Types of Mobile OS (Operating Systems) in Latest Smart Phones!!!!

Smart phones, Smart Operating System or perfect combination of both? Now, choosing a smart phone is not the only hectic job you have, but choosing the right OS too is a difficult choice. Over the last couple of months we’ve looked smart phones, a few times but haven’t really spent much time in looking at the different mobile operating systems (m-os). Here’s a quick tour of the main players in this segment which will help you to get a brief idea on various operating systems including windows, blackberry, Google’s android, Apple’s iOS, Symbian and also Palm …



Windows Mobile or Windows Phone
These handsets run a mobile operating system designed by Microsoft. The bundled software with these units lets you open, create and edit Microsoft Office files as well as run thousands of third party applications. Their connectivity with Microsoft Exchange servers is excellent but web browsing still has room for improvement. A 2009 survey by CFI Group showcased that the Windows Mobile users had the lowest level of customer satisfaction when compared to users of other smartphones. Out of a possible 100 points, Windows Mobile was only rated with a mere 66, compared with BlackBerry’s (73), Palm Pre’s (77), Google’s Android (77), and iPhone’s (83). And also a bottom line, with Microsoft not many things come for free! J. With its latest operating system of series 7 in place, time will only tell that how popular it will be in comparison with other mobile operating systems.

BlackBerry
Blackberry started all from its messenger service and now it’s a full fledge mobile phone maker. If you expect to receive lots of e-mails and SMS then BlackBerry is still the best messaging platform for mobile workers. Web browsing works but can be a little frustrating as BlackBerry reformats websites to reduce the bandwidth they use. However, the future versions of the BlackBerry OS will ship with a Web kit-based browser so that part of user experience (UE) should be greatly enhanced. One of the BlackBerry’s big advantages is that the service is very data efficient. Everything is compressed and encrypted so it works well even when connectivity is limited to a 2G network. Research In Motion (RIM) appears to be on the verge of making a strategic about-face by making a transitional change in its Black Berry devices from its in-house mobile operating system to the QNX OS that’s powering its new Play Book tablet PC.

But at this critical environment, when Apple’s i-Pads and i-Phones are flying off the shelves like hot cakes and Google’s Android-based smartphones are selling even faster, any move from Research in Motion (RIM) can make to jumpstart demand and encourage developers to start writing new media-rich apps would be a good first step toward restoring some popularity to the BlackBerry brand. But still with Blackberry specific data/internet plans it still only rules office guys and not college going youngsters due to high data charges.

Android
Here comes the latest album thriller these days. As the new kid on the block, Google’s Android operating system has made a huge splash in the mobile OS segment; after all it’s from a Google’s family. Already embraced by developers, there are many third party apps to cover almost every user’s needs. Google’s android is a differentially new, so it managed to attract huge fans but as time goes by it will surely be a stable kid. But for now, among all the Mobile O.S, Android is a rock star, but please be ware, kids are always attractive, so the bottom line is BEFORE GOING FOR ANDROID, DON’T FORGET to try it. Like it, Own it is the only one liner comes in my mind. No doubt, this has become the darling of the masses.

Apple iOS
Ahh. Apple! The iPhone probably offers the best overall package of mobile functions although it’s not necessarily the best at anything. While BlackBerry has the best messaging and Windows Mobile and Android offer superior business support for Office files, the iPhone is easy to use and its web browser is still the best for mobile browsing although the lack of Flash support is a real problem. Many of the features taken for granted on other platforms like a unified Inbox for multiple email accounts and multitasking are coming in the soon to be release iPhone OS 4.If you are a person who wants to experience touch at its best and love the pinching of pictures then iPhone is for you.

Symbian
This is operating system used by Nokia and Sony Ericsson. While Symbian is very common, there are many different versions of it so applications that work on one handset may not work on another. However, it is purpose-built for phones and is reasonably easy to use. The flop show of Symbian is only due to its lack of fight back in terms of improvements; it seems that Symbian has lost all imagination and invention. Going for Symbian now at this stage is like choosing a second hand car J as Symbian continuously failed to rope in interesting and innovative changes in its user interface. Be it a 10k priced phone or 50k phone all the interface remains the same.

Palm
Palm OS (also known as Garnet OS) is a mobile operating system which was initially developed by Palm.Inc, for personal digital assistant (PDAs) in 1996. From then it is with the glint of a tear in our eyes that look back at Palm. For a long time, the Palm OS was the standard when compared with other mobile operating systems. The software was fast, reliable and there was an incredibly active developer environment which was praised by everyone. At some point, the fire of innovation dimmed and eventually went out with Palm’s hardware ending up running Windows Mobile phones instead. In my view, that was the beginning of the end for Palm operating system. Hopefully, Hewlett Packard will take over Palm and we’ll see some great new hardware and kick-ass software innovations sooner than later.

How to Unlock BlackBerry Cell Phones – Tutorial & Procedure!!!!

Previously Blackberry phones were only chosen by the business people but now it seems that even college going student is now choosing Blackberry for fulfilling the communication needs. Right from internet to email, GPS to social media apps, Blackberry has in store to deliver all genre of people. But almost every Blackberry phone comes with operator locked and due to which you need to opt for operator specific plans and offers. You can easily remove these network restrictions just by unlocking the device from the locked network. Ranging from the basic Blackberry handsets to the most sort of range of handsets like Blackberry Curve, Blackberry Torch 9800, Blackberry Curve series, Blackberry Bold 9000, Blackberry 9700 Bold, Blackberry Storm, Blackberry Curve 8900 or any Blackberry device can be unlocked very easily. Most of the unlocking procedures in the market may harm your device but the procedure which we are going to see in the further part of this post is very simple, safe and reliable too.

Procedure to unlock your BlackBerry Smart Phone in 3 Steps:

Step 1: Detect Your BlackBerry Smart Phone Unlocking Model & Network
So, before we proceed for the unlocking of the device, you need to first find the model name, model number and the network on which your Blackberry device is locked on to needs to be found. You can easily find the model name and number on the box packaging of your Blackberry device or also you can find the same below your batter on the sticker. Now after finding the model name and number, you will also need to find the operator on which your Blackberry device is locked on to like on Vodafone, T Mobile, att or any other network service provider. You can easily find the operator on which your device is locked on to, just see the operator logo on your home screen and you will be able to find the operator name or alternatively you can also find the operator name on the Blackberry device itself.

Step 2: Provide Information to Unlock Your BlackBerry Smart Phone
Next up, after finding model name and number plus the operator name on which the device is locked on to, you will also have to find the information on the IMEI number of your device. The IMEI number can be easily found on the label which is generally located below the battery or you can also find the IMEI number of your device just by dialing *#06# from your mobile. Now, after mobilizing all the information as mentioned above, you need to proceed to buy the unlock code by doing a payment using Google Checkout or PayPal service or alternatively the unlock code can also be bought via payment from direct credit card using Google Checkout or Paypal. These payment gateways are cent present secure and are safe.

Step 3: Key in the BlackBerry Unlock Code into Your BlackBerry Phone
Now, after purchasing the unlock code for your Blackberry device, you now need to proceed for a step by step tutorial on how to complete the unlocking process. To proceed, you will need to select the Blackberry device which needs to be unlocked from a drop down list, if you are unable to find your model then not to worry, just select Any Blackberry device and proceed for the unlocking of the device. So, in just 3 simple steps you have successfully learnt on how to unlock the device easily and safely too.

Process to Get Back your Lost & Found Items at Airports!!!!!

Did you recently by any chance forget your Laptop or Mobile Phone at the Airport? Then there are a few chances of getting them back with the help of the Terminal Operations Department which has set up a ‘Lost & Found’ online tracking service. This means that in case you have lost something at any of the Indian Airports you can possibly get it back if the item has fallen into the honest employee’s hands. If the item is stolen then the chances of getting it back is very hard or say impossible because there seems to be no check on the ground staff and we cannot complaint about it.

Generally the Airport Police is responsible for all the goods and articles which are lost and found at the Airport and this is maintained by the respective Airport Statutes. In case you have lost something you need to first report the same to the Airline followed by the Airport Authorities and ask about the item. In case you ignore these steps and feel that the chances of getting your articles back is not possible then after a few weeks these items are generally auctioned or sent to a salvage company. Initially all the items are sent to the baggage office following which they are sent to the warehouse with proper numbering to locate it back. Next depending on the respective Airport’s rules its sent to the salvage company.

 

This ends the basic procedure on what happens to your items, now lets look into how to get them back. Here are a few links which can be useful in order to recover when you are travelling around different countries. 

US & UK :
Most of the Transportation Security Administration supported airports in the United States of America are covered here where you can find the direct contact numbers and register your complaint for the same. The Heathrow Airport’s lost property office is operated by bagport which maintains a lost property database here covering the following locations > Arlanda, City Terminal, Gardermoen, Heathrow etc

India :
In India the case is bit different because based on numerous reports we have found that the Airport Authorities themselves would keep your belongings and would rarely pass over to the ‘Lost & Found’ department. The Central Industrial Security Force [CISF] has an website which has a online utility service to track your items based on the Date of Travel. The Information is updated here every day with a delay of 3 days following which you need to select the location and the Date of travel to get the list of items found. Along with the list of Items you are also given with other information like Make, Color, Remarks to easily identify the Item along with the direct contact details to procure it back.

Australia :
If you are from Sydney, then the T1 International Terminal team can help you out for Lost Property which suggests you to contact the Airline directly or else call them at +61 2 9667 9583 or mail them at sit.reception@syd.com.au, Contact T2 Domestic Terminal Lost Property on +61 2 9352 7450, Contact T3 Qantas Terminal Lost Property on +61 2 9952 9312. At Melbourne, the Travelers Services handles these services and would cover items lost at Terminal 2 (T2), Terminal 3 (T3), Terminal 4 (T4) and the security checkpoints only. You can contact them at Phone +61 3 9297 1805 & Email lost@easygo.com.au

In case you lost your baggage in a Taxi, then the taxi service provider is to be contacted and not anyone from the above. Generally the following items are handled by the above departments – Car and house keys, Passports, Wallets, Purses, Handbags, Mobile Phones, Laptops, Cameras and Video Cameras, MP3 Players, Transportation, Electrical Equipment, Hand-held Gaming Consoles, Sporting Goods, Pet Animals, Watches, Luggage Bags and any other items which seem to be of some value.

PS : In case you get lost, then don’t contact any of the above numbers but contact the nearby Police Station and report a missing complaint.

Laptops Security Guide Tips to Prevent Data & Laptop Theft!!!!

Its not something which happens everyday but since many people now have online bank accounts, credit cards purchasing and ecommerce related transactions, its very important to make sure that the system you are working on right now is very much secured and you may not lose any of your financial data. In most laptops your important data is auto-stored into the browsers because thats the facility of the browser and you generally in order to save up some of your time, allow the browser to save all your personal inportant data and this is something which the hackers can easily gain. Its also very important to delete your history and memory cache regularly or on every time the browser restarts.

Using Biometric security :

Biometric security feature is a method in which the physiological & behavioral trend of the user is noted and based on these the person is given access to the computer. The physiological method includes face, fingerprint, hand, iris & DNA Checkouts out of which HP Laptops Veriface has already adapted services like face recognition & Fingerprint in their latest laptop series like Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 and Y510 along with Toshiba Notebooks in their models Satellite U400, Satellite M300, Satellite A300 and Satellite P300. If you are looking for a notebook with a built-in fingerprint sensor you can check out HP Pavilion dv3000 series, Gemstone Blue family from Acer with models like Aspire 6920g & 8920g, Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium, IBM Lenovo X300, Toshiba Qosmio G45-AV690, Sony VR Series like VGN-CR15, Dell E4200 & E4300, X410A-03 Laptop from HTC, Haeir T68.

Using a Secured Password :


Its general practice of using password like ‘Computer’, ’12345′, ‘mypass’ etc and these can be easily hacked, try to use a real secure password which can be Alpha-Numeric and very hard to break into. Generally try to use password which are a mix of broken words rather than full names etc. Try to create your own password ideas based on your birth city or anniversay date like if your place of birth is new delhi, create a password like MPOBND[My Place of Birth New Delhi] something like this which anyone cannot ever get a idea about. May be a line from your favourite movie/song can also be used to create a secured tricky password. There are also many password generator tools to help you in creating secured passwords but the problem with these is that the created passwords are alpha-numeric and you need to write them down somewhere in order to remember them, but if you are building a password based on some of your favourite lines as i mentioned above you dont even need to store a copy of your password anywhere else and its almost impossible for anyone to break these passwords.

Clean your Browser’s Cache :


As i mentioned previously its very important to clean all your browsers stored information which could be cookies, your stored passwords , logins, personal information. If you are using IE check out the process to delete internet history and make sure you dont leave any important data on your laptops browser. Some websites try to gain these information directly from your browser though your installed antivirus software would generally check out these websites for virus/trojans/spywares along with the search engines which also generally give you a report about a website, but its always safe to remove any personal information on your computer’s browser.

Try to Avoid Instant Messengers :


Its generally recommended not to use instant messengers like Yahoo Messenger if you are not really chatting with someone on your list, because there have been many reports where users got access into others PC’s using Yahoo Messenger client and hence its not generally recommended using a IM Client and the web based messenger service would be far more better and secure. Another option is that these hackers try to send you some trojans/applications in the name of some important files and the moment you accept them, they get remote access into your PC, and this can lead into privacy problem along with important data loss.

Using Kensington Security Slot :


Most Latest laptop models are now equipped with a Kensington Security Slot which is a anti-theft system using which you can secure your laptop. its nothing but a small hole located in your laptops side section where in you can attach a lock & cable and make it impossible for someone to directly pick up your laptop and runaway. These locks are generally unlocked using keys or else PIN Devices. Apple Macbook has been a exception for this feature because all the laptop manufacturers started offering this security slot. The cable is generally very hard to cut but is possible using a wire cutter. You can find these kensington security slots in use in most malls and shopping places where the laptops & mobile phones are offered for display and demo purpose and these slots offers the store keepers the security from getting their products stolen and the wire cutters would also need a good amount of time to cut through these strong wires. In case of electronic locks the alarms are automatically ON the moment the device is removed from the slot. There have been some sucessful attempts to break open these highly secure locks using card board, check out the video here which clearly shows how a hacker uses just a small toilet paper’s card board and opens these strong locks.

Storing Important Files Securely Online :
If you have some word based document files which you need to update regularly its recommended to use highly secured services like google docs or email services like hotmail users can use Windows Live , yahoo’s yahoo breifcase services with 30Mb Storage Space etc. The advantage of using online backup tools is that you can always have a copy of your important data with secured data backup sites and not on a local computer which can get hacked at any moment. The Online Backup options not only offer security but also offers you to get access from any location when compared to your laptops which you cannot everywhere at times. The online services can be accessed using internet based mobile phones and you can update the files using multiple devices.

Password Protecting your Files & Folders :


You should always use password protection for your important files and folders. In case of word based documents you have a feature of adding password to your files after which no one can edit your document file without giving the right password. In case of securing your folders you should try to encrypt your data by Right Click the Desired Folder > Properties > Advanced > Encrypt contents to secure data > Apply > ok and this makes all your data in that folder secured. You can also use 3rd party applications like ‘Folder Lock’ to disable access to specific folders on your laptop’s hard disk drive and make sure only the admin can access it. You can use some of these softwares for the highest levels of data encryption : RoboForm, Advanced File Lock, AutoKrypt, Advanced Password Generator, My Secure Notepad & Crypturn.
Make sure you perform all the best security methods on time before you really lose your laptops and its not easy to recover a lost laptop or recovering the data which is stolen from your notebook. Its generally like the saying ‘A stitch in time saves nine’!

How to Protect/Recover a Lost or Stolen Mobile Phone!!!

There are thousands of people who lose their valuable mobile phones every day and this costs them a lot because its not just the mobile phone handset they have lost but more important is the loss of their important data, contacts, images & video’s stored in the mobile phone memory. Here are some important tips which every mobile phone user should take care of before they end up losing a important gadget.

1. Always try to take a backup of all your mobile phone data by using a data card/bluetooth and having a backup on your laptop/computer which you can later restore into a mobile phone in case you lose your mobile phone or in case it crashes.
2. Contact your local Police Station[PS] as soon as possible once you lose your mobile phone and try to file a FIR[First Information Report] with the complete information of your cell phone handset, model, IMIE number, batter number if possible, lost mobile phone number, current contact details and this is a free service and you dont need to pay any amount to the police department.
3. Reach your Telecom Service Providers office as soon as possible and file a complaint about the loss of your handset with a copy of your FIR and request them to cancel the current SIM card and try to reissue a new one with the Same number, because this way you can make sure that the new owner of your mobile phone does not make any calls from your mobile phone and also you dont expect huge post-paid mobile phone bills which you have not used.
4. Activate Phone Locks : Whenever you buy a new mobile phone you are offered a manual on how to use this new handset, you can check out the complete process on how to activate keypad and you need to always use this feature because if you lose your mobile phone the new owner would try to contact any local store to unlock the phone and your chances of recovering the mobile phone may increase.
5. Backup Address Book : You can always take a backup of all your important contact numbers, email ID’s, Address Locations because it helps in case you lose your mobile phone and its very important to have a copy of this data. Either export the whole list onto your PC using PCSuite kind of softwares. Another option would be to manually write down all these details into a book or Ms Excel Spread Sheet. You can also use any of your non-usable SIM card which is not actived but has some memory space generally 200-500 records.
6. Mobile Phone Insurance : If your mobile phone is stolen or lost while travelling its always better to go for a mobile phone insurance prior to this kind of situation because you can also get back the complete cost of your handset once its verified that you have lost the phone. The Insurance coverage would help you out in getting back all your money and get a new handset.
7. Check out websites like Mobile Phones Tracker where complete IMEI and Lost mobile Phone records are stored, which can come in use. When ever you buy a second hand mobile phone you can check out mobilephonestracker.com to check whether its a lost/stolen mobile phone and try to help out the real owner.
   

There are many other ways you can try to recover your lost/stolen mobile phone. If you do have any please share with us because it can help out our readers who are in this bad situation.

Create Large Poster from any Small Image Easily!!!!!

Printing poster size images is not impossible, its tough task with a regular printer at home. There are premium providers which creates your Facebook Gaint Wall poster of your Facebook friends and Tumblr Favorite Images Poster which printers in large block posters. Its myth that you require a high-resolution image for the giant poster. Now that’s not truth until you are using the Rasterbate software.

The Rasterbate is a great software and online web versions application which will make giant poster of up to 20 meters of size from any size picture. Now you can create huge images and print them with your home computer.
With Rasterbate you can upload any file from your computer or any file from over the internet. After you have selected and cropped your image, you need to provide the desired size. It will be then automatically sent to printable pdf files. The Rasterbate require a minimum of Adobe Flash Player 7 and Adobe Reader.

• Open the Rasterbate web or the offline version.
• Upload your image from your computer or from the web.
• 
• Upload from the source.
• Now you need to crop and size your image. You can also choose from Paper Size which includes A4, Legal, A3 and other paper if your printer supports that. You can also set the custom width.
• Now select the image diagonal and drag it to increase the size. The poster size would be mentioned below the image.
• When done click on Next, it would then tell you how many sheet would it required to print that image.
• The Rasterbation options would be available in the next page which are – draw border around rasterbated area, color mode and it would also tell you about the paper size, image size and paper consumption. Click on Rasterbate.
• The PDF file will be now downloaded on to your PC, you just need to save it.
• Now to obtain the large size print, you need to give prints to pages that are present in the PDF file. Also important thing is to ensure that you have chosen Page Scaling set to fit the printer margins at the options available for printing.

5 Advantages Google+ has over Facebook!!!!

I have been using Google+ for almost 3 weeks now and there is still a long way for it to go before it starts really competing with Facebook. I think they have really integrated Google products and services nicely into a social network.

I felt there are 5 key advantages that Google+ has over it Facebook which might just cause a lot of headaches to Facebook over the next few months and years.

#1. Money

Yes, Facebook also has a lot of money but Google has a lot more than Facebook. Google can invest half a billion dollars for then next 5 years in Google+ only to make sure Facebook’s rise is kept in check.

Facebook does not have that sort of portfolio and will have to out do Google+, as it cannot outspend it.

#2. No Dependence on 3rd parties

Facebook depends on Skype for improving it’s chat services along with having video chatting via the browser. This is mutually beneficial to both Facebook and Skype.

Google+ depends on technology they have built with Gmail and Google voice for powering chatting between Google+ friends and groups. Google also owns Android, Google TV and Chrome OS which can power a successful social product even more.

#3. Standalone products

Google+ has been built more like a common meeting point for all their services like Gmail, Chat, Maps, Voice, photo sharing with Picasa and YouTube. This means it’s a social network made for bringing together different services offered by Google.

With Facebook there are no standalone products for video or images. I cannot share images and albums with people without a Facebook account all that easily like I can with Picasa.

#4. Search

Google has its own search engine which everyone considers the primary source of traffic for almost any website. Facebook has some integration with Bing to have Social Search but the results are not as powerful as yet to really get Google worried.

But a powerful search feature built into Google+ will certainly give Facebook more headaches to deal with.

#5. No Pressure

Facebook started as a college product and with its founders quite happy to see it spread across universities in the United States. Facebook evolved without the pressure of competing with the big boys of social networking. MySpace and Geocities were the social services back then.
The lack of pressure to beat these large companies meant Facebook could keep innovating and changing without upsetting too many users. Now Google+ is in the same situation. It is not expected to defeat Facebook in a face-off and it can quietly improve its service, without worrying too much about how users might react.

Facebook’s really big advantage…

I do not mean that Google+ has won the fight against Facebook. Not by a long shot, as only recently Facebook announced it is used by over 750 million people. So how many people use Google+ will finally end up deciding it’s eventual success or failure.

What are your views about Google+ and Facebook when compared? Do drop in your comments.

BuiltWith – Check website analysis and SEO information with Online Tool!!!!

Webmasters and bloggers all over want to know more about their competition. This usually means looking up other websites. Getting too obsessed with the competition can actually be harmful, but a little bit of analysis and understanding is a good way to learn from your competition. BuiltWith is a website which allowed me to look up a lot of useful information on just about any website.

BuiltWith Features

• Just type in the name of the URL of the website you want information about. Once that is done a report is generated.
• I could look up the website’s technology profile. Information like which servers are used and which platform, the site was hosted on including the version of the platform. It also gave information regarding which analysis tools (eg: Google Analytics) and advertising services (eg: AdSense, Ad Words and infolinks) were used.
• Also it look up information on the Widgets and social media features which are present on the website.
• When it comes to SEO related information, I got to look up decent information regarding keyword frequency and top 10 keywords being used. To view SEO related information you have to register free to access the data.

As I continued using BuiltWith, I found it quite useful to learn about various other platforms and things common to websites using those platforms like Blogger.com or WordPress.

Do drop in your comments and views.

Link: BuiltWith

Get Complete Analysis of Any Website with Online Tool!!!!

Bloggers and webmasters are always looking up other websites to have a better understanding of their own websites. Even when it comes to SEO tactics, learning from respectable websites is a better way to improve your site’s visibility and accessibility. With WooRank, I could get a complete analysis of just about any website.

WooRank, even crawls a website to check if there is duplicate content on your website. Such content can be deleted as it can adversely impact your website’s value in terms of SEO.

Features of Woorank website analysis tool

• Woorank displays the usual information like per month unique visits to the URL of the website. This is taken from sources like Google AdWords tool and Alexa rankings.
• Then it shows the in-site SEO analysis, which includes information on meta description, meta keywords and even the number of header tags.
• It also gives information on if all the pages (the tool will look at all posts as different pages) on the website has different titles.
• It also gives good information on if the website is doing a good job of being complaint. This usually means looking up sitemap, robots.txt and other things that gives a good clues on where your website can improve.

Woorank is a great service get a nice analysis of your own domain. I would recommend using it on not just your domain but other respected domains to look up where your domain might not be up to the mark.

If you liked using WooRank, you might also want to check up on Builtwith – which is also similar service to look up SEO details.

Try out Woorank and do drop in your comments and views.

Link: Woorank

Use Multiple Search Engines Simultaneously [Searchr]!!!!

When I search for images for my blog posts in Google images, I might not find the desired image. Then, I will try searching on Flickr, if I can not find it there, then I would search in another image-based search engine and the hunt continues.

This consumes a lot of time and sometimes I wish there was a search engine which shows results from all the top search engines at one place, so we don’t need to switch between different search engines.

If you’re like me then Searchr might work like a charm for you as it does the same i.e. showing up results from the top search engines.

Six types of searches can be done on Searchr, they are Web, Images, Torrents, Videos, Files and Mp3 Downloads.

Searchr Features

1. Web search: You can get search results from the top 7 search engines namely Google, Yahoo!, Bing, Ask, Wikipedia, Dogpile and Yippy. It misses Altavista which is better than Yippy
2. Image search: All in all, there are seven image-based search engines, the major drawback here is that, it misses Flickr. Iconfinder is great addition as you can find icons of all types and sizes in it.
3. Video search: The videos section is a bit buggy, as the YouTube video results doesn’t load up. Dailymotion and Metacafe could’ve been added instead of AOL videos.
4. Torrent search: It lists the major Torrent search engines like isoHunt, BtJunkie etc.
5. File search: Uses Google’s site: syntax to search for files in popular file hosts like Rapidshare, Hotfile, Megaupload etc.

So, have you tried Searchr? How is it? Drop in your opinions!

Link: Searchr

Encode information about yourself in a Barcode!!!!

With the rise of retailing, came the rise of the now familiar bar-code. The black and white bars of differing widths, can encode a certain amount of information. This information in shops is usually prices and serial numbers for more efficiency. On tickets a barcode might be used to counter black marketeers.

Barcode yourself is a web tool with which we can create our personal barcode with information like age, gender, location.

Barcode yourself features

• The website basically allows entering some vital personal information like your gender, age, country, height and weight.
• Then this information is taken and a barcode is generated.
• I had the options of downloading this bar-code as an image on my computer or evening getting a printout.

With Phones that can read bar-codes and even create them, such tools can be quite useful to encode details without being to obvious.

Try out Barcode Yourself and create your own unique barcode. It is created by Scott Blake, a bar-code enthusiast and artist. Do drop in your comments.

Link: Barcode Youself

“Giveaway of the Day” – Download Licensed Software for Free Everyday!!!!

People generally tend to look for pirated versions of software that are available for download from torrents and tons of other resources.

An interesting website I came across recently is Giveawayoftheday.com which provides a licensed copy of a particular software everyday for download.

Each day you will find a new software available for download for 24 hours. This is a completely legitimate service and the giveaway is provided with prior permission from the publishers of the particular software.

The software which this website provides for download range from audio editing, audio/video conversion, up to alternatives/add-ons to MS-Office, office utilities etc. You can check their previous Giveaways till today here.

You can add Giveaway of the Day to your RSS feed, or get email updates everyday as well.

Few things to remember:

• A particular software is available for download only for a period of 24 hours and cannot be downloaded later.
• You cannot re-install a particular software after a PC crash or install the program on another PC after the giveaway day is over.

Link: Giveaway of the Day

Download All Free Web Apps You Need From One Place! [All My Apps]!!!!

As a web user, there is a good chance that you have more than a handful of apps on your computer. I like installing and checking up on new apps all the time. Sometimes the problem is, we can lose track of all the apps that are out there.

I find All My Apps, a useful website because I can look up all free and paid apps online in one single place.

All My Apps Features

• The apps are all arranged neatly under different categories like web, office, games, video and even development for developers.
• A list of all the apps you need to download and install on your computer can be created within seconds (image below).

• After registration for a free account, I could share the list of apps I chose via Twitter and Facebook. I could also share this through a widget on my blog, thanks to an embed code that is generated.
• A helpful feature is a trending apps list which shows the apps that are now popular and new. This is a great way to keep in touch of new useful apps there might be out there.

If you are looking at a backup of all free apps you have, it will a good idea to have a list created on allmyapps and bookmark it.

Do try out All My Apps and drop in your comments.

Link: allmyapps

India Rail Info: Best portal for Indian Railways inquiry!!!!

Finally I gathered enough courage to start writing about this website. Confused? India Rail Info is one website for Railway inquiries I have been using for past 1 year and there is no reason I would start using any other website, not even the Government railways portal. Since the portal hosts “so many” features, I would be unable to discuss them all here. However here are few of the important and unique features.

Excellent Navigation

Get a list of trains between any two stations or even just type out the Number or Name of the train. The website even helps you in completing names.

Personalized Experience

Login using Facebook or Google account and get to do all things with your history constantly saved. For e.g. PNR status lookup, Trains lookup, Blog entries and a lot more is saved.

PNR Prediction

The first of its kind, though not official but ofcourse helpful. This one I love to use as I can get recommendations from people on whether my waitlisted ticket will get confirmed or stay as waitlisted. You too can predict for other people and this builds up your profile. For e.g. you predict over 3 PNR entries & 2 prediction turns correct, so your profile will display an accuracy of 66.67%.

No Advertisement

Many people often think of it as a government-operated website as there is not even a single Advertisement hosted. What an irony, that even our Government railway inquiry website hosts so many advertisements that I go crazy using it.

Patience is Exciting

By this I just meant that initially the website may look a bit complex to you (so what? even Indian Railways is a complex network ), however if you just have some patience and try few features, you would definitely like with it.

 LINK: India Rail Info

 

Search Engine to get Pin Code of Addresses in India!!!!

Finding address is a very easy task thanks to the several mapping websites. Even in India, to get addresses and directions to a particular place is usually very easy. But, what stumps me most times, is that I usually do not know the pin code of a particular place.

For example, I often take down the correct address to send a courier to my relatives but forget to ask for the pin code.

Get Pincode Info is a nice search service which displays the pin code of a place you enter.

As you can see in the image above, I typed in the address or locality and city. This was enough for it to search for the pin code and display it. It also shows some related links from the web about that address or locality the user has entered.

The best part is we can edit the pin code with an enter an HTML link as reference.

Next time you are stuck for a pin code of a place, use Get Pincode India for a quick remedy.

Do drop in your comments.

Link: Get Pincode India

Register Your Brand with Google+ : Google+ Entity!!!!

Google+ has decided to not allow fake names or fake ids for creating Google+ profiles, much like Facebook does. Facebook pages are a goldmine for brand managers to really engage fans and followers daily with updates and even helping with customer service. 

For blogs like the one you are reading this article one, a Facebook page is a must for people to follow and look up articles.

Google+ has to have something similar to Facebook pages to compete against it. At the moment Google is allowing businesses to register with Google+ Entity profile.

It is still experimental and it will be used see the effect of brands with the Google+ experience.

If you are looking to join Google+ Entity program, register here.

Do you think Google+ can come up with something more interesting than Facebook Pages? I guess if they allow more customizable option, it could be quite the killer idea.

Do drop in your comments.

Link: Google+ Entity Application

Readings: A replacement for Google Reader!!!!

There are many apps which act as replacement for Google Reader (Feedly, for instance), but I never liked any of them. Reason is simple, I can’t cope up with their interface, which is completely different from that of Google Reader. On the other hand,  Readings is something similar to Google Reader and that’s why I like it.

Readings is a new feed reader, especially for those who are bored with Google Reader. You may call it as a Modern Google Reader.

Where ‘Readings’ is better than Google Reader

• Start Page: Readings shows the top stories from the sites you’ve subscribed to, the relevancy of the top stories will certainly increase after it gains a considerable amount of users. Google Reader’s start page doesn’t show top stories, it just shows the articles from the feeds you’ve subscribed.

• Subscribing to Feeds: You get a nice list of top blogs in Readings, you can narrow the results by selecting the category. You can also subscribe to the feed of a specific author (like me!) so, even if the author writes on more than one blog, you will be getting the articles and Google Reader can’t do this.
• Interface: Readings’ interface is neat and simple, it also makes use website favicons, nothing more to say here.
• Sharing: I’m not at all satisfied with sharing options provided by Google Reader, but Readings rocks in sharing articles! Irrespective of the feed you’re viewing, you can see the Facebook like, send and Tweet buttons, and at the end of the each article an Add this widget is also embedded.

• Readability: You can change the font size from the left sidebar while reading an article, don’t have any time to read your favorite article? Click on Read Later and you can read it from the Unread section afterwards, no need of Instapaper! They do provide a handy bookmarklet to send interesting articles to Unread section!

Where it could improve…

• Subscribing To Feeds: I said subscribing to feeds in Readings is easy and better than that of Google Reader but wait, there’s a big disadvantage, you can’t import feeds from a .opml file! I have subscribed to 30+ blogs and it will take some 10-15 minutes to subscribe to all the blogs (Readings take time to cook the feed, it’s not instant). While, this is not the case with Google Reader, you can easily import feeds there.
• Organizing Feeds: In Google Reader, I have all my feeds categorized and that keeps my Google Reader organized, now, you can’t do this on Readings! You can’t create folders (or tags) and drop feeds into it as you do in Google Reader.
• No Unread Count: The Unread count in Google Reader gives you an idea of how many articles are left unread, Readings lacks this.
• Customizing The App: You can customize Google Reader to the deepest using Reader Plus and many such apps but will developers come forward to develop add-ons for Readings? Certainly not!

Readings is pretty new, so there’s a scope of improvement, hope they will come up with new features in the future. Do drop in your comments.

Link: Readings

Get Latest Articles and Videos with Real-time Encyclopedia!!!!!

In this age of information, there are literally a million things happening around us. RSS readers and search engines usually do a good job of keeping people informed. Sometimes you just want to catch up some real-time buzz.

For example I wanted to look up recent results on Google Plus, Zomobo gave me all the latest trending links on YouTube, Twitter and even Wikipedia articles.

Zomobo Features:

• Just enter the query into the search box and get results nicely arranged. This is a great way to learn what is latest about a topic along with actually learning about it.
• It shows relevant links to Facebook pages and Twitter accounts along with a few public documents and links.
• Other categories where information is arranged is Blogs, News and related images.

I think this web service, would be a very useful service to learn about something new on the web. I think it is like a enhanced version of Wikipedia.

Do try out Zomobo and drop in your comments.

Link: Zomobo

Get Photos from Multiple Users in a Single Photo Stream with Liveshare!!!!

When a party takes place, people take photos on their phones. Then they tend to upload all these photos on the web on Facebook or any other social network or image sharing service. This creates a disjointed stream of photos and it becomes very tedious to get them all in one place.

LiveShare a product by CoolIris, allows sharing images in single photo stream by multiple users.

LiveShare Features:

• Users need to register for an account or just sign up with their Facebook credentials. If you are sharing photos on Facebook to signing up with Facebook is a good idea.
• Then we can create Private or Public streams. Private streams can be shared with others via email. Other can also stream photos they take of the same event in that particular stream.
• This creates a live stream of photos of a particular event from multiple sources.
• I used the browser version to test my account, but it does have an iPhone, Android and Window 7 Mobile apps that can make sharing  and viewing via smartphones very easy. 

Try out LiveShare next time you are partying out with friends and do drop in your comments and views.

Link: LiveShare

TubGet – Free Online Tool to Download and Convert Videos!!!!

People spend literally several hours a week watching videos online. YouTube and Vimeo are the big boys of online video streaming, and often users might like to download the videos or a song into a mp3 version for listening to at a more convenient time or when offline. 

Tubget is an online web service which allows downloading of videos from YouTube and Vimeo.

• Just type in the URL of the video from YouTube or Vimeo and click on start.
• Once done, the video will be processed and will be ready to be downloaded. It also gives option for cropping the video before you download it.
• Users can also select sound quality, video resolution along with the type of file you want the video to be downloaded into.
• It supports AVI, MOV, MP4 and other popular video formats.

Try out TubGet and do drop in your comments.

Link: TubGet

10 Great Tools to Light up Google Plus Addicts!!!!

Google+ is still in private beta but developers have already put their mighty efforts and built many extensions, bookmarklets, add-ons, user scripts, web apps and much more! This post lists all those tools (webapps, extensions and everything in between) which can make Google+ better in all aspects.

#1. Color Plus

Let’s start with the most basic tool. Most of the geeks/bloggers (including me) didn’t like the color of the Google bar and many wanted to customize it, there are many ways to do this. If you’re on Chrome then Color Plus might do the work for you. Using Firefox? No worries, there’s a userscript for that.

Links: Color Plus (Chrome-only) | Google bar color changer (Userscript-works on all browsers)

#2. Gplus.to

Shortens your Google+ profile URL, hopefully Google will introduce this feature in the coming days. Just choose a nick name, enter your profile ID and you’re done! Your shortened URL will be something like this – http://gplus.to/nickname

Link: Gplus.to (Web app)

#3. Block Plus

(Image credit)

Some say that the best feature of Google+ is its integration with the Google bar, no doubt, it’s a wonderful feature but it may make a bit unproductive as it follows you everywhere (on all Google sites).

Block Plus removes the Google+ integration from the Google bar and you may continue doing your work than concentrating on Google+ notifications. Another Userscript, Google+ notifications blocker, does the same thing but eventually works on all browsers.

Link: Block Plus (Chrome-only) | Google+ Notifications blocker (Userscript- works on all browsers)

#4. Plusbar

This is a nice addition to Google+, Plusbar is a bookmarklet which converts Google+ into your entertainment dashboard. You can watch BBC News, Al Jazeera, Nasa TV and many other live streaming channels directly from Google plus.

Plusbar Demo

Link: Plusbar (Works on all browsers)

#5. Surplus

This is just the opposite to Block Plus, Surplus makes it easy to check your Google+ updates on non-Google sites. Apart from checking updates, you can also post links/normal text. You can also turn on desktop notifications and sounds in the options.

Link: Surplus (Chrome-only)

#6. PlusFeed

PlusFeed allows you to follow Google+ posts of anyone by subscribing to their feed. To get the feed address, replace Google_plus_ID in http://plusfeed.appspot.com/Google_plus_ID with your Google plus ID and subscribe to it using your RSS reader.

Link: PlusFeed (Web app)

#7. Like +1

Even though Google+ is liked by most of the beta testers, only a very few of them left Facebook and decided to choose Google plus as their primary networking tool. So, as with the arrival of Google+, the +1 button has got some meaning and many started +1’ing (along with liking) their favorite articles.

Like +1 combines +1 button and like button into a single button, so that you can save a few seconds. Your +1’s won’t appear instantly, it may take a minute to appear.

Link: Like +1 (Chrome-only)

#8. Extended Share

Share your Google+ posts on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn with a couple of clicks. Just click on Share on.. present beside the Share option and choose the site on which you want to share the post. 

Link: Extended Share (Chrome-only)

#9. Find People on Plus

Pretty self-explanatory, it’s a directory of all the people who signed up for Google+, it detects your area and shows user suggestions. Apart from acting as a people directory, it is also a showcase of Google+ statistics and top Google+ users which I found interesting.

Link: Find People on Plus (Web app)

#10. Google+ Statistics

While Find People on Plus shows some mild statistics of every Google+  user, Google+ Statistics is better if you want to checkout graphs, following trends etc. You might know about Twitter Counter, the same guys have built Google+ Statistics.

You can also track your Google+ statistics by signing up using your Google account. It also provides a statistics widget which you can embed on your site.

Link: Google+ Statistics (Web app)

Bonus Tools

#11. Move Your Photos

This chrome extension will help you in exporting all your Facebook photos to your Picasa account. If you’re migrating to Google+ then this one will be handy, as you don’t need to manually export the photos.

You need to login to Facebook and grand permission to the app, as this app has become popular lately, it may take more time to migrate the photos.

Link: Move Your Photos (Chrome-only)

 

#12. GTools+

With GTools+ you can customize the interface of Google+ such as editing the Google bar components, changing the position of the chat box, pinning the Google bar to the top and much more. It can also be used for translation and to setup notifications for Google+, you can even customize the color of notifications.

Link: GTools+ (Chrome-only)

#13. Agent G+

There are many extensions and add-ons to post sync your Google+ posts with Twitter and Facebook, but this one is extension-free. You just need to authorize the app in Twitter and Facebook and post a Google+ update of the authorization string you get (share it with only + Agent G).

Once you have done that, you can sync your Google+ posts by simply sharing the posts with +Agent G.

Link: Agent G+ (Web app)

So, that is it. If you know some worthy Google+ tools, do share them through the comments.