Amazon's Q1 2012 earnings: net sales at $13.18 billion

It's no Apple-sized quarter, but you'd need to be on HGTV's Million Dollar Rooms a handful of times over to scoff at Amazon's Q1 2012 earnings. After reporting $177 million in net earnings last quarter (on $17.43 billion in revenue), the online sales behemoth has today registered $13.18 billion in net sales -- proudly reporting that said tally was up from the $9.86 billion in its Q1 a year ago. 

Excluding the $56 million unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales would have grown 34 percent compared with first quarter 2011. As for operating income? That checked in at $192 million (compared to $322 million Q1 2011), with the outfit noting that the "unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter on operating income was $4 million." Net income also sank 35 percent from $201 million a year ago, but it still left Amazon with $130 million more in the bank than it had just three months ago.

It's important to note that the outfit didn't have "the holidays" here to help out, but it's still a bit worrisome to investors when profit margin shrinks. Focusing on more positive things, CEO Jeff Bezos noted that Amazon has "over 130,000 new, in-copyright books that are exclusive to the Kindle Store," again reminding the world that Amazon Prime members can "borrow them for free with no due dates.

" We're also told that the Kindle Fire remains the top, most gifted and most wished for product across its entire store, while pointing out that the North American sales segment was up 36 percent from Q1 2011 (reaching $7.43 billion). Our overseas comrades -- specifically, Amazon's UK, German, Japanese, French, Chinese, Italian and Spanish sites -- accounted for $5.76 billion in sales, up 31 percent year-over-year. Worldwide media sales saw a 19 percent uptick to $4.71 billion, while global electronics and "other merchandise" saw sales grow a whopping 43 percent to $7.97 billion. Notably, the company continually banged on unfavorable exchange rates, so if you're looking for a place to heap blame... well, there you go.

Looking ahead to the company's Q2, we're told that net sales are expected to remain flat or dip slightly compared to this quarter, with totals to hover between $11.9 billion and $13.3 billion. Though, that would represent a 20 to 34 percent increase compared with second quarter 2011. Unfortunately, Amazon's actually forecasting an operating loss between $260 million and $40 million compared to Q2 2011, and we're told that this "guidance includes approximately $260 million for stock-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets, and it assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions or investments are concluded and that there are no further revisions to stock-based compensation estimates." Cue the sad trombone?

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Android Ice Cream Sandwich Not Popular, Android Jelly Bean Released Soon

The low use of the newest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) in the smartphone and tablet device seems to make Google move fast to soon release the next version of Android.

Google is rumored to be launching Android 5.0, named "Jelly Bean" in the second quarter of 2012 or sometime in June.

As reported by Digitimes that gets information from a distributor based in Taiwan, the launch of the "Jelly Bean" caused by the absorption of Ice Cream Sandwich has failed to meet original expectations.

Until February 2012, Ice Cream Sandwich is used only about one percent of the existing phones and tablets.

One of the new phones that use the Ice Cream Sandwich is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, at the end of last year.

Although, several months ahead Ice Cream Sandwich is expected to be widely used by other Android devices, especially when some mobile vendors release new devices at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona later this month.

Based on Google's update schedule, it's within reason to expect Android 5.0 Jelly Bean to hit within the next year -- but which popular confection will bear the honor or representing the latest OS flavor? There's been little doubt that the jelly bean will fill that role, and now ASUS has confirmed to TechRadar not only that delectable moniker -- Jelly Bean -- but also that the company will likely be among the first to get the new OS.

That claim came from VP Benson Lin, who said "Asus is very close to Google, so once they have Android 5.0 I think there will be a high possibility that we will be the first wave to offer the Jelly Bean update."

iPhone 4S and Siri's Voice Integrated on Mercedes-Benz New A-Class

At next month's Geneva Motor Show, Mercedes will show off the next A-Class and with it, its updated COMAND infotainment system. The user interface has undergone a complete overhaul, ditching the black and beige color scheme for a sharp, modern, three-dimensional design and a range of new features and functions, nearly all of which are centered on the iPhone 4S.

More intriguingly, Mercedes is the first automaker to support and integrate Apple's Siri voice-recognition technology, allowing users to make appointments, send text messages and emails, get weather status and access all their songs through voice commands.

While all these features will be limited to the Euro-only A-Class at first, Mercedes says that the iPhone-integrated COMAND Online suite of services will be coming to the B-, C- and E-Class models this fall.

Apple has often been called, for better and sometimes for worse, the luxury automobile of personal computers. Now it seems that metaphor has influenced reality as Mercedes-Benz has announced plans to integrate the iPhone and Siri's voice control functions into its new A-Class vehicle, according to a PSFK report.

The Mercedes-Benz new A-Class vehicle will seamlessly merge iPhone 4S functions into the car's in-vehicle display via Daimler's Digital DriveStyle App and COMAND Online multimedia system. While docked in the car, the iPhone 4S will receive an automatic charge and offer access to the device's content as well as social networking applications, including Facebook and Twitter.

The new Digital DriveStyle app allows drivers to stream AUPEO! radio (Europe's equivalent to Pandora), connect with Facebook and Twitter to read out status updates, find your car in a crowded parking lot and get real-time traffic data and point-of-interest searches through a new Garmin navigation system. All of which is available with the entry-level "Audio 20" setup.

But the biggest win here for Apple is the fact that Mercedes-Benz is the first carmaker to offer Siri as a part of its voice control systems. Using Siri, drivers will be able to send SMS text messages and emails while traveling, check location and weather, schedule appointments on-the-go, as well as select from the full menu of music available on their iPhone 4S. This hands-free, mobile control of a device that many consider their primary computer gives us our first real glimpse at what traveling with a virtual assistant feels like.

Five Types of Nokia New Smartphone 2012

There are Five Types of New Smartphone 2012 by Nokia while anounced at Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona. All of Nokia New Smartphone 2012 is using Windows Mobile OS. 

Nokia has revealed a bevy of phones that opened new doors in developing markets, pushed the envelope for Windows Phone pricing, and busted the smartphone camera segment right open.

Five Types of Nokia New Smartphone 2012 and Nokia new applications 2012, they are 

1. Nokia 808 PureView

Nokia was readying a high-resolution cameraphone but the 41-megapixel Nokia 808 PureView still came as a huge surprise. Based on Nokia Belle, the 808 PureView offers either up to 38-megapixel stills or roughly 5- to 8-megapixel versions which pack the detail from up to eight pixels to every one in the final frame.

The end result is 1080p HD recording in which you can zoom up to four times without any loss of resolution, along with super-rich detailed images. Best of all PureView technology is coming to more than just the 808, though Nokia is keeping quiet on exact product plans

2. Nokia Lumia 610

Nokia Lumia 610; Nokia’s entry-level Windows Phone may not have the ClearBlack AMOLED display of the Lumia 800 or the LTE of the Lumia 900, but it does have a bargain price tag. At €189 pre-tax and subsidies, it’s a new low for Microsoft’s platform

3. Nokia Lumia 900

Nokia Lumia 900; this new DC-HSPA variant is fresh to MWC 2012 today. Out goes LTE and in comes Dual-Cell HSPA, using carrier aggregation in the downlink with networks that support it, with the promise of up to 42Mbps downloads, in theory at least.

No user will ever actually see that speed, but they will get to use the huge display, 8-megapixel camera with 720p HD video capture, and polycarbonate chassis in black, cyan, magenta

4. Nokia Asha 202, 203 and 303

Nokia Asha; Nokia opened up the Asha range at Nokia World 2011 last year, and has three new models today. While phones “for the next billion” might not have the instant allure of the Lumia line-up, they’re testament to Nokia’s remaining strength in pushing down product pricing and delivering smartphone-style functionality in what would traditionally be feature-phones

5. Nokia Drive, Nokia Transport, Nokia Reading and Groupon Applications

New Nokia Apps 2012; Start at Nokia offline mappingreal apps, nokia real time public transportation information apps up to Nokia apps preloaded to Lumias, pulling in news feeds in an easy-to-consume way on your smartphone. The Groupon deal, meanwhile, integrates the daily-deals service into an updated version of Nokia Maps.

What is LTE ? The Advantage Of LTE ?

Know What is LTE, LTE stands for Long Term Evolution. Its full name is 3GPP Long Term Evolution for the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, or 3GPP UMTS LTE for short. Most refer to the standard as UMTS LTE or just plain LTE. While UMTS LTE is the more correct name, it will be called LTE for the remainder of this article for brevity.

Verizon Wireless says consumers will benefit with the implementation of Long Term Evolution in terms of innovative applications developed for healthcare, telematics, cloud-computing, entertainment, utilities, security, education and the machine-to-machine world. That might well happen.

The Advantage Of LTE ?

The Advantage Of LTE, LTE is a very good, easily deployable network technology, offering high speeds and low latencies over long distances. For example, Verizon LTE in Dallas, TX was rated with an average download speed of 15.75Mbps and an average upload speed of 1.49Mbps.

Verizon’s 3G service was rated with an average download speed of 1.09Mbps and an average upload speed of 0.67Mbps. Its LTE service beat its competitors’ high speed service by a wide margin. Similar ratings followed in other cities as well.

Unfortunately, AT&T’s LTE service is too new to take accurate measurements of. When the AT&T LTE network is more loaded with subscribers, then more accurate readings can be taken.

Security and roaming also should be easier, eventually, as more networks will use LTE than used GSM. Also, LTE should support machine-to-machine apps better, though that is not something a phone user will know about.

LTE will offer a technically-better platform, no doubt. How long it will take for LTE networks to offer something other than faster speeds, lower latency and better in-building coverage remains to be seen.

Apple Smart TV Manufactured In Taiwan

After some rumors yesterday about Apple's Smart TV, today comes a new rumor about where The Apple Smart TV created. According to Digitimes, Apple Smart TV (Apple iTV) issue will be made by a company in Taiwan. About what is Apple TV you can read here, and what is Apple Smart TV features ? read here.

Following sources' claims that Samsung Electronics and Sharp will manufacture chips and displays, respectively, for the so-called Apple "iTV," others have suggested that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) and Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) have the potential to win orders for Apple's smart TV.

Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) likely will obtain assembly orders for the Apple smart TV, according to industry sources.

Apple is expected to finalize hardware standards of its TV at the end of second-quarter 2012, and will place orders for the customized chips and other components directly with its contract manufacturers - same as what the CE vendor does with iPads and iPhones, the sources said.

Apple's new smart TVs will be rolled out by the end of 2012, the sources indicated. So that was reported by Digitimes on issues where the Apple Smart TV (Apple iTV) is made and when the apple tv will be released to the market.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Specs: 3D Screen and Quad Core Processor

What is the advantages of Samsung Galaxy S3 ? What is a new features on Samsung galaxy s3 ? The 2012 rumor mill is turning. New reports hint at an unveiling for the Samsung Galaxy S III at Mobile World Congress in February. Samsung galaxy s3 will have 3D Screen and Quad Core Processor.

Korean site Etnews reports that Samsung may introduce its Samsung Galaxy S III phone at Mobile World Congress in February. Strangely, the site also claims that it will have 3D technology built into the screen, which is odd considering that the LG Thrill (Optimus 3D) and HTC Evo 3D both failed to capture any attention with their glasses-free 3D screens. 

Other rumors point to a highly capable device. Phandroid recaps the rumored specs, which include a Super AMOLED Plus HD screen, a quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 4G LTE connectivity, and Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) with Samsung’s TouchWiz interface overlayed on top of it. We imagine that the phone will come in many variations as well, much like the Galaxy S II, which was hand-tailored for every carrier in the United States, with each model looking slightly different.

More importantly about Samsung Galaxy s3 specs rumors you can read here. So, are any of these rumors credible? We really don’t know. Samsung isn’t talking about galaxy s3 and MWC doesn’t start until Feb. 27 2012. 

Tablet gaming v console gaming, Let battle commence

WE’VE ALL known for a while that touchscreen tablets and smartphones have changed the way people access information and entertainment. It’s even made an impact on the games industry.

So much so that, last March, Peter Vesterbacka, head of Rovio, the creator of Angry Birds, predicted the death of the console, saying that all the innovation in gaming had moved into the mobile and social arenas. Well, he would say that, given that Rovio is responsible for one of the most popular games franchises on the mobile platform.

Acer Tablet. Credit : Acer.com

It’s hard to imagine that the tablet could ever really replace the console. They’re just two completely different experiences. Consoles give you all the bells and whistles: powerful graphics, immersive 3D gaming, even the rumble feedback you get through controllers. Tablets have their plus points, as do smartphones, but you just can’t beat console gaming.

But could the console finally have a reason to fear the tablet? OnLive certainly hopes so. The streaming games service plans to bring console-quality games to tablets and phones through a new mobile app. OnLive has already carved a niche for itself since its launch, streaming games through its servers to your TV through its Game System.

Unveiled in the US in 2009, it launched there in 2010 and was brought to the UK last September. The games are streamed through OnLive’s servers to internet-connected devices, eliminating the need for consoles, high-end hardware, discs or downloads.

Of course, the games will need to be adapted for the touchscreen interface for tablets or mobile apps. LA Noire and LEGO Batman: The Videogame have already been confirmed, with more than 20 others available, and the number is growing.

But OnLive’s Wireless Controller is compatible with smartphones and touchscreens, giving players access to almost 200 games through the portable format. And probably the best bit about the whole thing is that if you buy a game for the tablet app, you can play it on any other OnLive-enabled device – TV, PC, Mac or mobile – complete with all your saves. It allows you to bring your games with you and pick up play exactly where you left off.

It’s could be a powerful draw, but OnLive is still only available in the US and UK, leaving Irish players out in the cold for now.

News Source : http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/theticket/2011/1223/1224309395185.html

Newest of samsung phone with dual SIM

Samsung Galaxy Y Duos and Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos is the newest of samsung phone with dual SIM.

Samsung today announced its first dual-SIM smartphones that run Google Android OS. These are appropriately christened as Samsung Galaxy Y Duos and Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos.

Both the Galaxy Y Duos phones feature Google Android Gingerbread OS, dual-SIM card slots, social networking features, access to several thousands of apps from the Android Market and much more.

Samsung Galaxy Y Duos and Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos. Credit : Samsung.Com

But, there’s a small difference between the two. Samsung Galaxy Y Duos is a full-touch smartphone with a 3.14” display while the Galaxy Y Pro Duos is a touch-and-type phone sporting a 2.6” display with a physical QWERTY keyboard.

Under the hood, each of these devices are home to a 832MHz processor, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, onboard GPS, and of course, dual SIM card slots. Besides that, the devices will come with a 3 megapixel camera and support for up to 32GB of microSD storage.

The Galaxy Y Pro Duos features office and productivity suite that allows users to read and edit documents on the go. Samsung’s ChatON app will enable users to communicate in a content-rich manner with other users.

As Samsung states:

“GALAXY Y DUOS and GALAXY Y Pro DUOS feature a unique Dual SIM system that maximizes communication flexibility by allowing two separate phone numbers and a simultaneous use of data on the same device. Users who need to balance busy professional and social lives can access and seamlessly switch from one line to the other with GALAXY Y DUOS or GALAXY Y Pro DUOS.”

Both the devices, Samsung Galaxy Y Duos and Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos are expected to hit the market next year with a debut in the Russian market following which the Galaxy Y Duos will be releases in Europe, CIS, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East, Africa and China while the Pro variant will be available in Europe, CIS, Latin America, Southwest Asia, Middle East and Africa.

There’s nary a word or pricing yet, but given the specs of the phones, it won’t be too high for the Y Series phones from Samsung are more or less entry-level smartphones.

We will keep you posted as more details surface. Stay tuned!

Apple Claims Samsung Tablet, Phone Cases Infringe Patents

Apple Inc., which on Dec. 9 lost a bid to keep Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy 10.1 tablet out of Australia, claims the case for the device and cases for Samsung phones infringe its patents and registered design.

Apple issued the notice of infringement to Samsung in Australia over the cases, and will file a statement of claim, Apple’s lawyer Stephen Burley said at a hearing in Sydney today. Samsung’s lawyer Katrina Howard said at the same hearing the company was served with the notice that the cases infringe at least 10 patents.

The latest claims further expand patent disputes between the two companies that have spread across four continents. Apple and Samsung have filed more than 30 lawsuits against each other, according to the Suwon, South Korea-based company.

The case dispute was disclosed at the end of a seven-hour hearing at which Apple attempted to persuade Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett to delay a scheduled trial in Sydney on Samsung’s claims that Apple’s iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPad 2, infringe its patents governing wireless transmissions on 3G networks.

“This matter can’t be ready in time for March,” Burley said. “It’d be unfair to Apple if the case were to be hurried on.”

Evidence Collection

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, needs time to gather experts, who must file reports, and will need time to collect evidence to defend itself, Burley said.

Howard opposed the request, saying the trial can proceed as scheduled.

Samsung, the world’s biggest maker of smartphones last quarter, dropped its bid for a temporary injunction barring Apple from selling the iPhones and iPad 2 and instead agreed to the early hearing, Howard said.

The company would be “severely prejudiced” if the trial were delayed, she told the judge.

Bennett deferred a decision on Apple’s request and will hold another hearing Feb. 3. She told the companies to proceed with evidence and expert testimony gathering.

The Australian trial will be a prelude for Samsung in its U.S. case before the International Trade Commission on similar claims. Burley had said at an earlier hearing that will be heard in May and June.

--Editors: Douglas Wong, Edward Johnson

To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Schneider in Sydney at jschneider5@bloomberg.net

 

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Douglas Wong at dwong19@bloomberg.net;

News Source :

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-21/apple-claims-samsung-tablet-phone-cases-infringe-patents.html
By Joe Schneider : (Updates with next hearing in tenth paragraph.)

Superiority of Dell Netbook, Kills All Netbooks

Advances in technology, all of the companies vying to win the competition. Particularly in the field of the manufacturing technology Netbook. Many companies issuing its products with the advantages of each. And now they are goes according to business law.

However, for the time being, who is the company that won of the competition ? What is the best selling netbook on the market, and the company became "standings leader"? The answer is Dell who holds that title. This is according to news released by Cnet. This is an excerpt the news.

Focus will be on thin and powerful machines

For a few years, the netbook world was jumping with the small (and relatively inexpensive) machines were selling very well. That netbook heyday is over now with sales of the small machines dropping as the tablet becomes the portable computing device of choice for many people. One of the more popular Dell netbooks to launch was the Mini 10 back in 2009.

That netbook was reasonably popular, but the sales waned during its production run. Dell has now announced that it is no longer going to sell netbooks. The company will instead focus on its more recent successes with thin and powerful machines that compete against the Apple MacBook Air and other models such as the new Dell 15z.

"We sold through the Dell Mini some time ago. We're committed to the highly portable space and have focused on delivering thin + powerful solutions, for which we've seen strong success, particularly in our XPS line," Matthew Hutchison, director of Dell Global Consumer PR told CNET in an email.

The fall from grace for the netbook began when Apple rolled out the iPad during the second half of 2010 and many consumers flocked to the tablets rather than netbooks and notebooks. Even Intel has moved on now with the company focusing on Ultrabooks rather than netbooks.

Intel is working hard to promote the Ultrabook, which was originally promised at a price of under $1,000. Some of the machines were offered at that low price, but many of the Ultrabooks on the market sell for much more than $1,000.

Some companies like Acer see the Ultrabook as a way to become more profitable like Apple. Apple is able to sell premium notebooks at very high prices (compared to its PC competition), and its customers still keep coming back for more.
Source : Cnet

After overtaking Apple as the world's largest, Samsung smartphones set to dethrone Nokia in India

NEW DELHI : After overtaking Apple as the world's largest smartphone vendor last quarter, Samsung is set to dethrone Nokia as the king of smartphones in India.

"Part of the battle is already won; we will become number one next year," says Ranjit Yadav, who heads Samsung India's mobile and IT businesses. In fact, Samsung was already the market leader in value terms with a 32.3% share in the smartphone market, according to data from market research firm GfK, an industry official said on condition of anonymity.

GfK tracks retail sales of mobile handsets. Nokia, however, says the largest handset maker still dominates the Indian smartphone market. "Based on the figures from all third-party analysts, Nokia leads all India smartphone market both in volume and value terms," says a Nokia spokeswoman.

With the launch of its Windowsbased Nokia Lumia family of smartphones within a week, the company will strengthen its leadership position, she added. Most analysts say Nokia still leads the smartphone segment, which accounts for 6% of the 213-million Indian handset market.

But they also agree that Samsung is perhaps the most active and aggressive player in the mobile handset market in India and around the world in recent times.

"Samsung has champion products for each price segment and it seems to always have a few extra options more than any competitor in that space," says Saurabh Uboweja, director of brand consulting and design firm Brands of Desire.

PLAYING SMART

"What the hell do you do in office? This is stupid, totally stupid," fumes an angry boss at a staff member. "Totally stupid," comes a reply in an animated voice.

A startled boss takes some time to find out who is screaming back at him: an animated cat in a Samsung Galaxy Y. Then comes a voice over: "Desh smart ban raha hai, aap kab ban rahe ho?" (The country is becoming smart. When are you?) That's one of a series of commercials Samsung has lined up for its Galaxy Y (young) Android-based smartphone targeted at the youth.

This is perhaps the most aggressive campaign by Samsung to outsmart Nokia, although it has been relentlessly promoting its handsets across media platforms, and improved its smartphone market share from just about 5-6% in 2010 to be at the heel of Nokia today.

Samsung's mobile business is growing more than 70% a year. In the global arena too, Samsung overtook Apple to emerge the largest smartphone vendor in the July-September quarter by taking 23.8% share, according to IDC. In the overall mobile-phone market, Samsung with 22.6% share narrowed the gap with Nokia at 27.3%.

Source : India Times

Samsung Galaxy Nexus India launch rescheduled for January 2012

We can now confirm that Samsung has rescheduled the launch of Samsung Galaxy Nexus in India to January. It was earlier slated for a December launch. India was in the first wave of Samsung Galaxy Nexus in India launch countries. For the Nexus smartphone, Google pairs up with one handset vendor and offers the “pure Android” experience, which coincides with the launch of a major Android update.

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus in India smartphones also are the first in line to get subsequent Android updates. The Galaxy Nexus is the only Android smartphone out there at the moment that runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and has been designed specifically for the new OS.

We reached out to Samsung India, who told BGR India that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus in India has not been delayed but the launch has been rescheduled because of “too many product introductions” in December. However, India is not the only country where the launch has been pushed forward. Verizon in the US also pushed forward the launch, which will now happen on December 15. Galaxy Nexus users in the UK were also facing a ‘volume bug’ with the device, for which Google rolled out a fix earlier this month.

Article Source : http://www.bgr.in

Facebook video chat aplication for iPhone, Android and Blackberry

Facebook video chat app for iPhone, Android and Blackberry

For you the owner of the iPhone and Android, as long as it you might looking for a Facebook video chat application for iPhone or facebook video chat applications for Android. But you do not find it.

Facebook Messenger, the social network's new messaging app for iPhone and Android, may soon have a video chat component. Hackers rummaging around in the new smartphone app have discovered traces of a video chat feature that appears to be under development. The hidden service was first reported by 9-to-5 Mac and How To Arena later confirmed similar video chat remnants were in the Android version.

Facebook Messenger Has Hidden Video Chat Feature, The hidden service is in the iPhone and Android versions of the app.Video chat doesn't seem to be functional yet, but it's a pretty good bet Facebook will announce the new feature in the coming months. Facebook announced Messenger on Tuesday for Android and iPhone devices. The new standalone app features instant messaging to friends or groups, and photo and location sharing. Facebook says a BlackBerry video chat app version will be available soon.

Facebook has been hard at work improving the social network's messaging capabilities. In October, the company introduced text-based group chat for the new version of Facebook groups. A month later, Facebook rolled out a redesigned messaging service that saves your Facebook e-mail, SMS and instant messaging in one place. In July, Facebook launched video chat in partnership with Skype for Windows and OS X users. During the Skype announcement, Facebook also made text-based group messaging a standard part of the social network that works outside the new groups feature.

Video chat no surprise

Although it's encouraging to see video chat features buried in Facebook's new messaging apps, the discovery is hardly a surprise. During its Skype announcement in July, Mike Barnes, Skype's product manager for the Facebook video-chat client, told PCWorld that Skype was ready to add mobile video chat to Facebook's service. "Barnes gave me the distinct impression that Facebook will soon be adding both group video chat and mobile video chat in the near future," PCWorld's Mark Sullivan reported in July.

So look for video chat in the near future, and don't be surprised if group video chat shows up, too.

Google introduced a group video chat feature called Hangouts in June as part of its rollout of Google+, the search giant's new social network.

Know what is the advantages IOS 5, Read this

Apple will soon launch a new operating system in iPhone 5 product. iPhone 5 issued will soon be released in September 2011. On the iPhone 5 will use the iOS 5 as operating system.

You may ask what is the advantages iOS 5 compared to previous versions and with other brands. iOS 5 couse have some the advantages, here the advantages of iOS 5:

iOS 5 Will Make Photos Faster and More Fun

The new developer beta of  iOS 5 released last weekend contained a number of new image filters that should let developers manipulate photos much more quickly and easily. That means if you're an iPhone owner, you can expect to see a wealth of new, cheap, photo editing tools for iPhone and iPad. The new effects are part of the iOS 5's Core Image framework, which is designed to make image processing easier on the platform.

The new programming tools will certainly be of use to developers. Even without these new effects and frameworks provided by iOS 5, the iPhone already is the most popular camera on Flickr. This popularity is, at least in part, due to the great photo editing apps that are already available for the iPhone. For instance, popular photo filter app Instragram hit 150 million photos recently in under a year.

However, thus far most of these apps had to create ad hoc solutions with the Core Graphics framework to manipulate photos since iOS didn't have the tools to handle image processing on its own. While that has produced some spectacular effects, creating custom photo filters is also a relatively difficult and complicated task for developers that has discouraged new apps.

The Instagram logoWhile Core Image may make it easier to create competitors for apps like Instagram or Hipstamatic, Developers will also be able to use the new tools in Core Image to stay in the lead.

A more likely possibility is that other app developers will start to integrate photo manipulation into existing social apps like Flickr or Fourquare so you won't need to switch apps or fiddle with your phone the next time you want to upload a photo to Facebook or another social service.

iOS 5 is expected to be released sometime this fall and, thanks to the developer beta that's currently in progress, we can expect a deluge of photo filter apps to follow soon after.

iOS 5 will be a platform much more "social" if it is to earlier versions. Among other features, we can now tweet photos without leaving the camera application, showing where we are and any comments regarding the photo. The same can be done from YouTube or Safari.

Safari, Apple's browser, was also much improved for this release. Now you can save news to read later with included synchronization with other devices, an ideal choice to save a story in the iPhone 4 fastened while riding the subway and then read it in the quiet home iPad 2 Moreover it will enable tabbed browsing "traditional" as with Firefox , Chrome and Internet Explorer.

Update :

iOS 5 know Issues

Apple has just seeded the new beta version of  iOS 5 to developers. This comes after Apple suspended developers accounts which their owners was selling access to iOS 5 Beta.

NOTES AND KNOW ISSUES

The following issues relate to using the 5.0 SDK to develop code.

Accounts

When creating an iCloud account, you can use any Apple ID as long as it is a full email address and not a MobileMe account. If you have a MobileMe account, you can move that account to iCloud. You can find more information on iCloud at: http://developer.apple.com/icloudWhen setting up an iCloud or MobileMe account using the setup assistant and leaving Find My iPhone on, it might actually turn Find my iPhone off after the setup. Please verify in Settings/Mail, Contacts, Calendar/YourAccount that Find my iPhone is toggled On after leaving the setup assistant. NEW: Enabling iCloud services in Setup Assistant may not always be saved correctly. After completing Setup Assistant you should visit Settings > iCloud to verify the state of the iCloud account. If you have multiple iCloud or MobileMe accounts configured on the device you should also visit each of those accounts in Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendar to verify each account.

 It is recommended that you disable Bookmarks on multiple accounts. If they are enabled, the results might be undefined. 

AirPlay

Starting in iOS 5, video content in applications and websites are AirPlay-enabled by default.iOS 5 supports AirPlay of video via AV Foundation.
 Apple TVApple TV Software beta enables users to mirror the contents of an iPad 2 to an Apple TV (2nd generation) using AirPlay. This beta software also enables Photo Stream on Apple TV so users can access photos stored in iCloud. Apple TV Software beta is being provided to test the latest AirPlay functionality with your iOS 5 apps and web sites. If you wish to install Apple TV Software beta on your device, you must first register your device UDID in the iOS Developer Program Portal. 

Calendar

Birthday calendars are not currently available via the icloud.com website or in Windows. They will be available in a future release. NEW: The default calendar is still the On My iPhone calendar despite setting up an iCloud account during Setup Assistant. As a workaround, reset the default Calendar after finishing Setup Assistant in Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendar > Default Calendar. NEW: Pushing iCloud Calendar data is not working in iOS. To sync your iCloud Calendar, launch the Calendar app or refresh the calendars manually using the Calendars button in the top left corner. 

Core Image

Several filters have been added since beta 1.Match data for turn based matches is currently limited to 4 KB of data. NEW: When logging in to Game Center, the password may clear and login may not complete. Trying a second time will succeed. NEW: In this beta, GameKit Invites may fail. As a workaround, try restarting the device.

 iBooksi

Books 1.2.2 may fail to display some text or images in books. Please update to iBooks 1.3 in the App Store. 

iCloud Backup

As this is beta software, it is recommended that you do not use the iCloud services to store any critical data or information. If you enable iCloud Backup, automatic backup with iTunes when syncing will be disabled. We also suggest that you manually back up your device with iTunes. Backups made with earlier versions of iOS 5 beta will soon become incompatible, and will no longer be available. It is strongly advised you upgrade to this version of the iOS 5 beta in order to continue backing up your devices. If you encounter errors restoring from a backup, or enabling a backup more than one hour after signing into iCloud, try deleting your iCloud account from Settings and adding it back. If errors persist, please try erasing your device and initiating the restore again. 

iCloud Storage

During the iOS 5 beta period, any documents stored on the servers might be purged periodically before GM. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you do not store any critical documents or information on the servers. NEW: Provisioning Profiles no longer need to be enabled for iCloud in the iOS Provisioning Portal. All newly generated provisioning profiles are now automatically enabled for iCloud. If you are using an Xcode managed Team Provisioning Profile, click refresh in the Xcode Organizer to obtain a new iCloud-enabled profile. To enable all other provisioning profiles for iCloud, simply regenerate your profiles in the iOS Provisioning Portal. If your application is using the NSMetadataQuery class, you must set a predicate, even though the predicate itself is ignored. In this beta, the setSortDescriptors: method of NSMetadataQuery is not supported. FIXED: To use iCloud prior to beta 5, you had to manually specify various container identifiers (your application’s Display set) within an Entitlements file for both of your Mac OS X and iOS projects.Starting in beta 5, to enable iCloud storage within your apps, simply click the “Enable Entitlements” checkbox in the Summary pane of your project. Xcode will create a custom entitlements file for your project that automatically includes your Team ID. You can add additional iCloud Container values as required by your application. (Note that you must regenerate your existing provisioning profiles, either with Xcode or in the iOS Provisioning Portal, to use iCloud storage.) If you specify a custom identifier string for your iCloud Key-Value Store or iCloud Container entitlement values, you no longer need to prepend your Team ID to the beginning of the string. Xcode will prepend your Team ID to these entries automaticallyThe container identifier string you pass to the URLForUbiquityContainerIdentifier: method of NSFileManager MUST include the team ID at the beginning of the string. As a convenience, if you pass nil, Foundation uses the first document container ID specified in your app’s entitlements.There are issues using the Cloud Storage document API in conjunction with protected data which can lead to data corruption. FIXED: In this beta, document-based applications cannot always detect when files change, move, or are deleted out from underneath them. In this beta, file presenters (objects that adopt the NSFilePresenter protocol) do not receive some of the messages that they’re supposed to receive, especially: presentedItemDidChangepresentedSubitemDidAppearAtURL:presentedSubitemDidChangeAtURL: You can workaround this by implementing the relinquishPresentedItemToWriter: method and checking to see if the writer actually wrote when your file presenter reacquires. You can also use FSEvents to observe file system changes In this beta, messages about changes to files in a directory are not getting delivered to objects that adopt the NSFilePresenter protocol. While reporting a bug related to the iCloud storage interfaces, please include the logs collected during your debugging session. To generate these logs, you must install a special debug profile on your device.The debug profile can be obtained from http://connect.apple.com. This profile enables the generation of debug logs that are needed to diagnose any problems using iCloud storage. The instructions to collect the logs are: Install the profile. (The easiest way to do this is to mail it to yourself and open the attachment on their device.) 

Reproduce the bug.

Sync with iTunes to pull the logs off your device.Attach the logs to your bug report. You can find the logs in ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice/DeviceName/DiagnosticLogs.These logs can grow large very quickly, so you should remove the profile after you have reproduced the problem and pulled the logs for the bug report. NEW: File names are case-insensitive in OS X but case-sensitive in iOS. This can lead to problems when syncing files between the two. You should take steps on iOS to avoid creating files whose names differ only by case. 

iMessagei

Message beta 1 will be unable to communicate with iMessage users on beta 2 or later.iPod NEW: When using the volume buttons on the device, or on headphones, the volume slider in the UI of applications may not update even though the volume level has changed. 

iTunes

The version of iTunes that comes with beta 5 cannot sync devices that have the beta 4 software installed. To avoid this problem, do the following: Sync any devices that have beta 4 installed to the version of iTunes that came with beta 4.Upgrade iTunes to the version that comes with beta 5. Connect the device and install the beta 5 software. (Understand that you might see a failure to sync error when you first connect the device.) After installing the beta 5 software, restore from your the backup you made in step 1.Videos purchased from the iTunes Store do not play on a 2nd generation AppleTV over AirPlay with iTunes 10.5. 

Location

FIXED: The startMonitoringSignificantLocationChanges method of CLLocationManager does not cause applications to be resumed or launched in the background for significant location change updates. However, if a backup from a previous software version (where an application was monitoring significant location changes) is restored to the device, significant location change monitoring will continue to cause that application to be resumed or launched in the background. 

Mail

FIXED: Forwarding a message with attachments included does not attach the file and the message compose screen does not change from “Loading….” NEW: When changing the host name of an email account in settings, blank messages may be seen in the unified inbox. As a workaround, delete and re-add the account instead of changing its host name. Music LibraryFIXED: Some songs are missing their album artwork after changing the device library via syncing. 

OpenGL ES

FIXED: In iOS 5.0 beta 4, several OpenGL ES extensions have been moved from the APPLE namespace to the EXT namespace, causing some API to be renamed. The altered extensions are EXT_color_buffer_half_float,EXT_occlusion_query_boolean, EXT_separate_shader_objects, EXT_shadow_samplers, EXT_texture_rg, EXT_debug_label, and EXT_debug_marker. 

OTA Software Update

If you are doing an OTA software update, you will need to re-sync your photos with iTunes.” 

Personal HotSpot

FIXED: In this beta, iPhone 4 device cannot join personal hotspot even if it is on due to a non functional Wi-Fi tethering on these devices. PhotosFIXED: If you apply red-eye adjustments in iOS, and import your image into the iPhoto seed build, the red-eye adjustments will not appear on that image in iPhoto. As a result, subsequent syncing of your image back to the iOS device from iPhoto will not show the red-eye adjustments. NEW: When restoring photo libraries from an iTunes backup, some photos may not appear in the Photos application after restore. Please back up your photos before updating to iOS Beta 5. 

Simulator

Location services are not functional in iOS 4.3 simulator running on Mac OS 10.7 with Xcode 4.2. 

Springboard

Push and local notifications for apps appear in the new Notification Center in iOS 5. Notification Center displays notifications that are considered “unread.” In order to accommodate push and local notifications that have no “unread” status, developers can use their application badge count to trigger a clearing of notifications from Notification Center. When an application clears its badge count (by setting it to zero), iOS 5 will clear its notifications from Notification Center. FIXED: iOS 5.0 terminates VoIP applications that are resumed in the background for incoming network traffic with extreme frequency. Developers are encouraged to make sure all incoming data is read from VoIP sockets to avoid this condition. NEW: The UIPrerenderedIcon key (in the Info.plist file) is not honored in this build. 

StoreKit

NEW: In-App purchase will not work for developers testing their apps with the iTunes Sandbox. Twitter FIXED: When tweeting your location from Safari and exiting before the location can be established, the location arrow will stay in the status bar. The arrow can be removed by killing Safari from the task switcher. 

UI Automation

FIXED: Instruments overwrites the loaded automation script, even if another program is editing it. FIXED: The play and record buttons in the Automation instrument script editor may not work properly after targeting an application that was launched by a trace session and has ended. They may also not work if you target an application that was suspended. If you run into this problem and it persists, you may need to close and reopen the trace document to get back into a functional state. FIXED: When capturing actions into a script using the Automation instrument, interfaces with web views or table cells that contain a high number of off screen elements may take an extremely long time before returning with an expression. The lock () and unlock () functions of UIATarget have been replaced with the lockForDuration () function. Starting in iOS 5 beta 2, you can now trigger the execution of an UI Automation script on an iOS device from the host terminal by using the instruments tool. The command is:

instruments -w -t

When using the cli instruments for UI Automation you can now target the default Automation Template and pass the script and results path into the tool as environment variable options. For example:instruments -w -t /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/Library/Instruments/PlugIns/AutomationInstrument.bundle/Contents/Resources/Automation.tracetemplate -e UIASCRIPT

Rugby World Cup Competition 2011 launches by Microsoft

New Zealand

Microsoft New Zealand, an Official Sponsor of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, is today launching a competition that will allow one lucky winner and 14 of their mates to win the Microsoft Corporate Box for the Final.

The prize includes the Corporate Box for the Final at Eden Park on Sunday 23 October for 15 people, overnight accommodation in Auckland and transport to Auckland from one location.

To enter, visit www.1stXV.co.nz and register as the captain of your team, then nominate 14 of your closest mates.

Valued at more than NZ$2 million, Microsoft's sponsorship includes some of the company's latest software and technology. The company is providing a range of desktop and server software licenses, including Silverlight Player, Windows 7, Microsoft Office 2010, Windows Server, SQL Server, SharePoint Server and SharePoint Online.

This technology will support the successful operation of RWC 2011. The sponsorship also enables cost effective global content distribution, using Silverlight technology to help provide a great online viewing experience to those unable to make it to the matches.