Apple iPhone 4 Review !!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW YORK: Apple’s new iPhone, its fourth in four years, reached stores this week. Ordinarily, this is where you’d expect to find a review of it. But honestly -- what’s the point?

The iPhone 4 is already a hit. AT&T says it received 10 times as many preorders as it did for the iPhone 3GS last year. On the first day of taking orders, Apple processed 600,000 requests -- before its ordering system, and AT&T’s, descended into chaos.

In short, the public seems to be perfectly capable of sniffing out a winner without the help of tech critics.

On the other hand, the new model won’t do anything for people who detest the iPhone. It wouldn’t matter if the new iPhone could levitate, cure hepatitis and clean your gutters; the Cantankerous Committee would still avoid it.

Despite the strong initial, positive reaction, this must still be a nerve-racking time to be Apple; the iPhone is no longer the only worthy contender. Phones running Google’s Android software are gaining rave reviews and packing in features that iPhone owners can only envy.

The Android app store is ballooning, multiple phone makers are competing, and Google updates the software several times a year. Apple releases only one new model a year, so the new iPhone had better be pretty amazing to compete. It is.

The first thing you notice is the new shape. Despite a beefier battery (16% more likely to last a full day), a faster processor and upgraded everything, the new model is still noticeably thinner and narrower than before.

How is that possible? In part, the trick was squaring off the back. It’s no longer gracefully curved -- a design that, if you think about it, created wasted space around the rectangular components.

The new iPhone is two glass slabs, front and back, wrapped by a stainless-steel band. The result is beautiful, and since there’s no more plastic, it feels solid and Lexus-like. But it no longer feels like a soothing worry stone, and it’s now impossible to tell by touch which way it’s facing in your pocket.

The new metal mute and volume buttons are much stiffer. Still, Apple says the iPhone 4 is the world’s thinnest smartphone, and most people will approve of the trade-offs.

Apple issues advice to avoid iPhone flaw

The iPhone 4 integrates the antenna into the case

Apple has released official advice for iPhone 4 owners to overcome the problem of the device losing signal when held by the lower left corner.

Steve Jobs responded to a query about the problem from one owner by saying: "Just avoid holding it in that way."

The official advice is to "avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band".



Alternatively, said Apple, customers could buy a case to shield the antenna.

The iPhone 4 went on sale on 24 June, with hundreds of people queuing outside Apple's flagship store in central London for the launch.

Many new owners reported that signal strength dropped when the phone was held.

In a statement, Apple said: "Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas."

Steve Jobs issued his response in a message responding to an e-mail from the Ars Technica news site.
Mr Jobs wrote that "All phones have sensitive areas".

The problem is thought to be particularly acute for left-handed owners who naturally touch the phone in the sensitive area.

The casing of Apple's latest phone is made of stainless steel, which also serves as its antenna.

Apple sells a rubber "bumper" that shields the sensitive area as do many other firms.
Richard Warner, one of the first to buy an iPhone 4, contacted BBC News, saying that he thought the phone was "useless in its current state".

"Apple have created a phone that has an antenna on the bottom left-hand side of the phone."

"This means that when you hold it in your left hand, the signal bars slowly fade until there is no signal," he wrote.

'Complaints'

A number of videos have been posted on video sharing site YouTube complaining about the reception issue.

One video had an American user running a speed test, with hands on and hands free.

In it, the user 'awington' says that, while holding the phone "it won't even run the test when I am holding the phone... once I let go, it makes a connection and runs the test.

"Hold it a second time, and the upload test will not start."

Social networking site Twitter was full of chatter, with numerous tweets on the reception problems.

The issue might stem from the way the integrated antenna is constructed. One section provides mobile reception, while another is for wi-fi.

Some users have speculated that touching the bottom of the phone bridges this gap, affecting signal strength.

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone 4 at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, he described the integrated antenna as "really cool engineering".

German TanDEM-X satellite returns first images

 

Choppy Indian Ocean waters (yellow) contrast with the calm Baie de Diego (blue)

Germany's new radar satellite, TanDEM-X, has returned its first images.

The spacecraft was launched from Kazakhstan on Monday on a mission to make the most precise 3D map of the Earth's surface.

The pictures demonstrate the platform is in excellent health and ready to team up with the TerraSAR-X satellite launched in 2007.

Together, the pair will trace the variation in height across the globe to a precision of better than two metres.
 

The runways at Moscow-Sheremetyevo airport are strong reflectors

This digital elevation model (DEM) will support a multitude of applications, such as the programming of navigation computers in military jets to enable them to fly ultra low. The data will also be given to relief workers to show them where an earthquake has wrought most damage in a city.

Infoterra GmbH, the company with exclusive rights to commercialize the TanDEM information, says the market for radar products is steadily growing.

The new images depict a landscape in Ukraine, the north of Madagascar, and Moscow.

The pictures illustrate neatly the particular specialism of using radar to sense the planet's surface.

In the Madagascan data, for example, the choppiness of the waves in the open stretches of the Indian Ocean can be contrasted with the smooth reflection of the radar signal from the enclosed, clam waters of the Baie de Diego.

And in the image of Moscow-Sheremetyevo airport, the flat concrete surfaces of the runways appear as black lines because the radar beam has been very efficiently reflected away from the satellite.

TanDEM-X is flying in a polar orbit that is ever so slightly inclined to the one occupied by TerraSAR-X, some 514km above the planet.

The intention is to make TanDEM-X fly an extremely tight helix around its more established sibling.

This should be achieved by October. At times, the two satellites will be separated by as little as 200m.
 

Fields and forests in Ukraine
The pair's radars work by constantly bouncing microwave pulses off the ground and sea surface. By timing how long the signal takes to make the return trip, the instruments can determine differences in height.

The compact orbital dance will give the pair "stereo vision", by enabling them to operate an interferometric mode in which one spacecraft acts as a transmitter/receiver and the other as a second receiver.

Three-dimensional image acquisition is expected to start in earnest in January.

The seamless DEM of the Earth's surface will be built up over three years of joint operations.

Ultimately, it should have a vertical resolution of 1-2m and a spatial resolution of 12m - far superior to any previous global data set.

The TerrSAR-X/TanDEM-X venture is operated on the basis of a public-private partnership. The Germany's space agency (DLR) owns the hardware; satellite manufacturer EADS Astrium has developed and built the technology; and Infoterra GmbH processes and sells the data.

Sperm whale faeces 'offset CO2 emissions'

 

Sperm whales may put a gentle (and unwitting) brake on climate change

Sperm whale faeces may help oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the air, scientists say.

Australian researchers calculate that Southern Ocean sperm whales release about 50 tonnes of iron every year.

This stimulates the growth of tiny marine plants - phytoplankton - which absorb CO2 during photosynthesis.

The process results in the absorption of about 40,000 tonnes of carbon - more than twice as much as the whales release by breathing, the study says.

The researchers note in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B that the process also provides more food for the whales, estimated to number about 12,000.

Phytoplankton are the basis of the marine food web in this part of the world, and the growth of these tiny plants is limited by the amount of nutrients available, including iron.
 
Faecal attraction

Over the last decade or so, many groups of scientists have experimented with putting iron into the oceans deliberately as a "fix" for climate change.

Not all of these experiments have proved successful; the biggest, the German Lohafex expedition, put six tonnes of iron into the Southern Ocean in 2008, but saw no sustained increase in carbon uptake.

 

The Lohafex expedition was the latest to probe iron fertilisation

Although 40,000 tonnes of carbon is less than one-thousandth of the annual emissions from burning fossil fuels, the researchers note that the global total could be more substantial.

There are estimated to be several hundred thousand sperm whales in the oceans, though they are notoriously difficult to count; and lack of iron limits phytoplankton growth in many regions besides the Southern Ocean.

So it could be that whale faeces are fertilising plants in several parts of the world.

Crucial to the idea is that sperm whales are not eating and defecating in the same place - if they were, they could just be absorbing and releasing the same amounts of iron.

Instead, they eat their diet - mainly squid - in the deep ocean, and defecate in the upper waters where phytoplankton can grow, having access to sunlight.

Releasing the iron here is ultimately good for the whales as well, say the researchers - led by Trish Lavery from Flinders University in Adelaide.

Phytoplankton are eaten by tiny marine animals - zooplankton - which in turn are consumed by larger creatures that the whales might then eat.

The scientists suggest a similar mechanism could underpin the "krill paradox" - the finding that the abundance of krill in Antarctic waters apparently diminished during the era when baleen whales that eat krill were being hunted to the tune of tens of thousands per year.

Nintendo unveils 3D game gadget

Nintendo has unveiled its new 3D handheld gaming system at a briefing in Los Angeles at the E3 games show.

Called 3DS, the system can display 3D images that can be seen without using special glasses.

Nintendo said the novel handheld is designed to replace the existing DS and is scheduled to be on shop shelves in late 2010.

The gaming giant said it had overhauled the graphics system on the DS to bring it into the 21st Century.
 
Playing Mickey

The 3DS handheld has two camera lenses which enables owners to take and view photographs in 3D.

One difficulty Nintendo faced in creating the gadget was the incompatability between creating a 3D screen and a usable touch-screen interface.

Consequently on the 3DS only the top screen displays 3D while the lower screen is a functional touch screen.

At its briefing Nintendo showed the first game that will be released for the 3DS called Kid Icarus Uprising.

One other feature new to the 3DS is an always-on wi-fi connection that will automatically feed levels and updates to players. Nintendo said the net service behind the always-on updates will be free to use.

Nintendo said several 3DS titles were in development including DJ Hero 3D, Saints Row: Drive-By, Resident Evil Revelations, Batman, Assassin's Creed Lost Legacy and Metal Gear Solid.

At the event Nintendo also showcased a number of new titles that included Donkey Kong Country Returns, a new Legend of Zelda called Skyward Sword, Mario Sports and, after a 13-year gap, Goldeneye 007 for the Wii.

Veteran game developer Warren Spector was also at the event to show off his new game Disney Epic Mickey - a 3D action adventure with a heavy Role-playing element set in the Disney universe.

Gamers play as Mickey Mouse who travels around a dynamic 3D world in which he can use paint or paint thinner to create or destroy the environment which will have a direct effect on how the game plays out.

Mr Spector has developed a number of classic gaming titles in the past such as Deus Ex and System Shock.

Microsoft slims down Xbox console

Microsoft has launched a slimmer and more powerful Xbox 360.

Slimmer Xbox 360 going on sale this week

The new console - to be launched this week - will have the same price as the old system, but comes with Wi-Fi and a 250 GB HD.

It follows a similar move by Sony, which released its own slimmer edition in August 2009.

The announcement was made ahead of the E3 games convention in Los Angeles, at which the firm showcased its range of forthcoming games.

The event also saw the first public viewing of Call of Duty: Black Ops, the latest edition in the popular Call of Duty series.

The new edition is set during the Vietnam War and takes the players through the tunnels of South Vietnam and into the jungles of Laos.

The game will hit the shops on 9 November this year.
 

 

The slimmed down console has 130GB more storage than present models

Microsoft said a new deal with Call of Duty's publisher Activision would see all add-on and map packs for the game being released on Xbox 360 first, and that this deal would last for the next three years.

The event, less than 12 hours after it unveiled the final version of its hands-free control system Kinect, also had offerings from Hideo Kojima, the man behind the Metal Gear Solid series with Metal Gear Solid: Rising; Gears of War 3; Fable 3; and Halo Reach, the latest in the long running series.

Microsoft also fleshed out details of the games, as well as software that will be supported by Kinect.

After the success of Wii Sports from rival Nintendo, it was unsurprising that Microsoft are to follow suit, with Kinect Sports boasting six different events, from javelin, to boxing and volleyball.

The firm also demonstrated Kinectimals, a virtual pet that allows users to adopt and play with their favourite animals.

Kinectwill launch on 4 November 2010 in North America, with Europe expected to follow a few weeks later. Microsoft said there will be 15 different Kinect titles at launch.

The firm hopes these new games will help it stay ahead of its arch-rival, Sony PlayStation, which has seen a resurgence in sales over recent months.

Last year, the firm unveiled a number of games that were once the sole domain of the PlayStation, such as Grand Theft Auto and Assassins Creed.
 
Exclusivity

An exclusive title can mean a significant lift to hardware sales, as gamers are forced into a single platform if they want to actually play it. Halo did much to boost the Xbox 360 when it was launched, as did Metal Gear Solid for the PlayStation 3.

However, the price difference between the two systems at the time meant that there were more sales for Microsoft's system than Sony.

Since the two systems launched, an unofficial price war has been waged between the two firms, with Sony reducing the price of the PS3 from £420 at launch to £249.99 ($299 in the US) and Microsoft now selling its Xbox 360 Elite for £199 (down from its original £299 price tag at launch).

Both firms say that their price cuts are not influenced by competitors decisions.

Sony has denied there will be any further reduction in price for the PlayStation 3 at E3, with Sony's
UK Sales Director - Mark Howsen - telling the British games industry magazine MCV that there had been "no discussion internally about that at all".

"We're enjoying good year-on-year growth and as long as that continues we'll keep on going I think".

Microsoft unveils Xbox 'Kinect' motion controller

Microsoft has revealed final details of its Xbox 360 hands-free motion control system, which it has rebranded Kinect.

The device, which was originally codenamed Project Natal, was showcased ahead of the opening of the E3 games expo, which starts on 15 June in LA.

Microsoft has said Kinect will hit shelves before the end of the year.

It will face competition from Sony's PlayStation Move controller and Nintendo's upgraded WiiMotion Plus.

Both are expected to feature at the E3 expo, which runs from 15-17 June.

Kinect was shown off at a glitzy event alongside compatible games, which support the new hands-free interface and, in some cases, the facial and voice recognition capabilities.

These ranged from jumping and flying games to a yoga simulator and Star Wars shooter, in which players control a virtual light sabre and use hand gestures to control action on the screen.

There was also a virtual pet, which can be controlled and played with using Kinect. Microsoft says it will release the full details of its games at another media event on 14 June.

Another Kinect game that was demoed on the night was Dance Central from MTV Games which allows the player to coordinate their dance moves in time to an on-screen prompt.

Although less than two minutes of it was shown, with No Doubt's Hella Good track thumping in the background, it illustrated the various new markets that Microsoft hope its new controller will expand into.

Although an exact release date for Kinect has yet to be announced, some retailers have already published web pages in anticipation.

Game says it will be available on pre-order from 13 June 2010.

'Shady' porn site practices put visitors at risk

Visitors to porn sites are at serious risk of being exploited by cyber criminals, a study has suggested.

It found that many sites harboured malware or used "shady" practices to squeeze money out of their visitors.

 
Intense competition means porn sites compete for visitors 
 
By creating their own porn sites researchers found that many consumers were vulnerable to known bugs and loopholes.

Competition among porn sites makes the online adult industry ripe for abuse by hi-tech criminals.

"They have almost inadvertently created a whole ecosystem that's easy to abuse for cyber crime on a large scale," said Dr Gilbert Wondracek, a computer security expert from the International Secure System Lab, which led the study.
 
Hidden danger

Dr Wondracek said the team embarked on the study to find out the truth of the widely held view that porn sites are dangerous to visit.

"There are studies looking at the profitability and economics of the industry but we are the first to come at it from a security and more technical point of view," he said.

Statistics suggest that approximately 12% of all websites offer pornography of one sort or another and that 70% of men under 24 browse these sites.

As a first step the researchers trawled pornographic sites to classify what they found and how the industry was structured.

 

For the average user it might be hard to tell an honest porn site from a dishonest porn site

Dr Gilbert Wondracek International Secure System Lab

The big distinction was between free sites and those that charge for access. Typically pay sites produce content they give to free sites to drum up traffic.

More than 90% of the 35,000 pornographic domains analysed in the study were free sites.
The researchers analysed the 269,000 websites hosted on the 35,000 domains to see which hosted malicious software. About 3.23% of these sites were booby-trapped with adware, spyware and viruses.

Many others used "shady" practices to keep visitors onsite. These included javascript catchers that made it hard for people to leave a page.

Others use scripts that re-direct visitors so when they click on a link they do not see the video or image they were expecting but are passed to an affiliate site.

The vast majority of sites engage in this trading of traffic or clicks, said Dr Wondracek.
"Visitors are being abused as click bots," he said.

As most sites were free, the only resource they could exploit as a revenue source was this traffic.

"It's cut-throat competition," said Dr Wondracek. "Everybody tries to get as much traffic as possible."
 
Finding victims

Traffic is used in many different ways. Popular sites sell it to those looking for an audience, some is used to direct visitors to affiliates who provide content and sometimes it is used to boost rankings in search engine indexes.

It could also be a great way for hi-tech criminals to get a ready source of victims, said Dr Wondracek.

To test this idea the researchers created two adult sites of their own, populated them with free content from porn producers and spent $160 (£108) to get traffic piped to these sites.

Analysis of the 49,000 visitors sent to their sample sites showed that 20,000 were using a computer and browser combination that was vulnerable to at least one known exploit.

"As an attacker you want to make your life easier," said Dr Wondracek. "If you can have these 20,000 people come to a place instantly, why not?"

With many porn sites appearing in the top 100 most popular sites on the web this could mean that huge numbers of people are caught out when they browse for adult content.

While relatively few porn sites were infecting visitors, it is difficult to spot good from bad, he said.

"For the average user it might be hard to tell an honest porn site from a dishonest porn site until you click on something," he said.

Dr Wondracek recommended that anyone visiting porn sites keep their security software up to date and use the "safe browsing" modes found in many browsing programs.

The researchers presented their results at the Workshop on the Economics of Information Security held at Harvard from 7-8 June.

Adobe fixes 'critical' Flash flaw

Adobe has fixed a "critical" security flaw that had the potential to allow hackers to take control of affected computer systems.

Adobe's Flash software has become a favourite among hi-tech criminals

The bug was first spotted in early June week following a small number of targeted attacks.
The security update is one in a bumper update package that fixes a total of 32 documented vulnerabilities.

Adobe's Flash and Reader software have emerged as prime targets for hi-tech criminals in the past year.

Users running Windows, Macintosh or Linux were all thought to be vulnerable to attack.

Security firm Websense said the flaw was being exploited via e-mails that prompted recipients to open booby-trapped websites seeded with malware.

Users visiting the websites would have their computers infected with trojans and other malicious programs that opened a backdoor into the machine.

Adobe urged users to apply the update as soon as possible.

Adobe said it would release an update at the end of June for its Reader and Acrobat programs which addresses a similar bug that makes it possible to booby-trap PDFs.

Adobe is reportedly considering patching its applications more frequently after a quarterly update cycle for its Acrobat and Reader programmes last year.

In 2009, Adobe announced an aggressive programme to beef up security after hackers increasingly focused on finding holes in its products.

'Huge release'

The security update came in the release of version 10.1 of the Flash player.

"Don't let the version number fool you! Flash Player 10.1 is more than a 'dot upgrade'," said Paul Betlem of Adobe's Flash Player engineering team.

Mr Betlem said the update was a "monumental undertaking" that made significant changes to the architecture of the software.

Adobe estimates that more than 95% of computers worldwide have Flash Player installed. Many sites use it to show off multimedia content such as videos and games.

Wired called the latest release "significant" and said the underlying code has been largely re-written to address the platform's key shortcomings, most notably battery problems and security issues.

"This is obviously a huge release for Adobe, as it comes at a time when the company is under attack for its platform's pitfalls," said Michael Calore at Wired.

Chief among Flash's critics is Apple boss Steve Jobs who wrote an open letter explaining why he refused to have Flash on products such as the iPhone and iPad.

He claimed that it was "the number one reason why Macs crash."

Google Dumps Microsoft Windows Company-Wide -- Blames Windows For China Hacking Attack

Well, Google has taken the next step in its world domination plan, banning Microsoft Windows from internal use.

Employees will be given the choice between Apple's Mac OS and Linux.

Adding insult to injury, Google is also publicly citing Windows security problems for the decision and blaming Windows vulnerabilities for the China hacking incident.

So that's 20,000+ Windows licenses that won't be sold and renewed at Google in future years.

Given that Google is in the process of introducing a competitive platform and operating system (Android/Chrome), this move isn't surprising.  The important question for Microsoft is whether other companies will follow suit.

Google is phasing out the internal use of Microsoft’s ubiquitous Windows operating system because of security concerns, according to several Google employees.

The directive to move to other operating systems began in earnest in January, after Google’s Chinese operations were hacked, and could effectively end the use of Windows at Google, which employs more than 10,000 workers internationally.

“We’re not doing any more Windows. It is a security effort,” said one Google employee.

“Many people have been moved away from [Windows] PCs, mostly towards Mac OS, following the China hacking attacks,” said another.

New hires are now given the option of using Apple’s Mac computers or PCs running the Linux operating system. “Linux is open source and we feel good about it,” said one employee. 

“Microsoft we don’t feel so good about.”

How Important is Body Language !!!

Body Language Speaks Volumes

 

• Up to 93 % of communication is non-verbal. Including tone of voice, eye movement, posture, hand gestures, facial expressions and more. The pressure of body language can especially be felt in emotional situations. Body language usually prevails over words. Are you good at reading body language?
• The eyes communicate more than any other part of the human anatomy. Staring or gazing at others can create pressure and tension in the room. Gangs have fought over the way someone looked at them. Researcher suggests that individuals who can routinely out gaze another develop a sense of control and power over others not so inclined. Maintained eye contact can show if a person is trustworthy, sincere or caring. Shifty eyes, too much blinking can suggest deception. People with eye movements that are relaxed and comfortable yet attentive to the person they are conversing with are seen as more sincere and honest.
• Eyebrow muscle draws the eyebrows down and toward the center of the face if someone is annoyed. If someone is empathetic and caring during dialogue the eyebrows will not show the annoyed facial grimace.
• The smile: There are 50 or so different types of human smiles. By analyzing the movements of over 80 facial muscles involved in smiling, researchers can tell when a smile is true. Look for the crinkle in the skin at the middle, outside corner of the eyes and if it is not there, the smile is probably fake. Authentic smiles are smiles that "crest" or change rapidly from a small facial movement to a broad open expression.
• Bodily cues are the most reliable of all nonverbal signals of deception to help you read body language. This is because a person generally has less conscious control over these than other signals. (Springer, 1996; Ekman & Friesen, 1974). Hand-to-face gestures and shrugs are strong markers of deception. Playing with or touching things nearby during conversations has been found to be associated with deception (Cody & O'Hair, 1983). Deceivers also are likely to have increased illustrator activity--quick and animated use of hands/arms during speech.
• Vocal cues can predict deception. More and lengthier pauses during conversation; a lot of such sounds as "uh," "um," word repetitions; intruding sounds not part of the actual speech, less lengthy answers or explanations where they would be expected to be.
• Space is important. Personal space is needed and if it is invaded intentionally and at times by oversight can cause an individual to feel uncomfortable or threatened. Studies have shown that individuals that do not respect others space are less popular and often rejected by others.

•  

• Gestures communicate. Hand signals can communicate without the use of any speech. Touching communicates. Touching can be friendly or it can be aggressive. The way a person stands reflects their level of confidence and comfort level. If a person stands tall so to speak they are seen as more confident. If someone is standing with their hands on their hips that can indicate aggression or alertness. 
• When you interact socially develop your listening and observations skills. The above are a guide for looking for the clues to deception they are not fool proof.
• Watch your body language. Avoid shifting eyes and head quickly during conversation when someone asks you a question. Do not look down or to the side. Look directly at the person with a sense of confidence but not overbearing or threatening in nature.
• Note: If you want to win someone over a good rule of thumb is to mirror his or her body language. Read their body language and follow their lead.