Too lazy to download free software? Asus laptops from Amazon now pre-load Kindle app



Do you love both Asus laptops and Amazon's Kindle book-reading app, but are extremely lazy? As in, so lazy you can't be bothered to download and install the PC version of Amazon's free Kindle app on your new Netbook?
Fortunately the alphabetically enhanced companies Asus and Amazon have heard your cries and responded by striking a deal to pre-load the Kindle app on select Asus systems, including the Eee PC 1005PE Netbook and the 13-inch UL30A and UL30VT (with other models to follow).
Why bother pre-installing more free software on an off-the-shelf laptop? The Asus press release on the subject helpfully quotes Ben Thacker, VP Sales and Product Management, Systems Business Group, North American Channel, ASUS Computer International as saying, "Kindle is something our customers have been asking for and by pre-installing Kindle for PC on select long battery life products, we believe we are providing our customers an even richer PC experience."
We say, as long as you're installing the Kindle software, why can't someone ship us a laptop pre-loaded with Firefox, AVG Free, Steam, and the VLC media player?

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Take Your Downloads to the Next Level









Version reviewed: Folx 1.0.591.456
Folx is an essential 2-in-1 download tool. It is easy to use, not overloaded with unnecessary features and at the same time it has everything you may need for fast and convenient downloading.
 Features:


• Folx provides a very powerful download engine that offers maximum performance
• High download speed
• Auto-resuming file transfer
• Set the priorities for downloads.
The Good

Folx is a great application if you are a novice when it comes to downloading but also if you know exactly what you need to make the most out of your machine and internet connection.
The Bad

Folx is installing components without the user’s consent that can be extremely annoying if you do not want to use the application on a regular basis. On another note, the scheduling options are somehow limited and I believe it would be great if Folx allowed you to create a custom schedule for each task.
The Truth

All in all, once you get used to it, Folx is a great application to have around if you need to improve your download speed dramatically.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:

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Weekend Reading: Electronic Arts' War on Second Hand







The idea behind the move made by Electronic Arts is that players will buy more new games (and route their money directly to the publisher and developer) if there are clear advantages linked to them, while significant disadvantages are connected to used games (which bring money to retailers, but not to those who create and publish the games).

The martial metaphors I used in the first paragraph are well suited to the situation. It's a battle for survival for Electronic Arts and other publishers who, like 
Ubisoft, are watching to see what the impact is. They are losing money, the overall economic situation is not helping and videogame development is always more expensive. The publishers need to sell more games, to have more hits on the level of Modern Warfare 2 or Madden NFL, and one way to do it is to limit or even wipe out the used games market.

GameStop claims not to be threatened by the Online Pass concept, but battle lines have been drawn, and soon we might find that new buyers will be getting the full experience from videogames, while those who buy second hand might find they have to pay not just for multiplayer but also for things like, let's say, alternate endings for role playing games or extra championships for sports titles.

The customer could be the one collateral casualty in this fight. New games will likely not drop in price and quite a lot of people might be tricked in picking up a used game which lacks features and only find this out when they try to play it.





Electronic Arts is on the war path and the tribe which might get close to annihilation is that of the Used Game. The publisher has already been doing some scouting of the terrain with its Ten Dollars Project, linked with such titles as Mass Effect 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Dragon Age, and now a full fledged offensive is on the way with the introduction of the Online Passes, initially appearing in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11. 


The idea behind the move made by Electronic Arts is that players will buy more new games (and route their money directly to the publisher and developer) if there are clear advantages linked to them, while significant disadvantages are connected to used games (which bring money to retailers, but not to those who create and publish the games).

The martial metaphors I used in the first paragraph are well suited to the situation. It's a battle for survival for Electronic Arts and other publishers who, like 
Ubisoft, are watching to see what the impact is. They are losing money, the overall economic situation is not helping and videogame development is always more expensive. The publishers need to sell more games, to have more hits on the level of Modern Warfare 2 or Madden NFL, and one way to do it is to limit or even wipe out the used games market.

GameStop claims not to be threatened by the Online Pass concept, but battle lines have been drawn, and soon we might find that new buyers will be getting the full experience from videogames, while those who buy second hand might find they have to pay not just for multiplayer but also for things like, let's say, alternate endings for role playing games or extra championships for sports titles.

The customer could be the one collateral casualty in this fight. New games will likely not drop in price and quite a lot of people might be tricked in picking up a used game which lacks features and only find this out when they try to play it.

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European HTC Hero to Taste Android 2.1 in June


HTC Hero to taste Android 2.1 in Europe next month

HTC Hero, the first mobile phone the Taiwan-based handset vendor HTC Corporation pushed to the market with the HTC Sense solution on board, is expected to receive an upgrade to Android 2.1 across Europe as soon as next month. The update was promised ever since the operating system flavor arrived on the market back in January, and it seems that the company is finally getting ready to deliver it to its users. 


According to a recent article on phandroid, HTC itself announced that the update was set to arrive in June. Many HTC Hero owners, if not all of them, are quite unhappy with the fact that the update hasn't been rolled out until now, and, when contacted about its plans on the matter, the mobile-phone maker responded that the work on the software solution was in its final stages, and that following month was the lucky time frame for enthusiasts, just as previously announced. 

“Hi [redacted] thanks for your email. Regarding the Hero 2.1 update: This was delayed back in March, and is currently awaiting OTA release next month. There will be two updates that you will receive. The first will be a small update early in June that prepares the Hero to be able to receive the larger, 2.1 update a couple of weeks later. When you receive the prompt for the second update, which is the actual 2.1 update, I would suggest you do it over wifi as it is over 100MB in size. best regards, [redacted]. HTC,” is what the company reportedly answered. 

Reports on the Android 2.1 update started to emerge in the wild since a couple of months ago, yet there are great chances that things will prove real this time, it seems. Various HTC phones out there have already started to receive the software solution, including the HTC Hero over at Sprint, or the DROID Eris at Verizon, and the European version of HTC Hero might not be too far behind either. However, until an official announcement is made, or the actual upgrade emerges into the wild, the move is still covered in unvertainty. Keep an eye on this space for further updates on the matter.
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2010 VAIO P: Hands-On and Explained








One of the main reasons behind Sony's invitation to its facilities in Japan was for us to be among the first to set our eyes on the new VAIO P ultraportable computer system. With that, we had the opportunity to talk with the engineers behind the project and even experience the new features first-hand. After our experience with Sony's new VAIO P, we can now provide a few more details that are not available in the official press release.

The new matte finish of the VAIO P makes the ultraportable feel a bit nicer, when compared to the previous version. From a design viewpoint, the all-around color design looks better, while the keyboard feels a bit more finger-friendly. All around, this fresh-new VAIO P looks like something that could easily be considered a competitor for smartbooks, but that's rather hard, considering that the smartbook market has not yet taken off. 



Talking about the key features of the new design, you will immediately notice the updated screen and lid of the VAIO P. As you might have already read, the new laptop offers a built-in optical trackpad and two (left and right) mouse buttons, strategically placed on the black bezel. This enables an interaction with the P-series that pretty-much similar to the Sony PSP gaming console. The touchpad feels really nice and responsive and goes hand-in-hand with the laptop's digital compass.

 
New 2010 VAIO P ultraportable
Enlarge picture
New 2010 VAIO P ultraportable
Enlarge picture


Although you could easily use the on-board touchpad and the two mouse buttons on the screen bezel, there's another new functionality that makes the VAIO P more web-browsing friendly. In case you've missed it, the P-series now features an on-board accelerometer, which allows the laptop's screen to be used in both portrait and landscape mode. By just flipping the laptop into the desired orientation, you'll be able to enjoy its 8-inch screen as a normal laptop, or a reading device, such as an e-book reader. In addition, the accelerometer in combination with the Windows Internet Explorer lets user flip backwards and forwards, trough browsed web pages. It is a bit unfortunate that this feature is only limited to Windows Explorer, but we hope an update will make it functional on all browsers. On a side note, the function also works with Adobe Reader, but there's still room for improvement with additional support.

Sticking to the features available with the new display, Sony learned its lesson from the development of the previous generation and has now enabled a new quick-access feature on the laptop. With a simple press of a button, available on the bottom side of the keyboard, users will be able to change the screen's resolution from 1600 x 768 to 1280 x 600, which yet again is more Web-friendly.

The display will still suffer from the glossy screen that Sony chose for its new VAIO P, but there's a new function that tries to minimize that effect. That's the built-in light sensor, which senses the light intensity and dims or brightens the display accordingly.

Of course, there's the VAIO Assist and Web buttons, which are designed to enable to deal with the troubleshooting and enable the end-user to browse the Web in a matter of seconds.

Inside the laptop, we see a more simplified design, which has been enabled by the adoption of SSD and the new Intel low-power chipset. That design feature has also led to an increased battery life, something that most users will undoubtedly appreciate.

Overall, this version of the VAIO P looks a bit more appealing than the first one. We can definitely say that, if this was the first to market, it would have certainly won our hearts and money. Whether this is a must-buy or not, is still a matter of opinion. We will try to update you with a review of the new laptop soon enough, until then, enjoy the picture gallery below.

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Next-gen Motorola Droid (Shadow?) for Verizon leaked

For those who are sick of news about the next-gen Apple iPhone, here’s something about what seems to be Verizon’s next-generation Motorola Droid.
A leaked photo of a Verizon Getting Started manual shows a previously unseen Motorola Droid, which reportedly features MotoBlur (some users think MotoBlur is crap, so putting it on a high-end Droid seems to be a bad idea to me).
This thread over at the Howard Forums suggests the new phone is the Motorola Shadow, which is about 9mm thick and comes with:
  • 4.1 inch TFT full-WVGA touchscreen display
  • Android 2.1 (upgradeable to Android 2.2)
  • 8MP camera with HD (720p) video recording
  • 1080p output via HDMI port
  • TI OMAP 3630 processor (probably at 720 MHz)
  • 2GB of built-in memory

Verizon should launch the new Motorola Droid / Shadow in July. No word on the device’s price yet, but Verizon will probably be wise enough to keep it under $200 on contract. So, will you dump your old QWERTY-friendly Moto Droid for this new and thinner Droid when it comes out?

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Yahoo May Team Up with Nokia to Run its Apps: Leaked Reports


Yahoo May Team Up with Nokia to Run its Apps: Leaked Reports



A word leaked out via Kara Swisher's BoomTown blog has suggested that Yahoo is planning to join hands with Nokia. In a press conference invite, sent last night, Yahoo said that it is going to make an exciting announcement.
The leaked information also hints that Yahoo and Nokia will make a joint announcement for their collaboration, giving way to Yahoo email, search and other apps to run on Nokia smartphones.
The deal between the two giants will be named as "Project Nike". It also suggested that Yahoo is in talks with Samsung as well considering another deal wherein it will be able to run its software in Samsung handsets.
According to the data gathered from Garner, the smartphone sales in the first quarter was around 50% while it was reported to be 17% overall.
Although, this is not the first time when Yahoo has teamed up with a mobile phone giant, but given Nokia’s huge market share, the deal amount is expected to be surprising.
However, Nokia has lost 1.2% market share in the last couple of years. This implies that Nokia will be facing a tough competition from other smartphones including the iPhone or HTC.
On a disappointing note, the Symbian operating system which supports most of the Nokia phones has been losing value, suffering a 44.3% reduction in the first quarter. On the contrary, Android has slipped just by 1.6% and the iPhone by 10.5%.




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Download Kites Movie FREE



https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVnxQTZudZdjSSkoKF0Ib78WCc9Lz5HwS5NaM-4hoF73zGx1jLnKra6y6cxMuiLbKyXI2o5mDY88qDfVZjh_cPwme0qGoalHyqRJK25QsGR8CwXyCFZw-v697Ewvjwxd64bpg3CXZZ6hw/s400/Bollywood-Movie-Kites+barbara++hrithik.jpg

Free
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WWE HALL OF FAME, HAMADA, UNDERTAKER AT SURVIVOR SERIES AND MORE




I read where both Jeff Jarrett and Karen Angle were engaged. All the best of happiness. Do you see the soon to be Mrs. Jarrett showing up at TNA either this year or next? How about that for a storyline? The wedding of Jarrett & Angle on TNA's Impact?

Never say never in wrestling, but I tend to doubt Karen will be showing up as a character again in TNA in the near future.  I definitely don't see them getting married on Impact.

I've been reading various names some believe should be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame prior to Wrestlemania in Atlanta, Georgia in 2011. Might as well jump into the fray. My choice: Joyce Grable. Born in Columbus, Georgia. Voted in 1971 PWI Girl Wrestler of the Year. Won the NWA World Tag Team Championship twice with her celebrated partner Vickie Williams and two other times with the recently inducted Wendi Richter. What do you think?

Sure, I could see her getting inducted, although she obviously won't have much drawing power (which is a consideration where the WWE Hall Of Fame is concerned).  Of course, there is a deep backlog of performers from the 50's-80's that WWE needs to catch up on with their Hall Of Fame.
With WWE getting rid of the Survivor Series pay per view this year and with it being the 20th anniversary of Undertakers WWE debut wouldn't it be cool to have the whole PPV as a tribute show to the big man.   You could have various matches on the card that are linked to Taker i.e Hell in a Cell, Inferno match, Casket match etc. and maybe have cameo's from some of the talent Taker has faced over the last 20 years.  Any chance of it ?
Cool idea, but I don't see it happening.  It is sort of sad that there won't be a Survivor Series this year so it can be pointed out how Taker had debuted on one 20 years ago.

Does Ayako Hamada speak English? Any chance she'll get any push in TNA? (It doesn't look like it).
She does speak English, but given the lack of TV time she is given, I would say it is highly unlikely she will get a push.  It's a shame, as she is easily the most talented female worker in the company (if not all of the U.S.) right now.

Last year, before Wrestlemania C.M Punk was booked losing his matches left and right. He goes on to win Money in the Bank and then the World title. This year, before Wrestlemania Swagger is losing all his matches and is booked to look like an idiot with the likes of Santino. He goes on to win Money in the Bank and the World title. Is it safe to say that if you are a wrestler that is being booked this way before Wrestlemania then that is a good omen?

It would seem that way, but you also have to look at wrestlers like Drew McIntyre, who lost several bouts before Wrestlemania and DIDN'T win MITB.

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webOS tablet reportedly coming before October




HP has confirmed a webOS tablet will be out before October ends.
HP has confirmed a webOS tablet will be out before October ends.











The news keeps rolling in this Saturday.
First, it was the apparent false alarm thatAndroid 2.2 had come early on the Nexus One. Instead, it has shown up on test units for reviewers.


That’s pretty unfortunate.


Now, there is news that HP and Palm plan to release a webOS-based tablet sometime this year in the United States. There have been rumblings about an HP Hurricane and now that HP scraped their Windows-powered Slate, it should be only a matter of time before we see a webOS tablet.


And apparently that time is before October.


According to a report, HP Taiwan vice president of personal computing systems group Monty Wong has confirmed that the company will be adopting webOS on a tablet like they’ve already said they would do and that the device should be out sometime before the fiscal year ends.


That’s in October.


webOS is a great operating system and it will be interesting to see how it performs in tablet form. It will also be interesting to see what kind of competition is out at the time. We know Google and Verizon are probably working together on a tablet device, and the iPad is out on the market so the holidays should be exciting times.


It’ll be a tough call to decide on an OS just like it’s hard to decide on a smartphone OS right now. Android? iPhone OS? webOS?


What would you choose, SF?


webOS devices already on the market with the next release scheduled to the Palm Pixi Plus on AT&T on June 6th.

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