packard and Samsung are busy preparing their own devices.

Across the technology world, executives have high hopes for the tablet market. On Monday, HP’s executive vice-president of personal systems, Todd Bradley, said the company expects the market for tablets to reach $ 40 billion US in sales within the next few years.

RIM provided no pricing details for the PlayBook, leaving BlackBerry fans wondering about how it compare with the $ 499 price tag of Apple’s least expensive iPad.

Looking for best prices on RIM PLAYBOOK? click here to find.

Article Source : The Vancouver Sun

After a home and car, a new smartphone might be the most important purchase you make.

Why? Buying a smartphone that doesn’t match your professional or personal needs could be an expensive mistake. A three-year contract can cost more than $2,000 and not having the right features available could cause you no end of grief while the contract is in force.

So when you buy, take the time to compare the features and provider services that come with your phone. The same BlackBerry model, for example, comes with different media services from Telus, Bell or Rogers, such as downloadable songs and TV channels.

Here’s a quick rundown of the top phone makers and what makes their smartphones special.

Apple’s iPhone 4

The best built and coolest-looking smartphone is tightly integrated with Apple’s iMac, iPad and iPod community and the iTunes store.

Its greatest advantage is the app store with its hundreds of thousands of do-it-all apps for business and entertainment. It’s simple to use and works with Windows.

There is only one model (with various memory options) and it has earned incredible loyalty among users.

BlackBerry

Canadian corporate giant Research In Motion’s BlackBerry has a reputation for rock-solid encrypted privacy. It is the most efficient, no-nonsense, one-handed device for e-mail, scheduling, tasking, contacts and its own ultra-secure Messenger.

Current models have average media features and need a better browser, something the touch screen/ pullout keypad BlackBerry Torch, available in Canada this fall, promises to fix.

Google’s Android

Google’s Android-based smartphones are poised to take the lion’s share of sales in the next year. Some 200,000 units a day are being activated worldwide.

The Android operating system is cheap for cellphone makers and allows unprecedented flexibility to design unique functions for each model, such as built-in social networking integration.

Motorola, HTC, Samsung and LG are expected to release dozens of new Android models in the next year with free Google applications.

Micosoft’s Windows Phone 7

Available in November, Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 represents a clean start in the wake of its previous Mobility models.

The software giant is stipulating strict hardware requirements to Phone 7 makers and less flexibility to change screen looks and functionality.

Early versions showed smartly revamped large icon tiles with a seamless connection to all Microsoft media and office applications.

Nokia

Nokia’s smartphones now include refreshed models sporting new looks and having a better feel than earlier designs.

The smartphones include free Ovi Maps, which let you download entire national maps onto your phone to help you navigate for free when travelling abroad.

Samsung & LG

Samsung and LG models use their own proprietary operating systems.

Among their advantages is cuttingedge hardware and software. Samsung’s Wave, for instance, features a one-GHz processor and a 3.3-inch, brilliantly sharp AMOLED multitouch screen.

Looking for best prices on Smartphones, click here to find.

Article Source : Calgary Herald

LG Electronic Inc, the world’s No. 3 mobile phone maker, aims to sell 10 million of its new Optimus One smartphone, which will be distributed globally through some 120 carriers, as it seeks to turn around its loss-making mobile unit.

The South Korean firm, which has no smartphones to yet reach the 1 million-unit sales mark, is betting that booming demand for Google’s Android-powered smartphones will help put it firmly back on the recovery path.

LG reported a record loss from handset sales last quarter and warned of a similar loss this quarter, as it failed to introduce a strong smartphone lineup to rival the likes of Apple’s iPhone and HTC Corp’s EVO.

“Optimus One is the result of our efforts to introduce a million-seller product, and for this, some 500 engineers from LG and Google have worked together since late last year,” LG said in a statement on Tuesday.

It hopes the new model, along with a new lineup powered by Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 in the fourth quarter, would revive its reputation. But investors are concerned that the new rollouts may come too late with little differentiation factors, when rivals aggressively roll out new products for the crucial year-end holiday period. UBS forecast last week that LG’s handset division will widen losses this quarter and remain in the red until the second quarter of next year.

Weighing in at 380 grams and not a lot bigger than an old-fashioned day planner, it seems an unlikely giant killer.

But as Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab readies for its debut in Canada this November, it is leading the charge to bump Apple’s iPad from its coveted position at the top of the fast-growing tablet market.

“ We believe by the time we are getting into next year there will probably be 11 manufacturers producing tablets,” Paul Brannen, vice-president of mobile communications for Samsung Canada, said in an interview. “ We want to be first to the marketplace.

“ You don’t want to be last to the market; you want to be a market maker.”

And a lucrative market it is, with consumers lining up to embrace the latest form factor to come to computing — one that combines mobility and portability, touch-screen interface, and an efficiency and ease of use that leaves many users not bothering to power up their laptop computers but reaching instead for the smaller, lighter-weight tablets.

So far, the iPad has had the market virtually to itself, but that is fast changing.

Initial forecasts estimated some 250,000 tablet computers would be sold in Canada in the coming year, but that has been revised to 400,000 as the lineups for the iPad continue and new entrants to the market launch their iPad challengers.

Several factors differentiate the Galaxy Tab with its Android operating system from the iPad — the most obvious being size. With a seven-inch screen and at 380 grams, it is a midsize between a smart phone and the heavier iPad with its 9.7-inch screen.

That, according to Brannen, is a key strength for the new device, giving it a mobility factor that he says the iPad lacks.

Holding it in one hand, he demonstrates how he can operate the Tab on the go, yet its enhanced TFT — thinfilm transistor — display screen is easy to see and does a great job of showing movies in high-definition. The device has a multimedia hub that lets users rent movies and access other entertainment content.

“ Personally, I think that it’s a mobility device while that is a portable device,” he said, pointing to my iPad. “ You can walk along and do things with [ the Galaxy Tab] in one hand. “ You can’t do that with your iPad.” iPad killer, or just another device to give consumers more choice? Brannen answers diplomatically. “ I think it’s a great alternative for people who are looking for mobility,” he said.

If Samsung is hoping to make inroads against Apple’s iPad market share, some industry watchers and consumers are suggesting it needs to offer a lower price.

With the Wi-Fi version of the iPad starting at $ 549 and the 3G-enabled one starting at $ 679, there is room for Samsung to come in with a more affordable alternative.

But unlike the iPad, the Galaxy Tab will initially be sold only by carriers. In Canada, Rogers and Bell — the two carriers that have announced they’ll carry the Tab — have yet to announce their contract pricing.

Brannen said pricing packages are still being worked on, but asked if a sub-$ 400 price tag, as some rumours have suggested, is in the ballpark, Brannen said, “ Yeah, we’re working with carriers to determine what that price point is.”

Looking for best prices on Galaxy Tab? click here to find.

Article Source : The Vancouver Sun

Despite the hype and lineups for the latest iPhone, it was the Android that posted greater growth in market share than Apple or RIM, according to ComScore’s most recent tally of smartphone subscribers in the United States.

The Google Android platform still lags behind first-place RIM, which accounted for 39.3 per cent of subscribers for the three months ended in July, and second-place Apple, which had 23.8 per cent of the market. However, Android saw a five-point increase in its share of smartphone subscribers, moving from 12 per cent market share to 17 per cent. Over the same period, RIM saw its market share slip 1.8 per cent and Apple dropped slightly from its earlier 25.1 per cent market share.

The iPhone 4 was released in the U. S. on June 24 and in Canada at the end of July.

The market share figures for the U. S. could be somewhat skewed by the fact that AT& T is the only wireless carrier there to offer the iPhone. By comparison, there are a number of Android phones and they are offered by most carriers. In Canada, the iPhone is offered by all the major carriers.

Smartphones , as the name suggests, can perform a number of functions typically not found in basic cellphones, such as “push” email and rich web browsing, music playback and video recording, gaming and GPS navigation.

Make no mistake, these trendy tech toys are pocket-sized computers, often with QWERTY keyboards not unlike your PC or Mac at home and maybe a touch screen that lets you use your fingertips to swipe, tap and flick through content. But perhaps their most exciting feature are the many thousands of applications (“apps”) to help you customize the phone’s abilities.

Apple’s iPhone is currently king, with more than 250,000 available apps, followed by Google’s Android Market, which is closing in on the 100,000. Research in Motion’s App World for BlackBerry still has some catching up to do, not just in selection (about 9,000) but its prices are generally higher and the apps aren’t as easy to find. BlackBerry’s key strength is its fast and secure messaging, so it could be argued customizing the smartphone with apps isn’t as important to this crowd as it is to other smartphones users. Here are a few apps to consider.

• TeamViewer (free; for iPhone): Ever left home and realized you needed an email, document or other file on your computer? Install the free TeamViewer software on your PC, Mac or Linux machine and then download the free app for your iPhone. Now you can log into your computer, via a password, and see (and control) your home computer as if you were in front of it. • Evernote (free for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Phone and HP/Palm’s web OS): Got a million-dollar idea while on the go? Need to remind yourself about an anniversary present? Type, draw, or speak it inside of Evernote, a powerful tool now available for multiple smartphones — and as long as you’re online it will immediately synchronize with your Mac or PC for safe keeping.

• Madden NFL 11 ($7.99; for iPhone): Play as or against all 32 NFL teams in this high-definition pro-football sim from EA Sports. This game lets you take advantage of the new Total Defensive Control feature (to pause the action and position your defence however you like), plus you can use your fingertip to draw routes on the field.

• Find it (free for Android): Monkey-Punch’s series of “spot the difference” games are a great way to keep you entertained while on the go. Find and tap a number of differences between two similar and side-by-side photos, before the timer runs out.

• Stanza (free for iPhone): While there are plenty of e-book reading apps for smartphones, this newly updated entry not only links you to more than 100,000 books to download, but it can handle a number of document types, to.

• Speak It! ($1.99 for iPhone): Future Apps’ new application is a commuter’s dream because it can speak text to you. Simply drag and drop articles, websites, emails and any other text into the window, select a male or female voice and keep your eyes on the road while you hear the high-quality voices talk to you. • Color I.D. Free (free for BlackBerry): This little-known BlackBerry app allows you to assign a name in your contacts list to a specific colour, and when that person calls or texts you, the small LED light in the corner of the BlackBerry will flash that particular colour. For example, you’re in a meeting and notice your phone is blinking blue, which means it’s your pregnant wife, so you should probably excuse yourself to take the call. • Navita Translator 2.0 (free for BlackBerry): Sprechen Sie Deutsch? This handy application can help you translate words and phrases from more than 50 languages and is capable of speaking to you in English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Russian. Translate websites, emails, text messages and more — and if desired, send your translations to an email address, PIN or cellphone, Twitter, memo pad, and other options. Apps everyone should have.

• Dragon Dictation: Don’t like typing on the iPhone? Considering you can likely talk faster than you type, this free app from Nuance — makers of Dragon Naturally Speaking for computers — can accurately transcribe your voice into text before your eyes. Once you see the words you’ve spoken, simply email it, send it as a text message or save it to the clipboard for future reference. Just press the big red button to begin speaking into the phone.

• Dragon Search: Also from Nuance is Dragon Search for iPhone, serving as a fast way to look up something on the Internet. In fact, after you tap the button to begin speaking, ask any question that comes to mind and you’ll see accurate Google results immediately.

• BlackBerry Messenger: RIM’s own BlackBerry Messenger (free) for BlackBerry smartphones is easily the best of the best — send and receive messages with others in real time in a quick and cheap way. Add more people for group chats (perfect for making plans), and messages change colours to confirm if and when they’ve been delivered and read. Find out a friend or colleague’s PIN (personal information number) to correspond back and forth. You might not want to dial a phone number again.

• Skype: Not only is Skype for smartphones free to download — available for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone and Windows Phones — but it’s also completely free to use for making calls to other Skype-enabled PC or smartphones, anywhere in the world. As long as you’re in a Wi-Fi hot spot, pull up your buddy list, double-tap the contact to dial the number and you’re free to walk around and chat (audio only).

• Google Maps: Using GPS or (less accurate) cellular tower triangulation, find where you are on Earth using the free Google Maps app, available for most smartphone operating systems. It’s fast and accurate.

• Facebook: With more than 500 million user accounts — and growing — Facebook has become the biggest social networking site on the planet. And it’s just as easy to stay on top of it all on your smartphone as it is on your PC — if not more so.

Article Source: The Windsor Star

Is your LinkedIn account mostly sitting idle? You can do so much more with it than simply look up contacts: find gigs, sell products, expand your networks, grow your business and gain free publicity.

Here are 33 ways to use LinkedIn more effectively.

1.Fill out your profile completely to earn trust.

2.Use widgets to integrate other tools, such as importing your blog entries or Twitter stream into your profile.

3.Do market research and gain knowledge with Polls.

4.Share survey and poll results with your contacts.

5.Answer questions in Questions and Answers: show expertise without a hint of self-promotion.6.Ask questions in Questions and Answers to get a feel for what customers and prospects want or think.

7.Publish your LinkedIn URL on all your marketing collateral, including business cards, email signature, email newsletters, web sites and brochures, so prospects learn more about you.

8.Grow your network by joining industry and alumni groups related to your business.

9.Update your status examples of recent work.

10.Link your status updates with your other social media accounts.

11.Combine your social media approach: when someone asks a question in Twitter, respond in detail on LinkedIn and link to it from Twitter.

12.Use the search feature to find people by company, industry and city.

13.Start and manage a group or fan page for your product, brand or business.

14.Research your prospects before meeting or contacting them.

15.Share useful articles and resources that will be of interest to customers and prospects.

16.Don’t turn off your contacts: avoid hard-sell tactics.

17.Write honest and valuable recommendations for your contacts.

18.Request LinkedIn recommendation from happy customers willing to provide testimonials.

19.Post your presentations on your profile using a presentation application.

20.Check connections’ locations before traveling so you can meet with those in the city where you’re heading.

21.Ask your first-level contacts for introductions to their first-level contacts.

22.Interact with LinkedIn on a regular basis to reach those who may not see you on other social media sites.

23.Set up to receive LinkedIn messages in your inbox so you can respond right away.

24.Link to articles and content posted elsewhere, with a summary of why it’s valuable to add to your credibility.

25.List your newsletter subscription information and archives.

26.Find experts in your field and invite them as a guest blogger on your blog or speaker at your event.

27.Post discounts and package deals.

28.Import vCards and contacts from other applications to find more connections.

29.Export your contacts into other applications.

30.Buy a LinkedIn direct ad that only your target market will see.

31.Post job listings to find qualified talent.

32.Look for connections related to a job you want.

33.Find vendors and contractors through connections.

Shop Smart @ www.dBigStore.com

Wireless energy transfer or wireless power transmission is the process that takes place in any system where electrical energy is transmitted from a power source to an electrical load without interconnecting wires. Wireless transmission is useful in cases where instantaneous or continuous energy transfer is needed but interconnecting wires are inconvenient, hazardous, or impossible.

Wireless energy transfer is different from wireless transmission of information, such as radio, where the signal-to-noise ratio or the percentage of power received becomes highly critical only if it is too low to recover the signal successfully. With wireless energy transfer efficiency is the more important parameter.

The most common form of wireless power transmission is carried out using induction, followed by electrodynamic induction. Other technologies for wireless power include those based upon microwaves and lasers.

Working model in this video is inspired by Wireless energy transfer or wireless power transmission concept of Nikola Tesla. Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943) was an inventor and a mechanical and electrical engineer. He was one of the most important contributors to the birth of commercial electricity and is best known for his many revolutionary developments in the field of electromagnetism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tesla’s patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current (AC) electric power systems, including the polyphase system of electrical distribution and the AC motor, with which he helped usher in the Second Industrial Revolution.

Special thanks to Lorrie Matchett for providing information and assitance to develop this working model.