Opera Releases Opera Mobile 10.1 Beta for Android

"Android users now have a better choice when it comes to using a browser on their mobile devices," was the statement used by Lars Boilesen, chief executive of Opera Software, when he announced that Opera Mobile 10.1 beta is available for Android devices. Opera claims the have the best page loading, fluid panning, scrolling, and zooming features which are better than any other browser. He added, saying "With Opera's new browser for Android, we give users the opportunity to access the Web, using the best tools available."

Now Opera Mobile's new pinch-to-zoom feature lets the user choose the level of zoom of their choice, even equivalent to the zooming offered in the desktop version of Opera. The previous version of the Opera mobile browser only allowed two levels of zoom while browsing; one for full page reading, one zoomed in to read text. But now, text will be rendered at a per-character level, allowing for much greater zooming flexibility.

Google Gets Sued For Its Toolbar Software

 The complaint was filed in federal court in San Jose, California, which claims that Google has deceived its users who download the software of its toolbar, which is suppose to search and browse the web, to believe they can disable features that transmit personal data to the company. Hence in the lawsuit Google Inc. of violating users’ privacy rights because its Toolbar software allegedly transmits their Internet activity to the company.

The complaint filed on Nov. 5, filed on behalf of Jason Weber of Brooklyn, New York, states: “With products such as Toolbar, Google acquires a great deal of information about users’ Internet activities, adding to the already substantial information it acquires by providing a search engine, network advertising, and more.”

Microsoft Launches Windows Phone 7

After Apple and Google if Microsoft wants to survive in the race of smartphone, it desperately needs Windows Phone 7 to be a major hit. Frankly it's the only way to get back in the game. Gartner has predicted that Microsoft's share of the worldwide mobile OS market will boost from 4.7% in 2010 to 5.2% in 2011 if this release of Windows Phone 7 goes as expected. However, he further predicts that since the competitors Apple and Google continue to gain control of the market with the iPhone and Android, the company's share might ultimately fall back to just 3.9% by 2014 respectively.

Microsoft's primary launch partner for Windows Phone 7 is AT&T Wireless. The carrier is now offering the Samsung Focus and HTC Surround, both for $199 with a two-year contract. Although the devices are requiring a minimum data plan priced at $15 per month, AT&T also offers the no-contract versions of the phones for $499. Afterward it is rumored that AT&T plans to introduce a third Windows Phone 7 smartphone, the LG Quantum.

On the other hand, the second U.S. carrier for Windows Phone 7, T-Mobile is selling the HTC HD7 for $199 with a two-year contract and minimum, $15 data plan. Whereas, T-Mobile will soon launch the Dell Venue Pro at a later date as well.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Hits The Stores

This Tuesday, on November 9th, Activision launched Call of Duty: Black Ops for all three major consoles; the PC, Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS.

New ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops’ puts the player in various roles as soldiers "behind enemy lines.” Mark Lamia, head of Activision's Treyarch Studio, declared that “Players can also play co-op with zombies.” Obviously all the fan players expect it to be picking up from where the previous version of the game ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,’ left off. But upon inquiry, Lamia only promised an "incredibly deep" experience for gamers.

A video game retailer, GameStop, reported today that this game "set a new record with reservations,” as the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops continues, although it is reported to be going very well up till now. Bob McKenzie, GameStop's senior vice president of merchandising, said that Black Ops has outdone "any other title in GameStop's history."

‘Rockmelt’ – The New Social Browser Released!

     This Monday, RockMelt released its beta version, with the angle that it's the most personalized browser experience available. It is acknowledged as social browser. To set up the browser, the user has to log in to their Facebook account, which makes the left-hand margin of the window a personalized map of available Facebook contacts. On the other hand, the right margin emphasizes more on Twitter, and the user can instantly share their current website, which they're browsing in the main window, through either platform with a "share" button. 
     Tim Howes, co-founder of this new web-browser announced "At RockMelt we are reinventing the browser for the way people use the Web today, we think this has changed dramatically from the way people used it just a few short years ago. But all the browsers available today, although they've gotten a lot faster, are still just about navigating web pages. We built features into the browser to address people's three top browsing behaviors: interacting with friends, consume news and information, and searching."

     More interestingly, RockMelt has used the same technology to build the browser, which was used making Google Chrome, believed to be the current prototype in speed and ingenuity of web-browsing. For a Lehman, this technology, titled Chromium technology, means that it's really fast. Pages load when your search results appear, so the user skips loading time for each individual page.

Google Announces Another Search Feature Called “Instant Previews”

 This Tuesday Google announced, "Instant Previews" this feature is a follow-up to Instant Search, a feature Google unveiled, less than a month before, which updates search results as people continue typing. Again last week, Google said that people who own an iPhone or a smart phone running Google's Android software can use Instant Search too. Now ‘Instant Previews’ means that now people searching on Google will soon be able to see previews of the actual website pages before clicking on them. It is primarily meant to help people look-over the websites that are either irrelevant or simply too visually jumbled for their tastes. This feature will not only work for Google Web searches, but also the searches for news, video and local businesses as well.

After clicking on an icon of a magnifying glass, users will be able to see a quick picture of the website within a tenth of a second; this picture will be displayed in the white space to the right of the search results. Just as Google's image search results these the preview images will also vary in size. Google has specifically designed such previews so they never eclipse the search results or clutter the page. It is also mention that a box above the picture zooming in on the section of the website where the search terms appear. The search terms will be highlighted in that box.

Amazon.com Announces Newspaper Publishing For Kindle

On Monday, Amazon.com announced that starting December 1, it will give newspapers a 70 percent of the revenue if the digital versions of published newspaper editions were sold in Kindle Store, presenting a great chance for the newspaper publishers to earn more profits in the digital world. According to a New York Times report, last year Amazon was only giving newspaper and magazine companies about 30 percent cut of the revenue.

Amazoon.com, the online retail giant is also providing publishers with a brand new tool called Kindle Publishing for Periodicals. The program is specifically designed to speed up the process of producing a version of the newspaper, for the many platforms, where Kindle software will be downloadable.

Blacksheep, just a Firefox add-on protects against Firesheep hackers

Firesheep is the new highly popular hacking tool, which is now-a-days the biggest concern of almost every open Wi-Fi networks user. It's actually a bit of code that will allow just about anyone to access your web accounts via session hijacking. Hence it basically, puts everyone browsing on a non-password-protected Internet connection, like the Starbucks network, at risk for having their accounts accessed by a total stranger.

But now thankfully a Firefox add-on, titled BlackSheep, makes surfing on open networks safe once again. Also another way around this issue is to use a VPN every time you log on via an open network. Bitter fact about that method is that on-average loads of Internet users, take this kind of work-around as a pure hassle; moreover many people care more about convenience than security.

Apple Takes Over Wi-Gear, Their Stereo Bluetooth Headset Makers!

Apple was never know for its Bluetooth support, which over the years created an open opportunity for third-party companies like Wi-Gear and others to make A2DP adapters for iPods and other Apple products. Wi-Gear, also made stereo headsets called the iMuffs with the promise that you will be able to "Cut the cord and truly be free!"

It is now reported that Apple has purchased Wi-Gear, which obviously brings not only the company's mastering technology but also, at least, one of its co-founders, Micheal Kim, as well - Says 9to5Mac. Michael Kim is now said to be the "iOS Bluetooth Engineer" at Apple Inc. now, while Wi-Gear itself has finished its own operations, according to its site.