The DNA of a Secret Service Agent

The DNA of a Secret Service Agent infographic by borisbenko.

RIM unveils new BlackBerry Torch phones

Research In Motion went on the offensive unveiling two new and powerful versions of its touchscreen BlackBerry Torch, including an all-touch model, as it seeks to regain ground lost to Apple and Google.

 

The new Torch models include an all-touch version that mimics the popular style of Apple's iPhone and most Android devices.

Harley-Davidson Fat Boy Special at Rs 19.70 lakh

Harley-Davidson India has announced the addition of the Fat Boy Special model to its portfolio in India.

The Fat Boy Special will be introduced at Rs.19,70,000 (ex-showroom Delhi). This model will be imported as a completely built unit and will be available across all Harley-Davidson dealerships in addition to the 14 models currently available in the 2011 line-up

 

Darker, with a lower seat positioning than the original icon of fat-custom style, the new Harley-Davidson Fat Boy Special retains the bold presence of the original Fat Boy while offering a fresh interpretation of the motorcycle that still defines the segment.

 

Rated at 125 nm of peak torque at 3500 rpm, the engine features Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI) and is finished in black powdercoat with bright machined highlights on the cylinder fins, and satin-chrome engine and primary drive covers.

Microsoft Earnings Boosted by Business

Businesses provided more of a boost for Microsoft than consumers in the fiscal year results announced yesterday, with sales of Microsoft Office and server software leading its revenue, followed nonetheless by the Xbox gaming related sales.

Consumer revenue around PCs declined 8 percent while business sales of PCs grew by 27 percent. Microsoft estimated that the worldwide PC market declined by 2 percent in the past 12 months, sullied by weak sales in developed markets.

microsoft office earnings revenue business"In summary, we are pleased with the terrific market response to our products and our great sales execution, both of which helped drive our solid financial results," said Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein during the follow-up conference call after the earnings announcement yesterday. "We also continue to be excited by our strategic investments and alliances, which will allow us to capitalize on long-term growth opportunities."

Going forward, Microsoft is betting that a number of new technologies will provide significant revenue in the years to come. One is the Office365 service, which the company introduced in June.

"With Office365, we've created new market opportunities for Microsoft Office and our partners," Klein said. Office365 will help Microsoft "increase revenue and profit per seat," he said. "It gives us an opportunity to address the part of the workforce that does not regularly use a PC in the workforce."
Challenges and Contenders

Another bright spot seems to be Azure. Klein mentioned significant customers that use Microsoft's cloud service, including Boeing, Pixar and Toyota. He did not reveal revenue generated by Azure, though.

Klein was also confident that the pending acquisition of Skype will bear fruit. "With Skype, we will increase the acceptability of real-time voice and communication to both consumers and enterprises, generating new business and revenue opportunities for Microsoft," he said.

microsoft office earnings revenue businessKlein, however, did not mention Windows Phone 7, nor the company's Nokia partnership, during the webcast. However, he spent some time answering an analyst question about another phone operating system, the competing Android platform. He said that Android violated some of Microsoft's patents and the company would collect licensing fees from this infraction. Klein declined to specify how the money from such licensing would be factored into Microsoft's overall finances, though. "We haven't talked a lot about what to expect from a modeling perspective. So let's see what we do with our licensing program going forward," he said.

Microsoft executives also did not address the growing tablet market in relation to the softening PC market, other than to mention that, with Windows 8, "we are re-imagining Windows for a new generation of touch-centric hardware," according to Bill Koefoed, Microsoft general manager of investor relations.

The executives took some time to address the company's relations with Yahoo.

Earlier this week, Yahoo reported lackluster fiscal results in part because its partnership with Microsoft for ad sales brought in less money than expected. "During the quarter, we partnered closely with Yahoo to uncover and address several platform gaps and inefficiencies. We still face monetization challenges and will continue to work closely with Yahoo. We remain confident in the long-term potential of the combined search market," Klein said.
Business Division Growth

 

Microsoft Business Division's revenue for the fourth quarter grew by 16 percent for the year and 7 percent for the quarter, thanks to the recent launch of Microsoft Office 2010, which has already sold 100 million licenses. The division reported $5.8 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter and $22 billion for the full year, eclipsing revenue of Microsoft's flagship Windows and Windows Live Division, which oversees the Windows operating system.

microsoft office earnings revenue business office 365In addition to business sales of Windows 7, sales of other Microsoft products were particularly strong in the enterprise market. Microsoft Dynamics grew by 19 percent, and now enjoys a user base of 2 million. Premium Windows Server and System Center sales grew by 20 percent. SQL Server premium services revenue grew almost 20 percent.

"Customers are using Microsoft technology to virtualize their data center and build out private cloud environments," Koefoed said.

For the fiscal year ending June 30, Microsoft generated US$69.94 billion in revenue, an all-time high for the company and a 12 percent increase in revenue compared to fiscal 2010. Of this revenue, $23.15 billion was net income, a 23 percent increase from the prior year.

For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011, Microsoft reported revenue of $17.37 billion, an 8 percent increase from the same period a year prior. Net income was $5.87 billion, a 30 percent increase.
Revenue Breakdown

Windows and Windows Live Division actually declined by 2 percent for the year, and 1 percent for the quarter, as demand for personal computers stagnated during this period of time. This division posted $4.74 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter and $19.02 billion for the year.

Revenue from Microsoft's Server and Tools division grew by 11 percent for the full year and 12 percent for the fourth quarter, as increased demand for Windows Server, System Center, and SQL Server continued unabated. Server and Tools reported $4.6 billion for the fourth quarter and $17 billion for the year.

microsoft office earnings revenue business xboxThe Entertainment and Devices Division posted the largest revenue growth for the company, swelling sales by 45 percent for the full year and 30 percent for the fourth quarter, thanks to sales of the Xbox game console and associated games and services. This division generated $1.5 billion in revenue for the quarter and $8.9 billion for the year.

For the fiscal year 2010 overall, the company reported revenue of $62.48 billion, and net income of $18.76 billion. That year, Microsoft recorded fourth quarter revenue of $16.04 billion and net income was $4.52 billion.

With these earnings, Microsoft bested analyst estimates across the board. Analysts expected the company to generate $17.23 billion in revenue for the quarter and $61.72 billion for the fiscal year, according to a poll by Thomson One Analytics. Net income was expected to come in at $4.9 billion for the fourth quarter and $22 billion for the year.

GE's 500GB Holographic Discs Get Blu-Ray Write Speeds

A few years back, GE developed a new micro-holographic tech capable of burning 500GB onto a DVD-sized disc.  Now the company’s technology research group has come up with an optical disc writer capable of recording data to disc at the same speed as Blu-ray technology.

Unlike a current disk, which has just four layers at the surface area for data recording, a hologram disc contains three-dimensional patterns that represent bits of information throughout the entire volume of the disc. The newly developed writer uses a laser, set at the same wavelength as Blu-ray technology, to erase parts of the holograms to encode the data. According to PhsyOrg, burning happens at the rate of 4-5 megabytes per second, which is on par with Blu-ray.

GE says the new writing technology will bring micro-holographic media one-step closer to the commercial market, as the discs could be read and recorded on systems that are very similar to current tech. The writing system’s similarity to Blu-ray might also make it so future micro-holographic players will be backwards compatible for playing older DVDs and Blu-rays.

When GE first announced their micro-holographic tech, it might have seemed like the next step after Blu-ray. But with the shift toward streaming and digital software distribution, disc-based media may be on its way out.

The E-Readers of Summer: An Overview

An Overview

E-readers make it simple to tote dozens, even hundreds, of books on the go. Of the eight e-readers we're highlighting here, all but two models employ a paper-like E Ink display for easy-on-the-eyes text that you can read in bright sunlight. Two LCD-based devices make the cut, too: the Barnes & Noble Nook Color, which does a great job of rendering text, and the nearly ubiquitious, multipurpose Apple iPad 2.

RIM Misfortune Tied to Not Being Competitive

Blackberry phones just aren't that desirable anymore, and that's why device maker Research in Motion is having so much trouble.

For years, the company has released dated hardware designs with last-gen specs, but more importantly, the Blackberry software experience hasn't kept up with the competition from Apple and Google. Blackberry phones suffer from a lack of apps and a general feeling of sluggishness that you just don't find in other modern smartphone platforms -- a point that seems painfully clear to everyone but RIM.

 

The numbers tell the story.

Having beat expectations and seen its profits rise quarter after quarter in the past, RIM's latest earnings left a sour taste in investors' mouths. The company missed analyst revenue forecasts, which had already been lowered earlier in the year, and lowered its outlook for the second fiscal quarter of 2011.

To cut costs, RIM will lay off an undisclosed number of employees. Shares fell sharply.

It's hard to say which company, Apple or Google, played a bigger role in RIM's misfortunes. Both the iOS and Android mobile operating systems have ascended to the top of the smartphone sales race, and yet their possible reasons for gobbling RIM's market share are slightly different.

For consumers whose Blackberry phones are starting to look stale, Android is the best alternative in terms of hardware. Users who are skittish about ditching physical keyboards will find plenty of options in Android, and will enjoy more apps, a better browser and higher-quality cameras than Blackberry phones currently offer.

As consumers have lost interest in Blackberry, they're flocking to Android more than ever, according to desirability rankings from Nielsen. But not far behind is the iPhone, whose sales have doubled over the last year. Surely some Blackberry users are willing to throw down their physical keyboards in favor of Apple's slick iOS interface. And we've yet to see the effects of iMessage, a Blackberry Messenger clone that allows for unlimited text messages between iOS devices. When iMessages launches as part of iOS5 this fall, Apple will go for RIM's jugular.

Meanwhile, RIM has failed to stop Apple's tablet dominance. The Blackberry Playbook, while promising, is undercooked with no native e-mail or calendar apps and a lack of apps from third-party developers. Tablets aside, the Playbook's slick QNX operating system could be the key to RIM's future and may ultimately be ported to smartphones, but the company seems to be in no rush to get there. QNX was nowhere to be seen in RIM's 2011 Blackberry phone roadmap.

RIM's latest bad news on the financial front should be no surprise. Apple and Google have been eating RIM's lunch for too long, and now the company may finally be going hungry.

Game Over: Five Reasons the iPhone 5 Will Dominate

Apple reinvented the mobile phone, and revolutionized the smartphone when it introduced the iPhone. It has been surpassed in overall market share by the me-too, copycat Android OS, and Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 is a worthy challenger as well, but this fall Apple has an opportunity to set the bar for the industry once again, and leave the competition in the dust with the iPhone 5.

 

1. Verizon (et al). The iPhone 5 will be the first new iPhone model introduced since the exclusivity with AT&T ended (no, the white iPhone does not count--not even a little). The Verizon iPhone 4 has been a huge success anyway, but many Verizon customers held off knowing that a new iPhone is just around the corner, and not wanting to be shackled to an iPhone 4 with 18 months left on the contract. The new unlocked iPhones will make a difference as well.

2. iOS 5. Apple has already shared with us the details of iOS 5. The new iOS will finally free the iPhone (and iPad) from the PC--syncing and updating wirelessly instead of requiring a physical connection to a USB port. The improvements in the iOS mail client, the addition of iMessage, tabbed browsing in the default Safari browser, and the behavior of the Notification Center will all contribute to the success of the iPhone 5.

3. iCloud. Along with iOS 5, Apple will also officially launch iCloud around the same time the iPhone 5 is expected. iCloud will enable effortless, seamless syncing of email, files, music, contacts, calendars, and other content between the iPhone, iPad, and Windows or Mac PCs.

4. The Specs. The iPhone 5 is expected to (or rumored depending on your perspective) to use the same dual-core A5 processor Apple uses in the iPad 2. The processor really just plays catch up to the status quo rather than blowing rival smartphones away, but Apple somehow squeezes better performance and a superior experience out of equivalent, or even inferior hardware.

5. The Camera. The smartphone is quickly replacing the point and shoot, and emerging as the camera of choice for most consumers. It has already put the nail in the coffin of the Flip video camera. But, there is more to digital photos than maxing the megapixels, and most smartphone cameras take inferior quality photos. Speculation suggests that the iPhone 5 will have an 8 megapixel camera, with dual-LED flash for better low-light photography, and that the iPhone 5 camera will set the bar for smartphone photos.

Some of this is based on speculation--we don't really know what the camera functionality or hardware specs will be just yet. But, just the things we already know for a fact are enough to make the iPhone 5 the king of the hill and leave all smartphone competitors playing catch-up.

Thoughts on Nokia N9

Yesterday Nokia unveiled the Nokia N9, a MeeGo powered smartphone that will be available later this year.

Let us remind ourselves of some of the specs: 3.9-inch display (854 x 480), MeeGo 1.2, 1GHz processor, polycarbonate unibody design, MicroSIM, 1GB RAM, 16 or 64GB storage, NFC, Bluetooth, Wi-FI, 3G, 8-megapixel wide-angle camera with f2.2 max aperture, 16:9 720p HD video with stereo sound, and more.

From holding and operating the N9 for a few minutes yesterday and today I can say this is a very cool smartphone. It’s unlike anything else I’ve ever tried because of the unibody made out of polycarbonate and how the display just sits in the body.

 

The body is made out of one solid piece of polycarbonate, a sort of plastic with matte finish, and the internal components sit behind the display. There is no door on the back, which you open to get to battery and SIM card, it’s just the display. The polycarbonate is also solid in terms of color, which is part of the material through and through. This means the color isn’t just a thin layer on top so if you scratch the N9 a bit, even in the scratch it should be the same color.

The display fits seamlessly with the body in a manner I’ve not experienced before and the N9 feels very thin and light to hold, despite the 3.9-inch display. A Nokia representative told me that they had done research on the best size of the screen and they found that 3.9 was the largest size most people could use when holding the device with just one hand.

The display has very rich colors, fast response time, great touch feeling and should match the best in the market right now. I did not try it outside in sunlight but hopefully it will perform well there as well.

NFC (Near Field Communications) is not something new although Nokia seems to apply it to new and exciting things. I saw how a user just by touching N9 to a headset or speakers paired the two so they could start interacting using Bluetooth. This clearly shows NFC is not just for payments, although that’s where the main application still lies.

The big question I think is how does the N9 fit in with Nokia’s future strategy when it has clearly stated that Windows Phone 7 is its chosen platform for smartphones. And with N9 launching just months before we’re due to see the first Nokias running WinPhone, what’s the future path for MeeGo and Nokia?

We may find out more October 26 when Nokia World kicks off in London.

Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop said yesterday that what we now see in N9, like the materials, the manufacturing process, the design and the interface, are all things we’ll see in future Nokia devices. I don’t think he ever said MeeGo devices though, so there is even a possibility that the N9 is the first and only MeeGo device. I really hope that’s not the case as, from what I’ve seen so far, MeeGo has plenty of promise as a smartphone operating system. How it will fit in with the rest of Nokia’s offerings is a bit hard to see though. If Nokia keeps MeeGo around it will be offering mobile devices with three operating systems. Since an argument for tying up with Microsoft in the first place was so that Nokia could innovate faster and get better products out quicker, keeping MeeGo while also going WinPhone doesn’t seem to make much sense.

Availability of apps is of course an issue, as it already is with Symbian. Qt is the development platform for Symbian as well as MeeGo, so presumably it won’t take developers that much work to turn a Symbian 3 app into a MeeGo app. Just how much- or little- work it will take we’re still not sure of. And it would seem that to really attract customers’ attention Nokia needs to go beyond its current Ovi Store offerings and expand on them. That way, users will have a greater range of choice and more likely to find high quality apps for their N9 smartphones.

Finally, price will of course also matter but let’s not kid ourselves into thinking this will be cheap by any means. I don’t think Nokia has confirmed anything but from what I hear a range of €400-500 seems likely, with 16GB and 64GB models on offer. That seems expensive to me but if the N9 is considered cool and hip enough when it goes on sale, there will be plenty of people who will buy it anyway.

Top SEO Services

Digital Marketing or Internet marketing has been used widely by the entrepreneurs and large business houses to reach their target customers. Companies engaged into providing SEO services are widely in demand as the internet revolution continues further to link our lives. Many factors go into to make a SEO project successful. These factors can be keyword, web content, link building, page titles etc. A website needs to be architected around the keywords so as to maximize the visibility. To obtain such effective keywords, the services of a good Online marketing consultants play a significant role.

The services that these consultants provide range from link building, social media marketing, directory submission, RSS feed etc. These services are explained below:

Link Building Services: 
Link building is a technique for effective search optimization. It is one of the best ways to increase traffic on a website. Through link building, two websites agree to show the link of other's website on their website. This technique is worth the money clients pay for. Companies offer various link building plans to their clients.

Social Media Marketing: 
Social networking sites enjoy highest number clicks every day. So marketing the client's website by submitting the links to these sites become the best way to reach the target audience. Through SMM companies help their clients to increase their brand awareness and make them more competitive. The SMM plans may vary from one month to six months.

Directory Submission: 
There are much software through which the websites and their links are submitted to the list of directories to jump up the search ranking. These directories are seen as the valuable source of information by the users and provide a one way link to your website.

RSS Feed Submission: 
This is the technique most popularly used. Consultants offer the clients to submit the RSS feed of their website to the different directories so that whenever their website is updated it appears on the directory link at the top.

Online Press Release Submission: 

The traffic to a website can be increased by submitting the link to daily online press release websites. Clients are encouraged to use this service as it is the effective way to maximize their brand visibility and increase traffic for their web content.

Blog Submission: 
This service is usually provided along with the directory submission. Through this technique the links to the client's website are submitted in various popular blogs.

Content Writing Services: 
Many SEO consultants provide the content writing services to their clients so that they can blend the web content of a site effectively with the keywords, Meta description or Meta tags.

Deep Link Directory Submission: 
This service is availed by the clients to market the inner pages of their website as it also contains the information regarding the company and their products. This is useful when the website is large with many pages.

TriMove The New.....

I get it- the hubless wheel has yet to reach its full technical potential, but set aside your speculation for just a moment to admire this striking trike concept. Most three 3-wheelers combine the worst of motorcycles & cars: no leaning into corners, exposure to the elements, & no lane splitting- but the narrow, tilting 3-wheeled TriMove has all the agility & aerodynamic styling you’d expect from a fierce motorbike. It’s triangle footprint provides balance even when it’s not moving. And the three disc braking system means it requires far less braking space, making for an exceptionally fool-proof bike that doesn’t sacrifice style.

Easy Cap!

One of the things with refrigerated soda bottles is unscrewing the cap can be a bit tough. A little bit of physics applied to a cap redesign does the trick to making things easier. The teardrop shaped Easy Access Bottle Cap is perfect. I can’t see why we can’t standardize this across all bottles. It’s ergonomic and smooth. Looks kinda cool too.

 

 

A Phone That Speaks Your Language

The Transducer Mobile Phone Concept breaks down the language barrier by being the perfect translator between you and the other caller. It has this cool function that allows all incoming calls to be translated to your preferred language and vice versa. Amongst other features like GPS, transparent LCD and mesmerizing color effects, you can use the phone to communicate with the hearing & sight impaired folks. Far-fetch but a concept we’d love to see become reality.

The digital scan feature allows you to read translated books, poster, menus etc. as well as turn text into audio feedback. I think I’m more sold on the fact that it looks sleek and pocketable.

In 2020 We Can Wear Sony Computers On Our Wrist

Our present need for internet connectivity is so profound that secondary devices like the Nextep Computer are bound to happen. Developed to be worn as a bracelet, this computer concept is constructed out of a flexible OLED touchscreen. Earmarked for the year 2020, features like a holographic projector (for screen), pull-out extra keyboard panels and social networking compatibility, make the concept plausible. Ten years from now is not too far away, so how many of you think we’d be buying such gadgets?

Top 5 Essential SEO Tips and Techniques

Search Engine Optimization is the thing between large enterprises and small and felt the hot topic on the World Wide Web. Not only because everyone wants to access the page of major search engines, but because it brings more traffic, more sales and better enables the company to Goodwill in the global platform. This article includes a list of five SEO tips and essential techniques, if used correctly can do wonders for your site.

Build a great website-Make SEO-friendly URLs

Optimization of search engines is often considered the next activity, but the fact is - the sooner you use SEO better its performance. An attractive Web site is the best way to succeed at the major search engines. Be sure to choose a URL that is SEO friendly, the design of a website that is both search engine and user friendly. Use appropriate keywords in your URLs and file names, but do not overdo it.

Do keyword research at the start of project

No matter how keyword research and SEO to do when your company website is old, it can never provide the kind of SEO search results and keyword at the beginning can provide. If you're on a tight budget and can not consult experts use free versions as seo your keyword tracker AdWords.

Open a PPC

Whether Yahoo Search Marketing, Google AdWords or something, opening an account CCP is the best way to get the actual search volume for your keywords. PPC, even if it costs money, the best way to reach the home page and get instant visibility.

Using a unique and relevant title and meta description on every page

The page title is the most important on page SEO factor. In addition, meta description on every page should have a Meta tag description can not help ranking, but it is certainly in the code snippet below the list, because it must include relevant keywords and must be written to help researchers click on the listing .

Add to novice users create high content, only

While the introductory page of Google, but if the site is easy to use, you risk losing all your comments soon. It 'nice to have an impact on search engines, but in the end users and site visitors are responsible for the increase or decrease in revenues of the company. a user-friendly design of your site and make sure that you create a great and unique content, so that visitors can easily understand and appropriately.