HTC's profits soar on Android surge

HTC's first-quarter profit has almost tripled, driven by strong demand for its handsets - particularly those running on the Android operating system

The company, which has just overtaken erstwhile industry giant Nokia in terms of market capitalisation, said its first-quarter net profit was T$14.83 billion ($511 million), well above analyst predictions of T$12.99 billion.

"That its first quarter would be above expectations was well foreseen, Q1 seasonality was better than expected," said Bonnie Chang, an analyst at Yuanta Securities in Hong Kong.

Growing demand for phones running on Google's Android platform will help the smartphone market grow in 2011, the analyst said, boosting companies such as HTC and Samsung Electronics who are betting on the platform.

The smartphone market is likely to grow 58% this year and 35% the next, according to research firm Gartner, which also believes Android handsets will account for half the market by next year.

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UK needs "early warning system" for solar flares

The Government isn't prepared to face the potential disruption from solar flares taking out power and communication networks, according to academics looking into the threat.
Electricity and communications networks would be at a significant risk from a major solar event, according to a recent symposium attended by international scientists, industry representatives and Government.
“No-one really knows what would happen, but we need to be prepared, and the industry would like some sort of early warning system,” said Jim Wild from the department of physics at Lancaster University.
No-one really knows what would happen, but we need to be prepared
“There hasn't been a really big event since 1859, when a 'coronal mass ejection' made a huge impact on the internet of the age, creating lots of problems with the telegraph system.”
NASA records of that 1859 Carrington Event show that the power surge caused spark discharges that shocked telegraph operators and set the telegraph paper on fire.
According to Wild, the problems stem from solar eruptions that send out a huge geomagnetic surge, which crashes into the Earth causing disruptions in the magentic field.
“These electrical surges travel around the earth and they look for the easiest route, so they will use cabling rather than the actual earth,” he said. “The problem is that we have national and continental power grids and these include hundreds of transformers that are all earthed so they can be damaged and take down the grid."
“And because it is a grid the effects wouldn't be on one transformer it would be on laods of them across the networks – it would take months and billions of pounds to repair.”
Given sufficiently accurate warning, scientists believe they can better prepare to take action against solar flares to protect the system.
“You might be able to to take some transformers offline or reduce the load if they were more vulnerable,” said Wild, noting that turning off the grid could lead to serious problems.

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Record 64 flaws to be fixed on Patch Tuesday

Microsoft is issuing a security update to fix a record 64 vulnerabilities, including a months-old MHTML flaw.

Of the 17 patches, nine are rated critical and eight are important, according to Microsoft. They cover flaws in Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, Visual Studio and more.

The update addresses a MHTML flaw uncovered in January. Google said last month that the vulnerability was being used in "politically motivated" attacks against its users.

"This is a huge update and system administrators should plan for deployment as all Windows systems including Server 2008 and Windows 7 are affected by critical bulletins," advised Amol Sarwate, manager of the vulnerability research lab for security firm Qualys. "Frequently used office applications like Excel 2003 through 2010 and PowerPoint 2002 through 2010 are also affected."

Paul Voss, senior response communications manager with Microsoft, said the software giant would also shut down several security alerts, including a critical one in Server Message Block Browser.

"Microsoft assessed the situation and reported that although the vulnerability could theoretically allow Remote Code Execution, that was extremely unlikely," Voss said in a post on the Microsoft security blog. "To this day, we have seen no evidence of attacks."

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Facebook seeks control of datacenter hardware

Facebook wants to get in on computer hardware as well.

The company said it had teamed up with some of tech hardware's biggest names - including HP, Dell, AMD and Intel - to launch the "open compute project".

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the project aimed to offer specifications and designs for more power-efficient computers that are specifically geared toward running web services, shared openly with other companies.

"What we found over time is that a lot of the stuff that the mass manufacturers put out wasn't exactly in line with what we needed and what other social apps needed," Zuckerberg said.

By sharing design specifications, he said he hoped to increase availability and demand for the specialised servers.

Under the deal, Dell will build servers based on Facebook's technical specifications, while a company called Synnex will act as overall vendor for the systems.

The technology will power servers in the social network's first custom-built datacenter, in Oregon. Until now, Facebook has leased datacenters for its infrastructure.

The technical infrastructure that powers websites such as Facebook, on which more than 30 billion photos, videos and other types of content are shared by users every month, plays a key role in a service's performance.

According to Facebook, the new servers will be 38% more energy efficient and cost 24% less than off-the-shelf products used to power its service.

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Nokia: Symbian is not open source

Developers have reacted angrily to Nokia's move to lock down the Symbian code, saying it's no longer open source.

The company confirmed, confusingly, that Symbian would now only be available to existing collaborators under an “open and direct” model, with the code locked away from the general public.

“Nokia is making the Symbian platform available under an alternative, open and direct model, to enable us to continue working with the remaining Japanese OEMs and the relatively small community of platform development collaborators we are already working with,” the company said in a blog post.

Your 'open' is a lie. You aren’t an enabler. You can’t be trusted to keep your own promises

“Through these pages we are releasing source code to these collaborators, but are not maintaining Symbian as an open-source development project.”

According to the company, the Nokia Symbian License provides access to Nokia’s additional Symbian development tools only for parties which already collaborate with Nokia on the Symbian platform.

Developers may be able to get access to the code if their registration is approved by Nokia, but Symbian is shut to the general public, the company said.

The Symbian community, which extends further than immediate collaborators, said the move was disingenuous and forum posters suggested Microsoft was behind the decision to close Symbian.

“Now you’re playing the woolly words game again,” wrote one poster in response to Nokia's announcement. “Semantics, shemantics. Your 'open' is a lie. You aren’t an enabler. You can’t be trusted to keep your own promises.”

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Report: students "addicted" to gadgets

Connected youngsters are officially “addicted” to their gadgets, according to a global study.

In research that will surprise few parents, the University of Maryland study showed that students around the world suffered vivid cravings when access to web-connected devices was withdrawn for 24 hours.

“If you are under 25, it doesn't matter if you live in the US or Chile or China, Slovakia, Mexico or Lebanon: you not only can't imagine life without your cell phone, laptop and MP3 player, you can't function without them,” the report said.

More than 1,000 respondents expressed feelings of anxiety and depression as a result of going digital cold turkey, with one respondent explaining she had to take the battery out of her mobile phone so she could physically hold it even if it wasn't switched on.

I'm panicking not knowing what is going on in, not just the outside world, but also my world. My friends, my family, my life

The research included UK students at Bournemouth University, who documented their reactions and highlighted that the addiction could have physical symptoms, according to the report.

One UK participant reported a raised heart rate and increased anxiety after only five hours of the experiment. “I'm panicking not knowing what is going on in, not just the outside world, but also my world. My friends, my family, my life."

Researchers were not only surprised by the level of dependence, but the fact that students around the world were equally likely to stress about losing access to their digital lifelines.

"Perhaps naively, we assumed that we would find substantial differences among the students who took part in this study," said project director Susan Moeller.

"But it quickly became apparent from looking at the student demographics and narrative comments that all responders in this study were digital natives. Digital natives have no passports."

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Sony Japan: NGP to Ship on Time After All?

First it's on, then it's off, and now Sony's end-of-year NGP launch is back on again, according to a Sony Japan spokesperson who says a Bloomberg NGP "delay" story got Sony bigwig Jack Tretton's comments "wrong."

Nikkei reports that Sony Corp doesn't expect its PlayStation Portable successor to be delayed after all, and that plans to stagger the launch were in the offing from the get-go. Also: That Bloomberg misunderstood (or misrepresented) comments by Sony Computer Entertainment America president and CEO Tretton.

"So far we see no impact from the quake on our launch plan," said Sony Computer Entertainment Japan spokesperson Satoshi Fukuoka. "So far" meaning "not out of the woods yet," of course.

My read: Tretton probably meant repercussions from the March 11 Japanese quake/tsunami have the potential to disrupt NGP launch plans (pretty much conventional wisdom, right?) and Bloombeg misread that to mean "could cause Sony to stagger the launch," instead of simply "could impact Sony's existing plans to stagger the launch."

So yes, someone still has to wait. Dutch gaming site NG Gamer reported in February it'll be Europe.

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Download Need for speed Shift 2 UNLEASHED Megaupload

The critically acclaimed SHIFT franchise returns to the track with SHIFT 2
UNLEASHED. The most immersive racing experience to date brings the True
Drivers Experience to life with all the intensity and exhilaration of being
behind the wheel and competing in the Drivers Battle. From the all-new
helmet cam to night racing to frighteningly real physics and crashes, SHIFT
2 UNLEASHED delivers all the violence and excitement of race day in a
groundbreaking authentic racing experience
2. extract the files then burn the iso file on CD 
3. Install the game.

 

minimum Config 

 Windows XP, Vista or 7, Processors Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GHz or AMD Athlon
 X2 64 2,4 GHz, 2 Go  RAM, Card graphic 512 Mo, 7 Go disk space 
 

Downloads links

 Part1

 Part 2

 Part 3

 Part 4

Part 5 

 Part 6 

  Part 7


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how to hide any folder without programs

how to hide any folder without programs


first go to start > run > cmd

attrib +h +s folder link
attrib -h -s folder ilnk

thank you and remember to like us on facebook

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How to lunch a web page with the right click on any folder

How to lunch a web page with the right click on any folder

First go to start > run > notepad 

the paste the following code in the notepad

@ echo off

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" www.upgrad-pc.blogspot.com

you can replace Firefox by any explorer

save by any name followed by .bat

go now to start > run > regedit

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell

right click and new > key 

 

i name it upgrade pc  now right click and new > key  name it command

go to the registry value and double click and paste the link of the bat file

Results

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How to turn off your Computer after a certain times determined by you without programs

How to turn off your Computer after a certain times determined by you without programs :

First go to start >> Run >> shutdown -s -t 3600 >> OK

u can choose any time u want .. but in second 1h=60x60=3600s

To cancel it .. just Go to Start >> Run >> shutdown -a >> OK .. and ll stop the shut down operation !!

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Internet Explorer 9 Reaches 3.6 Percent of Windows 7 Users

Microsoft's new browser, Internet Explorer 9 (IE9), accounted for 3.6 percent of Web browsing in March, according to browser market share numbers released early on Friday by Internet analytics firm Net Applications.

This significantly trailed more established browsers like Microsoft's own IE8, with 51.2 percent, Firefox 3.6, with 19.5 percent, and Google Chrome, with 15.2 percent. But on Windows 7, IE9 was still ahead of the other major new browser release last month—Firefox 4, which saw 2.8 percent usage share. But IE9 only runs on Windows 7 and Vista, while competitors Firefox and Chrome still support the more popular but aging version, XP, which still claims 54 percent global usage, according to Net Applications.

Worldwide browser market share on all operating systems showed IE in all versions continuing its decline, from 56.77 percent in February to 55.92 percent in March. Over the same period, Firefox rose slightly from 21.74 percent to 21.80 percent, and Chrome made the most significant move of the three, increasing from 10.93 percent to 11.57 percent.

In the U.S. alone, however, the picture is different: across all versions, Internet Explorer gained 0.19 percent for a 72.44 percent share, while Chrome and Firefox declined by 0.10 percent and 0.08 percent, respectively.

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Google adds "+1" button to search results

Google is adding a new feature to its search engine that lets you upvote search results. The feature has been named +1 (plus one), which, as you probably know, is commonly used on forums and similar discussion mediums to indicate that a person agrees with a previous post.

Sites that appear in search results will now have a +1 button next to them, allowing you to recommend a specific page or advertisement. Google displays the sites that you and your contacts have +1'd so you can instantly see who recommends what and make your decision accordingly.

"The beauty of +1's is their relevance -- you get the right recommendations (because they come from people who matter to you), at the right time (when you are actually looking for information about that topic) and in the right format (your search results)," the company explained.

"Say, for example, you're planning a winter trip to Tahoe, Calif. When you do a search, you may now see a +1 from your slalom-skiing aunt next to the result for a lodge in the area. Or if you're looking for a new pasta recipe, we’ll show you +1's from your culinary genius college roommate."

The service could eventually include other networks like Twitter and it might show how many people across the Internet have +1'd a specific result. Google also hopes websites will add a button to their pages so you can +1 things from around the Web -- similar to Facebook's "Like" button.

The feature is being rolled out slowly and English-speaking users should be able to opt-in through the company's experimental search site. It remains to be seen how successful +1 will be, especially given Google's recent failures in the social domain (namely Google Wave and Buzz).

Unsurprisingly, new feature is already facing criticism. "Why would I '+1' a link to a page before I've seen whether I like it and why would I go back to the results if I've found the best result?" asks Alex Rainert of Foursquare. Do you have any initial thoughts on +1? Will you opt in?

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Gmail Motion: Google's April Fool's prank

New Delhi: Continuing its tradition of April Fool's hoaxes Google unveiled another 'new feature'. This time for its popular email service, Gmail. The new fabricated Gmail feature is called Gmail Motion.

According to Google, Gmail Motion is the company's "first attempts at next generation human computer interaction." Users will be able to control Gmail without the aid of a keyboard or mouse. Messages can be composed and replied to using only the human body.

Never the one to miss out on the little technical details, Google has put up detailed videos explaining how the thing works and have also posted a motion graph, to explain which body actions can perform what functions on Gmail as well as some safety precautions. That's not all, Google also announced that it was bringing Gmail Motion to Google Docs later in the year.

But unlike some of its previous All Fools Day hoxes, Google reveals the plot a bit too soon. The joke is revealed soon after a user clicks on the 'Try Gmail Motion' button.

Google's history of April 1 jokes can be traced back to 2000 when they announced the launch of MentalPlex, when Google asked its users to focus on a swirling spiral and project a mental image of what they wanted to search for and the results page displayed humourous error messages.

MentalPlex was followed by PigeonRank, where Google claimed that it used pigeons for its PageRank system. Other notable Google's April Fool pranks include Google Gulp, Gmail Paper and Google TiSP.

Google also had a number of non-hoaxes on April 1. The biggest was the Gmail launch in 2004, something that many had thought to be a hoax.

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