Gaming on the Apple iPhone

Since Apple launched its iTunes Application Store in July 2008, iPhone and iPod touch users have downloaded more than a billion “apps” - city guides, translation dictionaries, travel tools, photo-sharing widgets and restaurant-finding applications - on to their devices.But it is the unexpected success of the iPhone and iPod touch as a gaming platform that has taken everyone by surprise.The touch-screen interface and motion-sensing capabilities of Apple’s devices have allowed video-game developers to experiment with new kinds of gameplay. Instead of simply bashing buttons, as on a conventional hand-held games console, players instead tap the screen of their iPhone, or move the device itself, to control on‑screen action.Games account for 14 of the 20 most popular paid-for iPhone and iPod touch applications of all time, and six of the top 20 free applications.While games companies such as Sony and Nintendo are largely dismissive of the threat posed by the iPhone and iPod touch in the portable gaming space, they ignore the platform at their peril. Apple has sold more than 35 million touch-screen devices worldwide since July 2007, creating a huge potential audience for a growing number of game developers who are making titles specifically for Apple’s gadgets.
And a recent software update has enabled the use of micropayments in applications - this means that users will be able to make in-game purchases, splashing real money on virtual weapons, armour and new levels, generating more revenue for Apple and game makers, and keeping players engaged with their favourite games.

Read rest of entry

Windows Mobile to be Windows Phone!

Now, this is one rumor we seriously wish remains a rumor. So, someone from Microsoft's naming department (we made that up, alright) seems to think Windows Mobile, the age old mobile operating system needs a name change. And why not? In the midst of the Androids and the OSX'es of the world, Windows Mobile juts out like a Ford Model T in the midst of a dozen Lamborghinis.So, after zillions of round table conferences and board room meetings, they seem to have come up with the "Windows Phone" moniker for the revolutionary Windows Mobile 7 (sigh) OS that is set to hit the shelves by next year. This is not the first time we have seen Microsoft's obsession with the word "phone". In fact, earlier this year, we had heard of the same name crop up and then die a natural death. If the rumors have sprung up again, it more or less looks likely that this one might just not remain a rumor.Why would someone want to change something that's been doing so well? Windows Mobile is still cool! Why fix it if it's not broken Microsoft?

Read rest of entry

Researchers identify critical iPhone security flaw

Researchers have identified a critical iPhone security flaw that could allow hackers to take control of the shiny device. Although Club Cupertino was warned of the ulnerability in July, it has yet to issue a patch or even comment on the issue.Security experts Charlie Miller and Collin Mulliner explained that the public needed to be cognizant of the fact that iPhones were at least as vulnerable to attack as personal computers."If we don't talk about it, somebody is going to do it silently," Mulliner told Reuters at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. "The bad guys are going to do it no matter what."According to Mulliner, hackers could exploit the flaw to prevent users from making calls, acccessing the Internet and exchanging text messages. He added that the two have already tested the hacks on four German carrier networks. The hacks - which are reportedly enabled by an SMS memory corruption bug - were also successfully implemented over the AT&T network in the US.

Read rest of entry

How To Improve Your IT Job Skills

By D M
SOURCE:With courtcy of:http://www.howtodothings.com/careers/a4502-how-to-improve-your-it-job-skills.html



Staying on top of your game in the IT job market requires constant re-skilling. This is what attracts many people to IT in the first place; it is always changing and evolving at a fast clip. So whether you would like a job in a new area of computing, you would like to advance with your company, or you simply want to retain your current position, follow these steps to improve your IT job skills.

1. Check to see if you company offers in-house training. It's a competitive IT market, and companies want to retain their talented IT staff. Many companies offer in-house training, either in small classes or off of the corporate website. This is likely to be in areas of IT that the company is looking to expand or augment, so if you are interested in going into a new area of IT within your company, this is something to consider. This is also a good way to brush up on your current skills. Perhaps there is a new version of your programming
language; these kinds of classes will help you stay current.
2. Check to see if your company offers tuition reimbursement. Many companies will offer to pay for classes you take to improve your IT job skills. They may have a set-up with a local college, or may allow you to choose where you go. Some companies have a cap of tuition allocation, so if you want to...
2. pursue schooling whose tuition is beyond your company's support, consider how you will pay for it when tuition reimbursement ends.
3. Talk to other parts of the IT department (and others) to see where your company is going as far as new technologies. Your boss may be impressed that you are looking to keep current with what the company is doing, and that you have enough company loyalty to want to branch out. HR is also a good link to what jobs your company will soon be looking to fill.
4. Request catalogs from local colleges. Because they often get more funding per student from the state, a lot of community and state colleges have the most cutting-edge IT classes. Once you have a sense of what direction of IT you would like to explore, looking through the catalogs from local schools is a great way to find a way to improve your IT job skills.
5. Consider online classes. Your company (or one you would prefer to work for) may be deploying a rather esoteric technology that local schools don't teach. You likely can find an online class that teaches it. Talk to your boss to see if you can do this on company time. If not, then consider it an investment in your future career. You'll be glad later.
6. See if your alma mater offers free or low-cost programming classes to alumni or the spouses of alumni. If you are still located near where you went to school (or if they offer online tutorials/classes), your college is likely to offer classes at a fraction of what you paid - or would pay - for tuition. These may be classes just for alumni, or they may be the actual classes that current students are taking. Either way, you will gain new IT job skills that are complimentary to the curriculum
that you were initially taught.

You will need to improve your IT job skills sooner or later if you plan on staying in the field. If you consistently stay current with new technologies, then you will be assured of getting and keeping a job that you'll love!

Read rest of entry

Microsoft Released Silverlight 3 !!!

Report By Jano
Microsoft has rolled out Silverlight 3 with a lot of new stuff including the Smooth screening feature. Silverlight is a browser plugin that enables rich media experience, audio playback, vector graphics and animation. Silverlight 3 was released a day early, as it was supposed to be out officially on July 10. Currently, Silverlight 3 supports Internet Explorer 6/7/8, Firefox 2/3 and Safari 3/4 browsers - no support for Opera and Chrome browsers.Microsoft's Silverlight is a direct rival of Adobe Flash and is available for download from Microsoft's Silverlight site.This new Silverlight 3 RTW (3.0.40264.0) version brings along a number of features, including Smooth Screening, GPU hardware acceleration, H.264/AAC/MPEG-4 Video support, and out-of-the-browser experience without any additional plugin downloads. Thousands of other API features are enumerated by Tim Heuer, program manager for Microsoft Silverlight. Microsoft touts that Silverlight 3 brings streaming of high-definition video in full screen with stutter-free live and on-demand video. For a demo of Smooth Screening, head to this special link for checking out the Smooth Screening experience of playing HD video at any point of time, instantly. The third version will allow streaming of 720p HD content over the web with an ability to Pause and Rewind the video.The GPU hardware acceleration support will allow this framework to make the best of the available graphics in the user's system. Apart from that, version 3 is a mash up of streaming video and offering Rich Internet Applications experiences. Developers would be able to create Silverlight based apps so that videos can be seen even if the browser is shut off.

Read rest of entry

World Has 2,000 BlackBerry Apps

Report By Jano
In just over 4 months, Research in Motion managed to get double their applications on their App World store for the BlackBerry in hopes to get more Apple users on their side. This will be pretty hard to achieve, seeing that the iPhone App Store now has about 50,000 applications up and running.Although they're not even close, RIM is pretty happy with the number of apps, saying that "it doesn't matter whether it's 40,000 or 2,000, you've still got a broad range of choice".This month, RIM's 2,000 BlackBerry apps will be available to users in France, Italy, Germany and Spain, with Brazil and India to follow in the coming months.

Read rest of entry

The first men to walk on the Moon

Report By Jano
The crew of Apollo 11, the first men to walk on the Moon, helped their families plan for their deaths before they launched, memorabilia to be sold at auction has revealed.When the crew of Apollo 11 set off for the moon in 1969, they were feted as heroes and praised as pioneers.But mementoes to be sold at an auction commemorating the mission's 40th anniversary shows how the three astronauts secretly feared they may be on a one-way ticket – and how they helped their families to plan for their deaths.With insurance companies unwilling to cover them for such a treacherous venture, and aware that government compensation in the event of their demise could be modest, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins dreamed up an idea for securing their loved ones' futures: autographed first-day covers.One of the signed envelopes – bearing the Apollo 11 mission emblem and postmarked at Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, on July 16, 1969, the day of the launch – is among 400 lots going under the hammer in a sale of rare space memorabilia at Bonhams auction house in New York."Since we were unable to obtain adequate life insurance due to the high risk nature of being an astronaut, we signed this group of covers and evenly distributed them to our families for safe keeping while we performed our mission," explained Buzz Aldrin, 79, in an accompanying letter certifying authenticity."If an unfortunate event prevented our safe return, the covers would have provided a limited financial means of support to our families."The auction, one of many events marking the anniversary later this month, is expected to draw bidding from space enthusiasts and collectors around the world, and raise at least $1.5 million. (Report By Jano)

Read rest of entry