TechNewSpace

Google Chrome (Beta) for Android is Here

2012-02-09T16:16:00.001+01:00

At sometime yesterday, Google launched the mobile version of its very very popular browser, Chrome for it's ubiquitous smart phone operating system, Android.

What does this all mean for the average user?
It means you can now surf the web on your android-driven mobile device (phones plus tablets) using the "super-fast" browser. A few tricks have also been backed into the new platform including:

View open tabs: Access the tabs you left open on your computer (also signed into Chrome)—picking up exactly where you left off.
Get smarter suggestions: If you visit a site often on your computer, you'll also get an autocomplete suggestion for it on your mobile device, so you can spend less time typing.
Sync bookmarks: Conveniently access your favorite sites no matter where you are or which device you’re using.

(Culled from Google's Official blog)

Like it's desktop counterpart it has two things going for it:

1. Speed

2. Simplicity

It remains to be tested by the numerous fans and devices that run Android OS. From Google's blog, this might only be compatible with it's latest iteration of it's OS, Ice Cream Sandwich (I stand to be corrected). If you are not a faint hearted geek, you can hit the link to Android Market where you can download to your heart's content and fire away!

Possible Samsung Galaxy SIII ?

2012-01-27T17:17:00.000+01:00

It is possible that Samsung wants to release a new version of its flagship and wildly successful smart phone: the Galaxy SII. Amid a frenzy type speculation, CNET has released a video of fact round ups.

However as another blogger says, now might be a good time to grab the salt shaker. Watch at your own risk.

What's Up with SOPA/PIPA - Internet Blackout Day

2012-01-18T16:54:00.000+01:00

So the American congress is planning to sensor the internet? Can they do that?

I didn't even know what SOPA or PIPA stood for 24hours ago until a good friend of mine alerted me on twitter - asking me what my take was.

Well, I admitted I didn't know what it was and decided to dig and read up. To my amazement, the long and short of the story was that the American congress wanted to pass or propose a bill to practically shut down the freedom in the internet. How? Read on

Above is image of the popular Wikipedia.org protesting the proposed bill. Many internet giants and companies have followed suit including Google (who are even sponsoring a petition signing here)

So what is SOPA/PIPA?
According to 1stwebdesigner: PIPA is an acronym for the Protect IP Act, and was first introduced to the U.S. Senate on May 12, 2011 by Senators Patrick Leahy, Orrin Hatch, Chuck Grassley. It is also good to take note that PIPA is a re-written legislation, the original being the failed to pass Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) of 2010.

And...

"SOPA is an acronym for the Stop Online Piracy Act, and is a bill introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives by Represenative Lamar Smith on October 26, 2011. In similarity with PIPA, SOPA is a build on a previous legislation. This legislation being the PRO-IP Act of 2008."

They say when this bill is passed, Senate or congress or whoever else can practically look over your shoulder and determine whether you are violating intellectual property and then go ahead to force you to either take it down or face the music. For details on the bill check here.

Here's a document (PDF) that shows a list of opposers to the bill.

#OccupyNigeria adds a New dimension by Hacking National Website.

2012-01-06T16:52:00.002+01:00

Nigerians are taking to the street to protest the removal of government subsidy from the price of petrol. The country is one of the top 10 exporters of crude oil in the world but still imports huge amounts of refined petroleum product in order to service its more than 150 million people.

Until now, the nations citizens have enjoyed low prices of petrol or premium motor spirit (pms) due to government aided subsidy. However, on the 1st of January 2012, the govt. of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (Nigerian president) announced that they were removing the subsidy which cost them the neighbourhood of 1.3trillion naira in 2011. This, they said, will enable them repurpose the savings into building non-existing and dilapidate infrastructure for its people.

The problem: no one believes them any more.

Protesters have taken to the streets in several states of the federation, calling these rallies #OccupyNigeria (in the manner of #Occupy protests that started in the US). Social networks have been abuzz with the term and users have been venting on twitter and Facebook since the announcement. A new dimension was added when on twitter someone posted that the website of the country's ministry of transport have been hacked.

As of the time of this writing, if you visit the site of Nigeria's Ministry of Transport website, you will find the following:

Hacked Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Transport website.

And they promised to do more (just scroll down on the site). Earlier, the protest had received it's own Wikipedia entry and a dedicated website (of twitter posts with #occupyNigeria hashtag). So far, the govt. has not rescinded its position on the withdrawal so on it all goes.

What Are Your Gadget Plans for the New Year?

2011-12-31T12:06:00.000+01:00

Hi, been a while right? Well, yea! I've been busy with the holidays. How about you? Let me say, with this opportunity: HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

So what are your plans for new shinny gadgets for next year? Some of my friends are already making choices and backing it up with purchases. A few have asked my advice and I have given them what I felt was the best and some of them have gone with them with pleasing results.

A 4.3" monster in Samsung Galaxy S2 for AT&T

One actually bought a Kindle Fire (see how to set one up if you get it) here in Nigeria for a great price and later sold it making a neat 10grand from the fast deal. She later bought an AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 2 (yes, they are here in Nigeria). Even though not brand new, the phone came with a ballistic pack and seeing that AT&T still has the ad for the phone on their website, you will know that the phone is still hot on the market.

A Sony Ericsson Arc S was bought by another of my acquaintances and what a beauty. I was drooling at the picture quality, the slim design and was amazed at how light the gadget felt in my hands. Guys, you definitely have to make the right choice when you are making gadget purchases for the new year.

Lucky enough, the prices are more human than you would expect (see my previous post). I don't know if what the telcos here in Nigeria are selling things like Samsung SG2 and Galaxy Note is worth it, but if you dig deep enough you will find more friendly prices.

"What about the iPhone," you will ask, "you didn't mention it in the narrative about amazing gadgets?" If you like simplicity in your gadget operation and you have the pocket for it; if you have been eyeing the iPhone, one way or the other, do yourself the favour and go for it. That much I will say.

Happy New Year, once again and may your days be bright!

Are You Shopping with Dealdey yet?

2011-12-20T06:00:00.000+01:00

What is DealDey?

DealDey is a site where where request numbers are used to drive a bargain with vendors, service providers and various products whose owners are interested in getting new customers.

The whole idea is that you will not see the prices on items you get through DealDey any where in the market. This is because they use the number of mass buyers who are interested in a single product to bring down the original cost.

Pictured above is an example of a live bargain price showing the original prices and DealDey prices. The site has been around for a while but have begun to offer more interesting products and service in recent times. Initially loaded with cup cakes and food deals, you can now get electronics like these (haven't seen smart phones, though) every now and then.

I had a chat with their support when trying to make inquiries for a product I was interested in through their online chat and the response was quite good.

Is it safe?
This is the one million dollar question that Nigerians would be interested to know the answer to. From what I see, yes, will be the answer. They have quite a number of payment options including online card payment (with your ATM debit cards, may credit cards as well), bank payment, and payment at their physical location.

The last method will be highly comfortable for those of us who do not want to fall prey to online scammers. Yes, they have a physical location. If you are not yet convinced of what they can do or what they look like, you can take time out to visit them. (Get the address from their site at www.dealdey.com)

So how do you know when there's a great deal at DealDey?
Sign up to their mail alert system and you will not miss a deal. Are you waiting to have a massage, facial, or the total beauty package but you want it a bit cheaper? Do you need to get to wicked fashion glasses? Or buy that 42" LCD TV? Well sign up here so you can receive deals of the day direct in your inbox every single day.

How do you redeem your product or service?
Once you pay for your choice item (through any of the chosen methods), a coupon will be sent to you through sms and/or email. This coupon is what you take to the vendor to claim your purchase. Say you paid for a Samsung product (again, through any method) , you receive a coupon. Then you match to a Samsung outlet office with your coupon and claim your purchase.

I hope this helps.

Glo Target's Young Subscribers with G-BAM plan

2011-12-19T10:28:00.000+01:00

Hello again, trust you've been doing great things with your Christmas shopping list! That's alright.

Today I'll be sharing the new Glo recently launched tariff plan that was specifically designed for young people (if you are young at heart, you are also included as well)

Here are the details of the package:
Five special numbers at 5k/sec: Keep your peeps tight at 5k/sec calls to 5 friends on Glo. To Register Friends, Dial *101*1*FRIEND'S NUMBER#

Free chat: Chat all you want with Free weekend chatting. Text 'Chat' to 20805 and enjoy free chatting with friends from Friday 6pm to Saturday 6am and Saturday 6pm to Sunday 6am.

Free airtime: Earn N500 Free airtime upon SIM activation and recharge. Bonus of N100 on activation (N50 to any network and N50 to Glo) PLUS bonus of N200 each on 1st and 2nd recharge of N200 or more within 7days of activation.

Free Facebook: Socialize with your peeps like never before with Free Facebook browsing between 1am and 6am every day.

Free Night Calls: Own the night with G-BAM and share everything with your crew with Free Night Calls. Use N200 or more in 7days and enjoy free calling to all Glo numbers for next 7days between 12 midnight and 5am for next 7days.

Scholarships Stay on top of your game. Become a G-BAM scholar and fulfill your academic dreams with $5 million in scholarships for 1,000 students. Be on the G-BAM platform and you could be among the 250 students to earn $5,000 scholarships every quarter.

Free ring back tunes: Get you groove on! Come join Nigeria's hippest crew and get all you callers rocking with your free ring back tunes.

Free Glo radio subscription: Listen to songs of your choice. It's your radio on the go on your mobile. Dial 77025 to subscribe.

Calls to any network @ 25k/sec

All benefits are available at a daily access fee of N10 only.

Join the G-BAM generation today. Dial 10051# now!

New Soft tech roundup...

2011-12-12T12:13:00.001+01:00

Rapportive

Showing contact detail with Rapportive

There's an awesome service I've been using for awhile now in my Gmail that helps with identifying email senders. Rapportive helps in giving you more details of who sent u an email: if they are on any of the given social network.
Their profile appears on the right side of your inbox and you can reply to latest posts without leaving your inbox. The great thing is that the app is fluid and beautiful unlike many of it's competitors.
You can add Rapportive in your Gmail right now by visiting their website: https://rapportive.com/

Also, this app is a browser-based add-on and it currently supports Firefox, Chrome and Safari.

Google+ Circles show up in Gmail

Google has added the famous Google+ circles inside Gmail. The very first thing this brings to mind is the now-killed Buzz that was discontinued or about to be discontinued. Anyways, perish the thought, because this implementation has nothing to do with social. The only thing this does is to show emails that you have received from anyone in your Google+ circle.

Google+ Circle shows up in Gmail

What this does so very nicely, is to categorize emails already in your inbox (or soon to arrive) based on the contacts you have in your Google+ (ie if you are a G+ user). I must say that this is nicely done and in a world where everyone was using Google plus, the circle categorization could have easily replace the inbox, sent mail, draft category (or maybe not)

Any how, that's our round up. Was away on my honeymoon that's why you haven't heard from me in a while! :)

Google takes on Dealfish with Google Trader

2011-11-14T09:38:00.001+01:00

Now we know that Google is here to stay in Nigeria. The internet giant has been lurking around for a number of months now and it seems that whatever they have been cooking up is ready for prime time!

This shouldn't surprise anyone that has been following available job opportunity in the IT sphere. They (Google) have been recruiting like crazy all around the world, Nigeria included. While what I want to share with you today is not spanking new, it is still in beta phase but like most Google services beta is nearly as good as ready.

Google Trader

So what is it? What is this new service? Online market place providers should be very afraid. Providers of similar service like Dealfish, Jobberman, and other specialized platforms for car sales, job boards are going to be given a run for their money. And if Google does this right, may be it will even force some to retire.

Google Trader is the new Dealfish competitor and it's doing this in a very big way! Google Trader is offering on it's pages, a database of Cars for sales, Jobs from reputable firms, Electronics, and many other categories. It's really just an in your face copy of what Dealfish offers.

What informed Google to get into this sphere? One will never know but we can guess. The ubiquitous search engine that is run by Google are streamlined to be relevant to local markets. Nigeria is no different. This is why when you type in google.com in your browser, it redirects to google.com.ng. This, I can guess, has given Google front seat role to what has been pulling the big bucks when it comes to search traffic: what people are looking for in Nigeria.

Now they know that it is a lucrative space and they want to be a part of it. Who can blame them. Competition is always a good thing, right? For the customer in the end, that is. Anyway, that is my little contribution to your internet buffet today.

Here's to better service offerings to our deserving Nigerian onliner!

Buy Android Smartphones, Tablets & iPhones at these Prices in Lagos, Nigeria

2011-11-11T08:32:00.001+01:00

One of the things that used to tick me off was the fact that you couldn't get smart phones and tablets in the local market in Nigeria. When you do get them, they are way beyond 'normal' prices.

Samsung Galaxy range of phones

Take for example the very famous Samsung Galaxy S2 (SGS 2), MTN Nigeria sells this for approximately 100,000 naira i.e. about 650 US dollars. Even though it's been offered with '1GB' of data, which the user is highly unlikely to get, the price for this same device in the US market for example was about 600 last year, right now it's about 350 on Amazon for a brand new one.

Alright, enough said. I found a really good price for iPads, Samsung tabs and galaxys somewhere at Adeola Odeku street, in Victoria Island, Lagos.

Naira
Apple iPad
16GB/3G 89,000
32GB/3G 123,000
64GB/3G 139,000

Apple iPad2

16GB/3G 109,000
32GB/3G 123,000
64GB/3G 139,000

Samsung Galaxy Tab
8.9" 16GB/3G 93,500
10.1" 16GB/3G 97,500

Galaxy S
I9000 64,000
I9003 58,500
Galaxy S2 86,500
Galaxy Nexus 95,000

When buy a smart phone or tablet you should do a little research with sites like GSMArena.com to compare specifications and to make sure you are getting what you want.
Please leave a comment if you know where these smart phones are cheaper in Lagos, Nigeria.

Gmail is Fresh and new!

2011-11-03T17:31:00.000+01:00

Yes, Google has finally refreshed Gmail. Like I said in a status update on Google+, if you haven't upgraded to the new interface, you HAVE TO do so RIGHT NOW!

Sorry for screaming but the beauty and the usefulness, not to mention, simplicity that has been packed into the new Gmail is worth taking the leap.

Here' how to switch:
See the picture on the left? Yes that's right. At the bottom, there's a Switch to the new look link. It's as simple as that. Once clicked Gmail will do the rest. It will reload once and then you are set.

There's a URL to learn all the new features of the all spanking new Gmail. Make sure to watch the video and Happy Gmailing!

Nokia's Future: A Flexible Mobile Device

2011-11-01T11:10:00.000+01:00

I saw this video at Engadget and wanted to share it with you. I hope I'm not violating any content laws! Anyways, all credit to them for bringing this out from the just concluded Nokia World.

What I see is another game changer in the mobile sphere. What do you think?

Nokia Windows Phone Unveils Today

2011-10-26T08:46:00.000+01:00

Nokia World, an event organized by Nokia for the introduction of new products and services to the general public will hold today 26th October in London.

Even before the doors of the venue were open, rumors about two phones product launches, specifically Windows Phones, have already started flying. There's Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 according to the grapevine. Below are licked pictures of the said phones courtesy of Engadget:

Rumored Nokia Windows Phones, Lumia 800 and 710

The 800 will be pretty much the N9 but running WP instead of the unfortunate Meego. It remains to see if Nokia would be able to reinvent itself in a market that it has lost huge grounds to competitors (Apple and Android family).

Personally, I wish them well BUT they should have gone with Android. A peek at Ice Cream Sandwich will tell you why. In a few hours these rumors will no longer matter, truth will be in our hands (or eyes, as the case may be)!

New Features on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)

2011-10-20T10:18:00.000+01:00

Completely redesigned look and feel
Android 4.0

Google and Samsung must have wowed the world (they certainly did me!) when they launched the Android 4.0 (aka, Ice cream sandwich or ICS).

The latest iteration of the ubiquitous mobile operating system is aimed to kill the greatest challenge to the droid universe: fragmentation. Critics have before now hammered Android for having too many of its versions scattered in different ways and form in the minions of smartphones running the platform. Even the tablet version of the OS, honeycomb, which was initially touted to bring an end to fragmentation, was said to have added to the problem. Enter ICS.

This new OS will be pushed to smartphones and tablets alike in the coming months. Smartphones of course will be having the first taste of the cream with Samsung Galaxy Nexus (the new Google flagship phone following Nexus One and the Nexus S).

Galaxy Nexus

So what are the greatest features of the latest droid soul? Here are a few (courtesy of Engadget.com):

Swipe left or right to switch between Gmail conversations
Integrated screenshot capture by holding power and volume down buttons
Improved error correction on the keyboard
Ability to access apps directly from lock screen (similar to HTC Sense 3.x)
Face Unlock, a facial recognition service
New tabbed web browser, allowing up to 16 tabs
Browser now automatically syncs your Chrome bookmarks
Data Usage section in settings lets u set warnings when you reach a certain amount of use & disabling data when over your limit
Ability to kill off apps that are using data in the background
Camera app: zero shutter lag, time lapse settings, zoom while recording
New gallery layout, organized by location and person
Refreshed people app with social network integration, status updates and hi-res images
Android Beam, a NFC feature that lets you exchange websites, contact info, directions, YouTube, etc.
Carrier preloaded apps can be disabled

Another first from Etisalat! Custom Android Phones for 18k+

2011-10-14T13:43:00.000+01:00

The folks at Etisalat Nigeria are not sleeping - believe me when I say! Here's another really good first from Etisalat (all the other companies claiming first in Nigeria, haven't seen first for a very long time).

Etisalat has quietly rolled out a custom phone that runs on the Google's ubiquitous mobile operating system: Android. However the version they have chosen to go with is version 2.2 a.k.a Froyo that run in 45.3% of Android handsets globally (with no mention of whether it is upgradable to the latest 2.3 or Gingerbread flavour).

This move is a really nice move from the telco and this might spur others to begin customizing smart phones for the local market. It remains to see if this phone with the specs in the sheet will live up to par.

Here are the features listed for the device. My greatest concern is that there's no indication of processor speed, nor internal memory or RAM - who posted this sheet? Well, the phone does have the wifi hotspot feature, which means you can turn this device into a little internet signal giver to your laptop, tablet, etc.

Android 2.2 Smartphone

2.8 inch full capacity touch screen

Accelerometer function

HSDPA of up to 7.2 Mbps

Etisalat customized device(Hardware & Software)

Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot

Bluetooth function, FM radio and GPS functionality

3.2 MP camera.

Document viewer; word, excel, PDF, Adobe flash.

According to Etisalat, "The Etisalat Gaga Andriod Smartphone is affordably priced at N18,999. That is not all, you also enjoy special offers including:

Free monthly 50MB for 4 months (Free 200MB in total)

Cheapest call rates of 20kobo/sec with no access fee for first 4 months and for subsequent months on purchase of consistent data plans. (how will they serve people who do not qualify as purchasing "consistent data plan"

Google now speaks Nigerian Pidgin English

2011-10-13T13:08:00.000+01:00

It was hilarious when I saw our local pidgin English link offering on Google's famous homepage.

I accessed the google.com page (which redirects to www.google.com.ng because I reside in Nigeria) and saw this new development saying Google.com.ng offered in: Hausa Igbo Yoruba Pidgin. The last one is usually not there until recently.

Once you click on the Pidgin link, the page changes to this:

Many of my Naija friends will laugh at Google's attempt to speak our Naija English (and it does a good job with the choose de language wey you want and I dey feel lucky pidgin renditions) :)

The translation doesn't go beyond the front page though, but it makes feel that Google respects our culture and unique style of grammar!

By the way, the google logo is the google doodle of the day as of the time of writing this.

Video Call button now in your Facebook Chat

2011-10-12T09:09:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I observed, while chatting with a friend, that facebook has added the video call button announced a while back.

Facebook video call button

This will enable users who have video cameras or webcams attached or integrated on their computers to make video calls to the person they are having a conversation with. Provided that the recipient also has video calling capabilities.

When you first click on the video call button in your chat window (starting from clicking on someone you want to chat with), facebook servers will push a file for you to download. Click on 'save file' after which you run the downloaded file. Once set up is complete, you are ready for your first call.

Etisalat's (Nigeria) Easyblaze Internet (fast Internet)

2011-10-10T12:04:00.000+01:00

I attended the unveiling of Etisalat Nigeria's new Internet service provision that was being offered to Nigerians.

After a series of tantalizing ads from the hip network over a few weeks, the service finally was ready for the awaiting public. The ceremony was held at Silverbird Galleria and witnessed a lot of interest from the general public looking to see the latest offering from the network that seemingly brought cost of calls in Nigeria to the reach of a lot more people in the most populous black nation.

They claimed that you could get up to 42mbps of speed on their new high broadband internet service. After watching them use internet modem (like the one most people have) connection to fire up video sites including Live Aljazeera and Youtube streaming, I thought there was something interesting going on. So I dug a little deeper.

Etisalat now offers categories of internet connection on their network that would allow subscribers to take advantage of high speed internet (broadband that's finally faster than you, according to them). My only issue is that there is too much segmentation on the same internet provider and unsuspecting users would be unaware that they might not be qualified to use the fastest offering if they do not have the right devices or use the right category of subscription.

Categories of modems (according to speed that can be reached)
3.6mbps (old type of device) sold for 5,500 naira
7.2mbps, going for 6500 and
21.6mbps, yours for 11,500 naira.
Having these modems do not guarantee you receiving the speed capable by these modems. As explained to me by one of the attendants, if you are using a data package of 100MB or a daily package (100 naira), you will not be able to access the speedy connection. However anything above that will grant you instant access into the world of speed!

Of course, the category of modem that would make you watch youtube or cnn live like you are watching a video that's on your computer is the last one. And time only would tell if they would be able to sustain the speed when demand increases on the network.This could also be a motivator to the older telcos that have been in the country and offering less that desirable internet speed in congested areas like Lagos.

Hit the source link to get more info:
etisalat.com.ng

Steve Jobs is Dead.

2011-10-06T08:08:00.001+01:00

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

-- Steve Jobs, Stanford commencement speech, June 2005

Blogger has Changed -- Massively!

2011-09-28T18:47:00.000+01:00

If you are reading this via RSS or facebook, or any other medium, Tech News Space is currently spotting a new look with one of the newly released dynamic themes launched by Google for it's popular blogging platform, Blogger.

This new look is based on a new platform powered by HTML5, AJAX and CSS3 (all cutting edge web technology) .. and why not? Google had promised from the beginning of the year to give blogger a massive shake down. Now it's on. You have an array of choice to choose from.

You can access this new templates from the template option once you log into your blogger account. Locate Dynamic templates from where you normally get other templates. All processes of applying new templates remain the same.

Note: If you love your adsense and sidebar widgets and your general customized look, DO NOT go near this new feature!

Anyways, if you are not there now, this would be a good time to head on to the blog to see the change. It's clean and refreshing. And since I'm not into adsense for now, I can't say if the new template will support adsense.

How to Share a Google+ Circle with Anybody

2011-09-27T09:07:00.000+01:00

Here's a quick one for you. I just discovered you can share a circle of people you follow on google+ to any group of people (another circle, a friend, or even the general public). That's the beautiful flexibility of google plus.

Log in to your plus account and navigate to your circles. From within the circles page, find the particular circle you wish to share and click on it (no dragging, just a single click). The circle will expose links for you to share or edit or delete like below:

Click on the share link and select sharing options and viola! you are done.

If this was helpful, sign up on our RSS feed to get new post directly to your email box. Sign up below now. You can also get updates by adding us to your plus circle or following on twitter and facebook on the right column.

How to Create "Add to Circle" widget for your Site/Blog

2011-09-26T17:06:00.000+01:00

You can now create a widget to help your readers follow you on Google+. This is very similar to the "find us on facebook" widget that you find on most sites (including this one). I stumbled upon a tool to make the process of creation a breeze!A sample of the widget is found on the right column of this blog just under the facebook box. So if you feel like it's something you would want to see on your blog or site, this is go about it:

Add to circles widget for Google+

Obviously, you should have a google+ account to help you do this. And if by chance, you do not have one already, head on to google.com to grab one for yourself.To get to the tool for creating this widge, click here.

Once there you would need to log in to your Google+ account and click on your profile tab. You need to copy out your profile ID which can be found in the URL of your profile in the browser address bar. Just copy out the numbers after the https://plus.google.com/ part of the URL.In the

You will need to add the numbers you copied from your Google+ profile in the widget creator. Adjust the colour of the widget including borders and background to suit the theme colour of your website. (If you want them to be transparent, just type * in the boxes.

The rest of the settings are quite intuitive. When you are done copy the code by clicking Get Code button and paste the code in a HTML/Javascript "Add a Gadget" in your blogger Layout.

I hope this helps. Leave a comment below if you have any questions. Do sign up for our mail newsletter to get the latest posts in our mail box. Also follow us on twitter and facebook to get updates.

How to Get the New Facebook Timeline Now!

2011-09-23T10:20:00.000+01:00

I tried to follow the facebook f8 conference yesterday and all the new wonders they were adding to their revolutionary social networking platform. The big new is that the facebook page or profile or timeline (whatever you want to call it) will change - drastically. And that, in the next few days or weeks.

If you are like me and you can't wait for facebook to roll it out to everyone, here's how to get yours now! There are two ways to get it. The 1st is to sign up here so that facebook can notify you when it's time to open to everyone. For the rest of the pack, jump into the second method below:

1. In your facebook profile, type Developer into the facebook search bar. (Allow it to bring up suggestions and click the first result) Click Allow

Creating an App on Facebook

2. On the top right corner of the page that opens, click the + Creat New App button. TechCrunch says you need to have a "verified account" for this, which means that you'd need to have a credit card attached to your Facebook profile; I don't have a verified account, however, and I was able to get the new profile.
3. In the small pop up that opens, fill in the App Display Name & App Namespace with what ever you wish. It doesn't matter what. Just make sure to choose an app display name that has not been selected (facebook will tell you if the name is still available)
4. Check the agree to privacy policy check box and move right along.

Check the privacy policy box

5. Find the Open Graph link on the left hand side of the page and click. In the page that comes up, fill in a word that says what people will do (verb) with the app and a noun that describes the app.
6. You will be required to go through 3 or so other pages of saving changes. You don't have to fill anything, just click Save and Finish every time.

Mashable says it might take 5 to 10 mins for you to see the new profile, but I opened my profile in another tab of my browser and I found the notification at the top to try the new facebook. And that's it.

Facebook new profile look!

Warning: It might still be buggy. Let's explore!
Note: This version of the new timeline is a developer release that is why you had to create an app to be able to get a view as a developer. And according to facebook, only other developers will be able to see your new timeline. Other people will see your old one.
Please leave us a comment or subscribe below to get new releases of our post in your email!

Google+ Games is Here!

2011-09-22T12:12:00.000+01:00

As you may have heard, Google has launched its own games in their latest attempt at social networking. The link to the games portal has been rolling out since last week when the launch was announced.

I got to see mine today. And all I can say is that I am impressed by what I see. Take a look:

Features Facebook is Stealing from Google+!

2011-09-22T11:50:00.000+01:00

I wonder if Google will be chasing facebook with lawsuits 6 months of 1 year down the line. Since the launch of the game-changing social networking site, Google+ (G+, for short), about 6 weeks ago, Facebook has been adding features to it's own social media juggernaut at a neck-breaking speed.

Here's a roundup:

Video Chat
Although, this hasn't completely rolled out to all it's users, the very first response to G+ from FB was to go into some kind of matrimony with Skype (earlier purchased by Microsoft who has a stake in facebook). The video chat feature in Facebook falls of Google plus' Hangout that can handle group video chat.

Ability to bold in-chat text
I'm not sure if this is widespread yet or if it was just a fluke. But I was able to do the G+ signature *text* and it caused my text to turn to a bold version in Facebook chat. They have even added _underline_ which gives your text a line under it.

Group Messaging (BB Style)
Facebook just announced a messaging app for iPhones and Androids to compete with BB chat and other group messaging offerings out there. This point is included here because Google first came out with Huddle which is their own group messaging effort.

Instant Comment
One of my favourite features in G+ when I first joined was the fact that comments are reflected on post immediately - in real time (just like on twitter). Whereas on facebook, you needed to refresh your page or click on the notification to see latest comments; however, FB has began this same approach to comments. I don't think it's widespread yet, but I have noticed it in various instances especially in Facebook Groups and Facebook Messaging.

What have you found, yourself? Let me know.

So the new iPhone to be announced on Oct. 4th

2011-09-22T08:39:00.000+01:00

According to AllthingsD, the new iPhone 5 (latest iteration of Apple's legendary phone) will be announced on the 4th of October in their big product event.

Tim Cook of Apple. courtesy of AllthingsD

This product announcement will be made by the new Apple CEO, Tim Cook. Apparently, Tim has never before filled this role of making this type of announcement. So we'll see how he handles it. It's also said that he will be supported by other Apple executives on stage.

It's also said that the iPhone 5 will be on sale weeks after the announcement. So you can hold your breath!

Google plus is now Open to Everyone!

2011-09-21T09:17:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I got a post in my email from Google's official blog. Among the many things mentioned in the blog the one that stands out will be the fact that Google plus has moved to beta stage from field trial and it is now open to the general public - no more invites needed.

Here's a quote from the post:
"Anyone can sign up for Google+—no invitation required.
For the past 12 weeks we’ve been in field trial, and during that time
we’ve listened and learned a great deal. We’re nowhere near done, but with the improvements we’ve made so far we’re ready to move from field trial to beta, and introduce our 100th feature: open signups. This way anyone can visit google.com/+, join the project and connect with the people they care about."

More new features have been added

After a myriad of additions done by Plus' major rival, Facebook, in recent times, we were beginning to wonder if Google would be able to upstage Facebook with any more new additions. So just yesterday they came of with the following features. (Note that these features would not be visible to everyone at the same time as they roll out gradually to all Google servers)

1. Hangout on Air

The most awesome feature in all the new features for me would be Hangout on Air. With this, people can now literally broadcast their real time videos to the world. The spell A-W-E-S-O-M-E in every sense of the world. Imagine a Youtube user base; then imagine you can broadcast live to that audience in the same easy fashion. If this doesn't get Zuckerberg scratching his head, I wonder what will. With this you can actually become a media superstar!

2. Search - finally!

Google+ Hangout for mobile phones

So now you can search your content in Plus. The public and early adopters of the platform have been clamouring for the downright awesome search technology of Google to be added to their new social platform. And now it's live!

3. There Hangout for your Phones too

Here's how they describe this: In life we connect with others in all sorts of places, at all different times. And the connections you make unexpectedly are often the ones you remember the most. We think Hangouts should keep pace with how you socialize in the real-world, so today we’re launching it on the one device that's always by your side: your mobile phone. To get started, simply find an active hangout in the Stream, and tap “Join”

Glo Nigeria Crashes Blackberry Subscription Rates

2011-09-13T16:33:00.000+01:00

Glo Nigeria has launched a new Blackberry tariff plan (BIS). Below is a statement on what it entails and how to subscribe. On the Glo world website, they write:

"BlackBerry® complete plan is another exclusive BlackBerry® bundle service which is available with no other operator in Nigeria. You can not only stay connected to your social circle but also get 1
integrated e-mail address with app world and internet browsing."

Also, Text ‘CoMonth’ from your blackberry device to 777 to subscribe Complete Monthly plan OR text ‘CoWeek’ to777 OR Text ‘CoDay’ to 777 and enjoy 24 hour pack for just N100. This is what you get:

Package	Keyword	Service Rental	Validity	Data bundle*
Complete Month	CoMonth	N1,400	30 days	UNLIMITED
Complete Week	CoWeek	N400	7 days	UNLIMITED
Complete Day	CoDay	N100	24hrs	UNLIMITED

...and BBM + BBMail + BB-Built Social Networking & IM Apps + Internet Browsing + App World + Option for 1 integrated email address.

Really, this is the cheapest available in the telco space as of the time of writing this post. So enjoy your BB 'cos it just got cheaper!

Do leave us a comment the box below.

What is Dropbox?

2011-09-13T15:57:00.000+01:00

I started using dropbox a few months ago after many a friend introduced had sent me links to it. I didn't initially join because I had a box.net account, as well as 4shared and may be some other I never used at the time. My rationale was why get another "online hard drive?"

Well this one turned out to be different in the sense that
you have a little tiny software that you need to install locally on your machines that you intend using it on. Here's how it works. The beauty of this online storage/sharing space is in the fact that all you need to do is to drop a copy of the file you want to store/backup online in the Dropbox folder (that would appear under your main Document folder in your computer) and the software will do the rest. Synchronizing all computers where you have your account dropbox installed.

Dropbox takes care of all your devices!

1. Download Dropbox
2. Install on you PC with default settings by following prompt
3. Access dropbox anywhere; on your mobile and locally on the different computers..

Access your dropbox from the system tray near the clock

You can also use dropbox as a sharing tool by sending links to folks you want to have access to your files. They would be able to download via this link.

You get 2GB free once you sign up and can even get more than that when you refer your friends to this tool. Dropbox says: "For every friend who joins and installs Dropbox, we'll give you both 250 MB of bonus space (up to a limit of 8 GB)!" Not a bad size considering you didn't pay a dime to get it.

Do leave us a comment in the box below.

How to Export your LinkedIn Contacts to Yahoo, Microsoft Outlook and more

2011-09-12T15:56:00.000+01:00

Alright. We did cover a very similar ground with an earlier post showing how to import your facebook contacts to your yahoo and gmail accounts. Here, we'll treat how to export your LinkedIn contacts to other email clients like yahoo and Microsoft Outlook.

This is necessary when you need to reach all your contacts with a mass mail of some kind (Note: do not use this as a spamming technique). Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn offers its users the choice of being able to export connections' email accounts without having to jump through hoops and mountains.

Here's how:
1. Log in to your LinkedIn account
2. Point to Contacts and click "My Connections"

3. In my connection page, scroll down to the bottom of the page till you hit the bottom :) We are looking for "Export connections." Once you find it click it.
4. Click the option you would like to export your contacts in e.g. Yahoo csv, Microsoft outlook etc. Then click 'Export'
5. Save the download in a desired disk location and you are good to go.

Exporting LinkedIn contacts to yahoo or MS Outlook

There are little how-to import downloaded contacts, or the 'newly exported file' as LinkedIn puts it, in that export page (as shown above). However, you can import these contacts to gmail or yahoo when you choose to download the 'Yahoo! Mail (CSV file). The process is simple and it was shared here.

If this was helpful please sign up to get our post in your email by clicking here and don't forget to like our facebook fan page.

How to Import Your Facebook Friends' Contact to Yahoo & Gmail and Google Plus

2011-09-09T17:43:00.000+01:00

A lot of folks do not know that you can get the email of your friends on Facebook to other email platforms like Yahoo and Gmail. Well today is your lucky day! To get all your friends' email addresses is an important but sometimes a not-needed activity until you really need it.

Here's how to go about it.

Use Yahoo to import Facebook contacts to Gmail

You must have a yahoo email account to be able to do this. In the event that you use Gmail and want to use that awesome email platform to work with your contacts from facebook, you will need to go through a double process (don't worry, it's really simple to do). This is because the 'cold war' between
Facebook and Google is still on going and non of them would give up information to the other easily. So we use Yahoo as a mediator between them - like the diagram above suggests :)

Anyways, sign in (or sign up for a new yahoo account if you don't already have one) to your yahoo email account.
Find the 'Contact' tab and click on it. From under the 'Popular tools' click on 'Import Contacts.'

Click Import Contacts to start importing from Facebook

Next page that opens, Click on the Facebook icon and answer the question: Do you want to import Facebook contacts? by clicking Yes or Ok.

You are almost done! You will see Yahoo working hard to retrieve your contacts from Facebook. All that remains is for your to wait (this could take any amount of time depending on whether you have a lot of 'friends' on facebook and you a fast or slow Internet connection) for Yahoo to finish the importing and you are done with that.

Exporting to Gmail
When your contacts ave finished importing into Yahoo and you need to move the contacts to gmail, simply log into your gmail account. Find Contacts under Mail on the left column and click.

Click on Tools drop down menu then select Export...

Go back to the yahoo contact page and do the following:
1. Click on Tools drop down arrow.
2. Click no Export...
3. Select Yahoo CSV option and save in a destination folder of choice on your pc.
4. Now go back to the gmail contact and click on 'More' drop down arrow. Select Import... and select the location where the yahoo csv was saved. Follow the rest of the prompt and finish.

Importing to Google+
If you wish to add your friends from facebook to google plus, log in to your G+ account and click on Circles.
You must have imported your facebook friends to yahoo to be able to achieve facebook to google+ import.
Once in circles, click on 'Find People.' Links for Yahoo and Hotmail and 'Upload Address Book' will be right under the main G+ bar. Click on the one you want to import from and bam, all your contacts in them will appear in the contact space.

There you have it.

I hope this helps.

Please note: If the export button on your yahoo account does not respond, you might see the "We're sorry. Some features currently are unavailable due to technical..."
I won't be surprised if yahoo is trying to block gmail from getting contacts from its users as well. It's all part of the corporate conspiracy :)
Any how, if it doesn't work, give it some time and try again.

Adding Adsense to Single Posts on Blogger

2011-09-09T10:57:00.000+01:00

There are so many things you can do to improve your blog and em... the revenue it generates for you. So having done extensive research and brainstorming, I found that it was apt to make this little but very effective inclusion. It has been shown that adding ads to your individual blog post benefits everyone: your readers, who will see links to more relevant content, service or products and to you who will perhaps make a little more dimes on your ad publishing.

The procedure for making similar additions to your blog was gleaned from a lot of websites and blogs but one was particularly helpful. Not only did it provide the steps but an actual tool for a needed conversion was also available.

Here it is...
1. You will need to log into your blogger panel after which you navigate to the Template section where you click on the Edit HTML link under the Live Blog
preview to open up the HTML codes for your blog. Leave the tab for this open.

2. Then log into your adsense account where you generate your ad code. I chose the 250 x 250 square ad unit, you can however choose 300 X 250 medium rectangle ad unit or a 336 x 280 large rectangle ad unit. Copy the generated code and head to this blog for the conversion tool. The tool will help you convert the code generated from your adsense into the acceptable form that would not be rejected by your blog template.

3. After conversion, copy the new code and head back to your open HTML code tab from point 1 above (they say you should make sure to back up the template before tampering with the code, so you should have done so before this stage. This would avoid you going crazy when things go wrong).

4. Now check the expand your widget checkbox and hit the Ctrl+F command on your keyboard to search for the line of code: <data:post.body/>

5. Paste this next code right above it:
<b:if cond="data:blog.pageType == "item"">
<div style="float: left; padding: 5px; margin: 5px;">

CONVERTED ADSENSE CODE

</div>
</b:if>

6. Make sure you paste the converted code you got from point 3 to avoid any trouble.

That's it! Your post, old and new, will now have ads in them. Make sure you set the colors to match your blog theme so it doesn't look outrageous. However, the first home page will not have the ads in them only when individuals posts are opened.

Please leave us a comment if you liked this post and ensure to follow me on twitter and facebook fan page to get real time updates. You should also sign up to get post directly in your email. Thanks in advance.

How to add a Floating Facebook Page Share App on your Blogger Site

2011-09-07T16:44:00.000+01:00

If you have been hunting for a way to add the ever present floating side social media sharing app to your blogspot blog, well today is your lucky day. Just like you, I also was searching for something that would do the trick.

I kept looking and looking until I came across the blog post by the prolific Jide Ogunsanya in his popular Ogbongeblog.com. In fact after I followed the step by step process that follows below,
the app just showed up on this blog (I hope you have been using it to share to your audience?). Anyways the technique is simple but it takes being careful because you will lifting the HTML code below. Let's begin.

This what we are aiming for (notice the bar on the right of the image below):

Floating social media share app

In your blogger panel click on Layout and select Add a Gadget from any of the layout area.

From the gadget window, select HTML/Javascript.

Copy code highlighted below and paste it inside the HTML/Javascript box.

____________________________________________________


<style>
#pageshare {position:fixed; bottom:15%; left:10px; float:left; border-radius:5px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;background-color:#fff;padding:0 0 2px
0;z-index:10;}
#pageshare .sbutton {float:left;clear:both;margin:5px 5px 0 5px;}
.fb_share_count_top {width:48px !important;}
.fb_share_count_top, .fb_share_count_inner {-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;}
.FBConnectButton_Small, .FBConnectButton_RTL_Small {width:49px !important; -moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;}
.FBConnectButton_Small .FBConnectButton_Text {padding:2px 2px 3px !important;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;font-size:8px;}
</style>
<div id='pageshare' title="Share This With Your Friends">
<div class='sbutton' id='fb'>
<a name="fb_share" type="box_count" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php">Share</a><script src="http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/connect.php/js/FB.Share"
type="text/javascript"></script>
</div>
<div class='sbutton' id='rt'>
<a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="vertical" >Tweet</a>
<script src='http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js' type="text/javascript"></script>
</div>
<div class='sbutton' id='su'>
<script src="http://www.stumbleupon.com/hostedbadge.php?s=5"></script>
</div>
<div class='sbutton' id='digg' style='margin-left:3px;width:48px'>
<script src='http://widgets.digg.com/buttons.js' type='text/javascript'></script>
<a class="DiggThisButton DiggMedium"></a>
</div>
<div class='sbutton' id='gb'>
<script src="http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"></script>
<fb:like layout="box_count" show_faces="false" font=""></fb:like></div>

________________________________________________

4. Notice the this line in the code above:

#pageshare {position:fixed; bottom:15%; left:10px; float:left; border-radius:5px;-moz-border-

If you leave the code as it is, it will float the page sharer to the left, but if you want it to go to the right, change the 'left' to 'right' (omit the quotes) only.

5. Click 'Save' and you are done.

Let me know if it works for you. Shoot me a comment otherwise.

MTN Funlink Reloaded is now super charged!

2011-09-07T15:14:00.000+01:00

There's a previous post on MTN funlink reloaded that you might want to read to get a head start on this one.

Anyways, @MTNNG (their twitter handle) started blasting out tweets to there 30,000+ followers that changes have been made to their Funlink plan that is targeted towards their young subscribers. Below is a series of tweets carrying what they call "great news." Given that calls will be 15k/sec (9naira/min) I think, I makes for great news indeed.

Previously subscribers pay 25 Naira
daily fee to access the benefits on this tariff plan. However, MTN has now removed the fee and also added 4MB (previously 3MB) available from 12am to 4am (for the nite owl in you). The tweets:

@MTNNG: Great news!!!!! No more daily access fee, calls now 15k/sec, free Happy Hour voice calls, 40 SMS and 4MB of Data on MTN FunLink Reloaded!!

@MTNNG: No more access fee! No more access fee ! Dial *406# or text 406 to 131 to enjoy unbeatable freebies on MTN FunLink Reloaded! Great news!!!

And one more:

@MTNNG: We have also increased the free data offer from 3MB to 4MB on MTN FunLink Reloaded! Great news!!!!

I'm not sure if the 15k/sec (after the first minute of 58k/sec) which is for only MTN to MTN will do the trick but the no access fee will definitely be attractive to lot more people. (I hope you are ready for the network overload).

Samsung Rolls Out Multiple Free Internet Hotspots in Nigeria

2011-09-06T13:24:00.000+01:00

This is how companies should treat loyal and intending customers!

Browsing through my facebook wall, I saw that the giant electronics and phone manufacturer has been updating its followers with locations where they could go with their mobile devices and hook up to the Internet.

This is something new in the Internet-deprived public space in Nigeria and it is taking a well known brand to correct it.

Samsung Mobile Nigeria

Hi Peeps, we are in the process of creating free internet browsing sports for our consumers. Please find below the addresses where you can go and enjoy free internet on your mobile courtesy of Samsung Mobile:1) THE BUNGALOWS,
Akin Adesola street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
2) CAFÉ VAGENAMO, THE PALMS, Lekki, Lagos.
3) REHAB, Ajose Adeogun street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
4) BARCELOS, SILVERBIRD GALLERIA, Ahmadu Bello way, Victoria Island, Lagos.

1) SMP REVIVE, Medical road, Computer Village Ikeja, Lagos.
2) OKAY PHONES, Computer Village Ikeja, Lagos.
3) SMP MIZBEACH, Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos.
4) SLOT, Saka Tinubu street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
5) PARK AND SHOP, Adeola Odeku street, Victoria Island, Lagos

More free wi-fi zones:
1) MEGA PLAZA, off Adeola Odeku street, Victoria Island, Lagos
2) SLOT, New Barnex Plaza, Wuse, Abuja.
3) PLAN A, Emab Plaza, Wuse Plaza Abuja.
4) SIMS BRANDED, Trans Amadi, Port-Harcourt.
5) CALLUS MILLER, Artillery Aba Road, Port Harcourt

One caveat that I am sure of is that your mobile device must possess wi-fi (wireless connection) capability. Have you benefited from one of these hotspots above? Let me know what you think in the comment below.

Make Calls at upto 99% Discount on Glo Network

2011-08-27T15:03:00.000+01:00

Globacom telecom network has launched something of a great product called Flexi. With Flexi you can call other Glo lines for as little as 99% off of your current tariff plan.

Now, because I like experimenting with these new packages every now and then, I decided to sign up. Well here are the things you need to know about the latest launch:

It works for only Glo to Glo calls
Let's say you want to call a glo line, and you are in
a location where the current discount is 80%, your call to that person will be charged with 80% off your current tariff plan. This is will not have any effect on your glo to other network calls which will be charged at your current tariff plan.

You need to activate Cell Broadcast on your Phone
Here is where most people will get stuck. Cell broadcast is a method which network providers use in communicating with their subscribers if you opt for it. How do you turn this on? If you use a Nokia phone go to Messaging, click on Options and select Cell Broadcast. You will see various channels. Choose the 050 or channel 50 and click subscribe. (There is more direction on how to activate other phones here)

Wrap up
I had to call customer care in order to understand how this new offering would benefit subscribers and it was clarified for me that joining this tariff plan does not change your existing plan - it only makes it cheaper when you are making glo to glo calls. So let's say you are on Glo Infinito plan when you join flexi, your calls to other networks will still be 15 Nairas/minute but your Glo to Glo calls will vary depending on the discount being offered your current location and time.

How to Join
Dial *135*1#
You will get a notification that your account has been updated!

Here's to a cheaper call rate in Nigeria! (Now if only we can get this Internet revolution going as well!)

Real time Weather on Google Maps

2011-08-18T17:23:00.000+01:00

Google Maps are now integrated with live feeds of real time weather. So no need to check the weather channel any longer - just check the weather in your area from your favourite map app!

According to their official blog post, "Whether you’re organizing a trip overseas or a picnic at a local park, knowing the weather forecast is a crucial part of the planning process. Today, we’re adding a weather layer on Google Maps that displays current temps and conditions around the globe, and will hopefully make travel and activity planning easier. "

Anyways, to make sure your new weather man is activated and ready to serve you up the latest weather status, be sure to check the "Weather" option from the top right menu below "Earth" and "Satellite." The blog also says "When zoomed out, you’ll see a map with current weather conditions from weather.com for various locations, with icons to denote sun, clouds, rain and so on. You can also see cloud coverage, thanks to our partners at the U.S. Naval Research Lab."

Was the this info helpful? Please let me know in a comment! ;)

How to Subscribe to Glo 1derful Tarrif Plan!

2011-08-18T11:01:00.000+01:00

For people who make lots of calls and spend long stretches of time on each call, this should be an ideal package for you. Here is how to subscribe to Glo's wonderful offer:

How to Subscribe / Migrate

New and existing customers need only follow the instructions below to enjoy the wonderful package:

Dial *100*11*1#
Send or Reply 1 to confirm

Features

Pay for one minute, Glo pays for the next minute of the call

Effective rate as low as N7.50/min for onnet calls and N12.50/min for offnet calls

20 FREE Glo-to-Glo SMS per month

10% to 20% FREE Glo-to-Glo Bonus Talktime on every recharge of N 1000 & above

35 Hours FREE Glo-to-Glo Talktime per week, from 12 midnight to 5 am, upon usage of N 500 in previous week

Rates and Charges

Glo to Glo will cost 15 Naira/min while Glo to other networks will cost 25 Naira/min.

Facebook Messenger!

2011-08-10T17:29:00.000+01:00

Of course it's going to be the top free app in the App world - there are over 750 million users of facebook, about 50% of that figure is active daily or return to the site every day.

Having said that, if you rock an iPhone or an Android and you care for another group messaging app on your precious little smartphone, head on to App world to get your download. The interface after installation would look a like this:

It is pretty intuitive to use and you can make changes to the settings in the settings area.

Some folks are reporting on twitter that the app isn't visible in their country/area yet and there are missed reactions of the app performance. The app was launched yesterday so roll out might be a bit slow. Well, it's in your hands, why don't you take it out for a spin and let's know what you think about this latest attempt at counter!

Share Images Directly on Twitter

2011-08-10T08:54:00.000+01:00

Today, my twitter account received a welcome message that I could now share images directly on twitter.

Apparently, you can post/share your images on twitter without having to upload it somewhere else first.

How it's done
Click the camera icon just below the "What's happening?" field and this would open up your document directory where you can select the image you want to upload.

Once you have selected the image and entered it, it shows as a small thumbnail picture as shown above. The image would appear as a link and then you can add whatever information about the image in the 120 character space.

How large can the picture be?
Your image sized has to be 3MB or less. (To check you document size, you can right click on the picture on your computer and click on "properties" - for windows users)

Other facts to note
Also in some browsers, you might not see the preview thumbnail after you have uploaded the pix instead you get a the name of the file. Once you have successfully uploaded the image, the camera icon will turn blue.
This is great news and may be the death of twitter third-party image sharing platforms. It's super fast and very easy to use.

And that's it! Tweet away!

MTN FunLink Reloaded Tariff Plan: How to get.

2011-08-09T13:29:00.000+01:00

This is MTN's response to the great traffic plans that other telco networks in Nigeria have been giving their subscribers. In my opinion, the Yello flag isn't flying highest and it is an epitome of confusion as they seek to give as little as possible.

The table below shows the tariffs you will enjoy on the MTN FunLink Reloaded plan after paying your daily access fee:

MTN Plan Voice Calls	Tariffs
Happy Hour MTN - MTN Calls: 12.30am - 4.30am MTN2MTN: 4.30am - 4.00pm daily MTN2MTN: 4.00pm - 12.30am daily Happy Hour MTN2Other networks: 12.30am - 4.30am MTN2Other networks: 4.30am - 4.00pm daily MTN2Other networks: 4.00pm - 12.30am daily MTN2MTN Group Network: Calls to International Zone 1: Calls to International Zone 2: Calls to International Zone 3:	FREE 17 kobo per second 30 kobo per second 30 kobo per second 30 kobo per second 40 kobo per second 58 kobo per second 67 kobo per second 1.25 Naira per second 11.67 Naira per second
SMS/MMS/DATA SMS MTN2MTN: SMS MTN2Other: SMS WECA: SMS International: MMS: DATA:	5 Naira per SMS sent 10 Naira per SMS sent 10 Naira per SMS sent 15 Naira per SMS sent 60 Naira per MMS sent 5 Kobo per Kilobyte
Changing Plans? First change in 30 days:	FREE
Next change within 30 days:	NGN100.00

Please note that you will be charged at normal MTN PayGo rates for calls you make on days that you do not pay your daily access fee.

Update!
Check this post for lastest lowered tariff for MTN funlink reloaded

P.S: Was this information helpful. Please let me know in a comment!

Double or tripple your Site's Traffic - it's up to you!

2011-07-30T18:13:00.000+01:00

Well I'm not one to kiss and tell, but this time it's different.

I have been scouring the internet lately and I found this great resource that I'm sure many who are looking to increase the traffic to their sites would agree when they try this out. Enter Linkreferral.

Linkreferral is a service that works like a visit to the mall. Here the "mall" holds links to various websites of registered members and as you browse through the different sections, window shopping, you might discover one or two items that you never knew you needed but turns out to be a real life saver. It turns out the it's a popular service amongst bloggers (where have I been all these while?). Here's how it works:

You register the site you want and you just fulfill the daily requirements which are
- Visit a number of sites in any section of your choice (I have discovered many great sites just by doing this)
- Review 5 of the sites you visit and actually make comments (without which you can not submit your review)
- Mark a favourite site among all the ones you visited and lastly
- Take part in one of the numerous discussions that go on in Linkreferral's forum. Just a single comment and you are set.

Finally, sit back and what the magic as people all over the globe visit your own site and do valuable reviews of your own site. This is actually a community of like minds and the wonderful encouragement you get from reviewers with benefits :)

So that's it. It's time for you to head on there and discover for yourself (that is if you haven't already left me hanging).
All the best!

Make Your Blog Look more Professional!

2011-07-28T11:25:00.000+01:00

Wow! That was my expression after my tinkering with this blogspot right here. I'm sure if you are a regular visitor of TechNewSpace, you would agree with me that it now has a better look and navigation is light years away from where it used to be ...and content is more accessible too!

Well, I've been looking for a way to better this blog for a while now and it never dawned on me that the folks at Google have added a number of secret weapons. I will itemize my additions in a bit.

Pages
This has been my biggest headache from day one. Blogspot lacked the feel of a professional website without that menu bar right up there under the header. I initially used a HTML code to add a navigation bar but it always looked like something tacked on. Well now, it's superfly!

Wanna add it to your blogspot? Just go to Layout after you log on and click on "add gadget." Select "Pages" from the Basic category (or is it Featured categories? Anyways, you'll find it :)) and add to your page. It's very intuitive and it has one trick up its sleeves - can act as both link list by the side or navigation bar below the header. Just drag to your required position and it will change accordingly.

Popular Posts
I also added popular post to show all the post that have been hit the most. I like this little addition because most of the favourite posts on this blog are not the most recent. So this addition does two things: adds an array of your most popular posts and makes more of your post accessible from the landing page.

(You can add the popular post feature by following the guideline from the previous point.)

Changed Layout
I have always had the newsletter sign-up in this blog but it never caught on because of the previous position. However, rearranging the layout (it used to be main content flanked by two side bars on either side) to this current one gave me room to make it more visible right at the top of the two side bars. Fingers crossed, hopefully the sign-up rate would shoot up **make my day by signing up, pleeeease :)

What else?
Oh, yes! I also brought the site view to a more prominent place - it adds a little swag to the site, doesn't it?

Well that's about it - unless I forgot something? Don't think so. Shoot me a comment if you have any questions or suggestions. Thanks for taking time out to read this.

Do You Need Google+?

2011-07-26T16:17:00.000+01:00

There was a question related to the subjected posed by someone on LinkedIn the other day. Below is an answer I sent to the person. I thought it might be helpful here:

“Ok. 1st, Google+ (G+) is so robust, that I will risk calling it the Social platform of the future. Facebook (FB) and Twitter introduced us to the world of social, but they have serious limitations.

2. By default everyone you are connected to see what you post on FB and twitter. Not so on G+. You can select your audience and who you can see what you are sharing (photos, posts, etc). THis is what Circle (a very interactive and fun way to categorize people in G+) is for.

3. The world of G+ is fraught with smart, intelligent people that you don't have the problem of lack of people to interact with. Social networking is supposed to help you meet new people, right? There are ways by which you can send invite to all your contacts on FB but up on till now I find it unnecessary. Not everyone will see the need. So why not meet new, interesting people?

- Comments and interactions gets updated automatically twitter-style in G+ so no need to click on notifications or refresh your page.

- Probably one of the most unsung coolest feature in G+ is that you are not obligated to add people to your circle after they have added you (but it's kinda rude not to add someone who's added you, don't you think?) - There is group video chat (if you are into that kind of thing)

- You can only discover the pleasures of G+ when you join and play around with the awesome features. I am still discovering stuff after about 5 days of usage and I keep going back there instinctively not as a matter of duty. - If you do decide to go on G+, you can find me here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/101587943289234646876 Send me an email if u don't have an invite already.

- Do add me to one of your Circles, if you please and I'll definitely add you to one of mine! All the best!”

End of quote.

There is always a place for new things with real value. However, if you don't see the need to join yet another social network, don't feel pressure to sign up for G+. I personally dislike the fact that all my "friends" are connected to all my post and some might not appreciate my constant yapping. Anyways, the choice is yours.

What I Love About Glo New Tariffs

2011-07-20T14:31:00.000+01:00

I've been known to buy a new mobile line and dump it when a new and better one surfaces on another network. My reply to my 'critics' is: I am not richer than the owners of these networks. So why should I pay exorbitant amounts of money just to be able to make calls? Yea, it beats me too. If you ask me that's not lack of loyalty, that is avoiding being ripped off by these corporate moguls.

Ok, let's get down to brass task as to why I went on to Glo from Etisalat Nigeria.

First, the indigenous company has come a long way from its earliest days when it was trying hard to follow the steps of MTN Nigeria. Now Glo is charting its own course. May be it has been emboldened by its new Glo1 undersea cable. My favourite plan is Inifinito.
Glo Infinito was launched a few months back and I have been rocking this plan and enjoying every minute or second. The total cost comes to about N15/min to all networks regardless of the time. Infinito has two types; the social and the one special number.

For the social type, you can call 8 other registered Glo lines at ridiculously low prices but not as low as if you have one special number registered at which you will be paying 3kobo/sec (do the maths! you can talk for hours and your credit balance would still be smiling).

Option 1	1 Special Number	2k/sec
Option 2	5 Special Numbers	18k/sec

*Special numbers must be on Glo Network

COVERAGE: Any State, All Network, same tariff!

MIGRATION

To join the New Glo infinito and start enjoying this amazing tariff, simply type the code of choice below on your mobile phone and press the send key.

Type *100*9*1# for option 1 of Special number
Type *100*9*2# for option 2 of Special numbers

Some time last weeks, Glo launched the 1derful tarrif plan where they give you one free minute for every 1 minute you are on the phone making a call. This is a fantastic offering for people who spend very long talk times a lot of times. It must be said that all these are without daily charges or hidden charges or subscription fee! Awesome, I'd say.

Then comes the one that rocks my boots off: 9 Nairas/minute to 15 different countries including the US, UK (fixed line), Canada and others. If this doesn't sell it for you, nothing else will!

My only problem with Glo is that their processes are still too slow, their Mobile Internet plans are still are bit tricky. BTW, I subscribed at one time for one of the bundles and was still tricked off my credits even when I hadn't used a fraction of the data allocation. I was peeved to say the least. However, I heard they are getting around to setting up centres all over the country that will bring customer service nearer to their teeming subscribers.

So that's it.
P.S. I am not a Glo rep or anything, just hyping a quality service. :)

Google+: The Complete Guide

2011-07-20T12:07:00.000+01:00

For everyone asking what is Google+, this (The Complete Guide) is a complete guide that brings to you what the new revolutionary social platform can do you.

Why should you use Google+?

I picked the responses below from mashable.com for those of you not willing to click on an external link to find out more details:

“Google+ is a much cleaner way to selectively share data with others. As Google integrates more of their other cloud products, like Documents, Calendar, and Reader, you’re going to see it become one of the primary means of absorbing the data streaming from the Internet and sharing it with others.” ~ Jason Poggioli

“It’s the combination of being able to share based on (hopefully!) mutual interests with the ability to get exposure to interesting people and ideas. The relationship doesn’t really have to be two way, but it doesn’t all have to be public.” ~ Holly Henry

“For some reason, the level of engagement is higher. Commenting and resharing seems to happen at a higher rate here (so far.)” ~ Bill Shander

“I’ve had a Facebook account since 2003. It’s time for something more grown up that gives me more control and has a more organic user experience.” ~ Sean Cooper

“The clean user interface of Google+, combined with the lack of distracting elements, or so-called features (such as all of the add-on games and apps on FB that clutter up your stream), that I never use, attract me to Google+. This, combined with the Circles feature, choosing who you share with, are the primary draws.” ~ Scott Davis

My Verdit

Google+ rocks! (the platform at least) I have had a Google+ account for 2 days now and I keep discovering new things and people (a lot of top class people). Social is really new way to use the Internet and just limiting yourself with services that heralded this new era doesn't cut it. Google+ brings lots of new things to the table that I don't have the time to start exploring now (maybe in another post or if you read the complete guide from mashable you will get more than enough to start with).

All these said, you can only gain access to the service through an invite for now (an there are about 18 million people on it already!) sent to you from a user. If you need an invite you can leave a comment (with your email address if you don't mind spams or follow me on twitter @espaceinc and Direct Message me) and I'll send you one.

What Do You Love? www.WDYL.com

2011-06-28T12:14:00.000+01:00

This will not be the first time that the tech giants, Google will roll out a major service without fanfare. It seems they deliberately want bloggers like us fill in the gap and drum up the storm each time.

Well, here goes: The blogosphere is ablaze with a new product or service (whichever you prefer) that aggregates all Google services in one place. A simple search in the search bar will call up all these services that would enable you choose the relevant one by just a single click.

Homepage for Google's new What Do You Love

The beauty of this thing is that it's fast and everything seems functional. On the right is the resulting screen after I typed in "Wimbledon" in the search bar above. To access the service, you must type the 'www' before the rest of the address to avoid error pages. Like so: www.wdyl.com (short for 'what do you love'). Enjoy!

Speak to Google Your Search!

2011-06-22T10:31:00.000+01:00

You can now speak to Google to do your search without you having to type in your search item. However, this has to be done within google.com (that's the only place you will find the microphone icon).

The boys at Google are really stepping up this fight to ward off anyone that smells like getting close to their ecosystem and mainly their search business by making it better and better and better. You can try out this new feature by going to google.com (if you are using www.google.com.ng or any other url like this and you don't see the mic sign, click the link that says "Go to google.com")

...Oh! and least I forget, I couldn't get the mic sign in Mozilla Firefox, so I guess you have to get the best browser I have worked with in recent times: Google Chrome!

Since they say a picture is worth a thousand words, please see below:

Speak now!

Microsoft's Bill Gates: A rare and remarkable interview with the world's second richest man | Mail Online

2011-06-14T08:17:00.000+01:00

Microsoft's Bill Gates: A rare and remarkable interview with the world's second richest man | Mail Online

Bill Gates have since developed another strong passion but this time it's not in the tech industry.

A great interview with one of the greatest minds of our time! Hit the link above to view the full interview.

Windows 8

2011-06-02T14:48:00.000+01:00

I can start this blog in a number of ways because of the surprise that the content carries. But this will suffice:
Yesterday, Microsoft, the new big blue, unveiled what would be the next generation of its flagship product: Windows. Codenamed Windows 8, you can only see it to understand the massiveness and innovative thinking that has gone into this work.

Accessing photos

If you have had any experience with Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system, you will have gained many steps in the utilization of “Windows 8” (don’t get used to the name, it might change )

Swipping to call up a minimized app.

The Start window

It’s going to run on laptops, tablets, desktops (with traditional mouse and keyboards) and it was designed ultimately for touch.
To me, it’s really a marriage between local computing and cloud computing with everything from HTML5 to Java scripting in between. But all in all, this will cause a massive psunamic effect on next-gen computing and breath of fresh air to the old system.

Coupled with the Nokia + Microsoft combo, Microsoft is setting the stage for conquering the world a second time!

Facebook Messaging: username@facebook.com

2011-05-11T11:19:00.001+01:00

This would be my first write up in a while ...and it was worth the wait.

It's been around for sometime now and most people have been using the service in a limited capacity. However, navigating to my messages in my Facebook account brought a friendly pop-up at the top of the page.

Apart from the fact that Facebook now structures its messages in a way that you receive everything from messages sent to your inbox and offline chats in one convenient place, you inbox, you can now set your account in such a way that you receive notifications, emails straight to your mobile as an sms.

Great, huh? Especially those times when you don't have the time to log on to your account and you can also do some posting from your sms. Users also have the option of sending messages to their recipients' mobile when they check the "send also as sms" check box just below the "Message" field shown below.

Here's how it works:

- If you do not find the pop-ups (as shown above) when you navigate to your message tab, click on your Account menu (at the top right corner).

- Select "Account setting" then click on mobile. From there on, the configuration is very intuitive.

You can set up this messaging in a lot of ways. In other words, it is very flexible for those of you who are worried about privacy issues.

IMPORTANT! Don't forget to claim your Facebook username so that your email address would look more like username@facebook.com and not some weird string of characters. Alas! Now you can give your email addresses as your-name@facebook.com! I just tried send a message from my Gmail to my Facebook email address and it worked like a charm.

Happy messaging.

Facebook Messaging: username@facebook.com

2011-05-11T11:12:00.000+01:00

This would be my first write up in a while ...and it was worth the wait.

It's been around for sometime now and most people have been using the service in a limited capacity. However, navigating to my messages in my Facebook account brought a friendly pop-up at the top of the page.

Apart from the fact that Facebook now structures its messages in a way that you receive everything from messages sent to your inbox and offline chats in one convenient place, you inbox, you can now set your account in such a way that you receive notifications, emails straight to your mobile as an sms.

Great, huh? Especially those times when you don't have the time to log on to your account and you can also do some posting from your sms. Users also have the option of sending messages to their recipients' mobile when they check the "send also as sms" check box just below the "Message" field shown below.

Here's how it works:
- If you do not find the pop-ups (as shown above) when you navigate to your message tab, click on your Account menu (at the top right corner).
- Select "Account setting" then click on mobile. From there on, the configuration is very intuitive.

You can set up this messaging in a lot of ways. In other words, it is very flexible for those of you who are worried about privacy issues.

IMPORTANT! Don't forget to claim your Facebook username so that your email address would look more like username@facebook.com and not some weird string of characters. Alas! Now you can give your email addresses as your-name@facebook.com! I just tried send a message from my Gmail to my Facebook email address and it worked like a charm.

Happy messaging.

Why Microsoft is Buying Skype for $8.5 Billion: Tech News and Analysis «

2011-05-10T12:43:00.000+01:00

Why Microsoft is Buying Skype for $8.5 Billion: Tech News and Analysis «

The browser wars: The decline of Internet Explorer, rise of Chrome | memeburn

2011-04-21T13:20:00.000+01:00

The browser wars: The decline of Internet Explorer, rise of Chrome | memeburn

Get your PMP with your Headphones!

2011-04-12T10:00:00.000+01:00

Updated:

I passed my PMP exam on the 25th of August 2011. It was both an experience to enjoy for a long time but an examination process I probably won't like to take again any time soon! Why? Four hours of answering mind-bending questions is no joke. So below I share one of the tools that helped me both qualify and get comfortable with the whole certification process.

Ok. Let's get it out of the way. Yes, I've used the product I'm about to introduce to you in my quest to becoming a PMP certified professional (no kidding) and yes, I will make a little bus fare if you buy the product from the link I'll provide you.

So, have you ever wanted to be a project manager and you have little information how to go about it? Or you have already started and you are just looking to consolidate on your learning base (whatever that means). Anyways, an important topic that comes up for every prospective PMPer is 35 contact hours of formal learning not to mention having the most fun way to learn the sometimes dry topics. The question is how do you get this very key component of the requirements?

1. You may already have it: Have you attended previous classes that taught project management? Whether in your undergrad days or during some training that your company sponsored? Well, did you keep track of the number of hours of those classes? Do you have some form of documentation that you attended these classes? If your answer is yes to all the previous questions, then you might have bagged some hours of the 35. (Please refer to the Project Management handbook from pmi.org)

2. You could attend a formal class specifically for the attainment of the goal. There are loads of companies offering classes that at the end you would be able to achieve the 35 contact hours. A simple check in your local directory or searching your area would reveal some, I bet. There are also bootcamps that can give you what you seek. However, in my experience, these classes are on the high side of the budget scale and very few people can dedicate time for some back-to-school day howbeit for a short period (we gotta pay the bills, right?).

3. You can use this amazing tool I used. PM PrepCast™ prepares you for the project management exam and at the same time hands you the cherished certificate of the attainment of 35 contact hours of formal learning. Project Management Institute, PMI, the organization that's behind PMP, has REPs that are qualified to give individuals this requirement after undergoing some form of training. PM PrepCast™ is one of such REPs and gives you this training through videocast and popcasts. Yes, right there in your iPod or Zune or whatever portable media player you've got in your pocket. How?
   - Go to their website (you can just click the link)
   - Make your purchase
   - You will need itunes or equivalent software to be able to download the materials

What you will get. The PM PrepCast™ is a podcast / videocast with 120 lessons. After you make your purchase, you receive a personal link for downloading the videos. Simply watch them on your computer, laptop or your portable media player. Well presented and easy to follow, you’ll love how simple it is to study!

Download and watch the videos easily using iTunes (free software from Apple). Please note that its best to use iTunes, even if you don't use an iPod because iTunes is a robust application, extremely simple to use and it makes accessing The PM PrepCast™ a matter of just 2-3 clicks. So install iTunes, purchase The PM PrepCast, click "Download All" and 45 minutes later (depending on your internet access speed) you’ll have the complete workshop downloaded. All ready to boost your studies, improve your performance and be ready to take the exam! (Without spending hundreds of dollars)

One last thing!
The greatest thing about this tool is that it is updated for the new PMP examination format that PMI has incorporated at the end of August - precisely August 31st. You might need to go to PMI.org to get more information on the exam format change.

I hope I've done my part? Shoot me a comment if you have any questions.

MTN Nigeria now selling Samsung’s Tab Family

2011-03-22T16:42:00.001+01:00

Finally, someone is getting it.

For a long time we have watched as great phones and gadgets get introduced into developed markets through different carriers without much coming through the way of Nigerian carriers.

As a result smartphones would take decades of months before we even get a peak at the real thing. As such many have resulted to the ‘black market’ (for want of a better description). And this had financial consequences since it was easy to buy fakes and counterfeits.

Anyways it is good to know that the largest mobile carrier in Nigeria, MTN, is now finally, howbeit, slowly getting into the groove. They now have on display choice Samsung devices from Galaxy Tab, to Galaxy 5 and Galaxy S. Even Huawei’s new tablet pc, S7 is on sale at their offices with ‘mouth-watering’ incentives.

There’s even a list of other fourth-party retail outlets to get some of the devices mentioned. If nothing else, MTN is really up-ping their game so: thumbs up. So why not check out the new spot for the satisfaction of your Android thirst!

Get more followers on twitter instantly!

2011-03-16T09:58:00.000+01:00

There are a lot folks who don't know what twitter is about or how to harness the power therein. So of course, we learn every day via posts like this one.

Today I bring to you a sure fire way to increase your followers on twitter. If you use the microblogging site like most people do, you will realize that the more people who follow your @account, the better. For this cause, folks like twiends have devised ways to get this goal of increasing your followership nailed.

They even go further as to incorporating increase in followership on your facebook page (which most companies and public figures use for reaching out to their audience) and youtube channels as well. It's a brilliant rendition based on the concept of community and friends or in this case twiends helping twiends.

So hit this link and check it out. If you are in this for the friends, it would be worth your time. Just click here!

Has Glo Finally Responded to MTN?

2011-03-15T11:42:00.001+01:00

I used to have a Glo sim card… threw it away after years of waiting for them to step up to MTN. But I think they have finally responded with their new Infinito package.
It is definitely worth checking out. No daily, weekly, monthly access charge and it comes @ 25kobo/sec to all networks. Plus two options of 1 special number @ 2kobo/sec or 5 special numbers @ 18kobo/sec (special numbers must be Glo lines sha! but it’s a good offer).
My verdict: awesome package; strong enough to compete with etisalat’s storming rise but the MTN’s coverage might still be it’s greatest wall to climb.
I might be wrong. Shoot me a comment if you think otherwise.

Download IE9 to your Heart’s content

2011-03-15T10:02:00.001+01:00

IE9 is now available for download. The website Microsoft prepared for its marketing campaign is also pretty informative and loaded not to mention attractive.

So I’ll just clear out the way and let you herd out there.

Note: Not available for Windows XP… oops! been telling you to upgrade .

Legacy IE gets it’s 9th version: IE9

2011-03-09T18:41:00.001+01:00

You may hate it but it still got the biggest share of the browsing public.
Today, Microsoft announces that the ninth version of its Internet Explorer browser which is bundled with its OS will become available on March 14th.

It has been running Beta form for a while. Having had this test version for sometime now, I can say that it is definitely different from the older brothers. From screenshot above, you can see that Microsoft completely rethinks the skin. Speed (incorporates the new HTML5), security and total usability are also said to have been upgraded even new tab page has received attention but I think it is still a tad slower than the sleeker Chrome, Opera and Firefox (I have a bone to pick with Firefox but not here).

Anyways, we only have a few days to wait before we start seeing, Windows update report of IE9 installed on your computer.

Battle continues: iPad 2 Arrives!

2011-03-04T10:04:00.001+01:00

Slim, light and fast is the triumvirate that is the guiding principle for the latest release from Apple.

…and it’s fast! super fast.

Here are the specs courtesy of engadget.com:

Apple iPad 2
Platform: iOS 4.3
Display: 9.7-inch, LED-backlit IPS LCD
Resolution: 1024 x 768
Processor: 1GHz dual-coreApple A5
Memory: 1GB RAM

Storage: 16GB / 32GB / 64GB
Front camera: VGA
Rear camera: 720 / 30p video
Cellular radio: Quadband HSPA or CDMA / EV-DO Rev. A
WiFi: 802.11a/b/g/n
Bluetooth: 2.1 + EDR
Accelerometer: 3-axis
Gyroscope: Yes
Battery: 25Wh
Thickness: 8.8mm
Weight: 601g (WiFi),

…and the video:

Apple’s iPad 2. fast, thin, light.

Wrap up: I want an iPad 2!

iPad 2?

2011-03-01T15:02:00.001+01:00

So the big event is tomorrow: the 2nd of March. What are we expecting from the Cupertino based company?

A re-visit on the highly successful iPad? New software? Cameras on the iPad 2? We know it’s highly unlikely that we would see Flash support.

Whatever, happens, we’ll keep you posted. So how does it concern you? Simply, you might want to hold on to your money before rushing of to buy a tablet computer at least until Apple lets the cat out of the bag!

See you soon.

MTN Nigeria, delivers Apple iPad!

2011-02-23T09:47:00.000+01:00

Been a long time coming but this certainly isn't the best.

MTN has now brought Apple iPad to Nigerians just when the technology giant is about to launch the follow up to their high-selling gadget that revolutionized the computer market.

Apple has been in the news lately along with other companies seeking to take a bite out of the tablet pie. It is said that the release date for iPad2 has been pushed back to July this year. However, my worry is the things are moving too slowly in the tech-sphere back here in Nigeria.

MTN, arguably the biggest telecom carrier in the country, has now decided to offer its subscribers the opportunity to buy the iPad in two variants namely: 32GB (157,000 naira) and 16GB (141,000 naira). This comes on the heels of Etisalat having brought to the market, the highly rated Samsung Galaxy Tab (which they sell for 125,000 naira).

My issue with these guys is that even if they are offering some weak incentives in the name of data access, the price at which they are selling is too steep and MTN can certainly afford to sell the iPad for less especially when they know that in a few months this same product will be outdated (if not already). Better still, why can't they offer us contract options like is done in the UK or US?

Details at MTN website and Etisalat

HTC Joins the Tablet Race

2011-02-16T17:01:00.000+01:00

Even though it would have been great to see it launch with Android's tablet operating system, it's still a wonder to behold.
HTC is proving to be a rising star among tech companies and this latest unveiling goes a long way to strengthen the position. Anyways, I'll let you be the judge of what is the latest baby in the war or tablet computers...

The lovely HTC Flyer

Detailed specifications

CPU speed

1.5 GHz

Memory¹

Internal storage: 32 GB
RAM: 1 GB

(The actual available internal phone storage may differ depending on the software configuration of your phone.)

Expansion slot:

microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)

Connectors

3.5 mm stereo audio jack
Standard micro-USB (12-pin micro-USB 2.0)

Network²

HSPA/WCDMA:

Europe/Asia: 900/AWS/2100 MHz

Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:

850/900/1800/1900 MHz

Platform

Android™ with HTC Sense™

Camera

5 megapixel color camera with auto focus
1.3 megapixel front camera

Sensors

Ambient light sensor
G-Sensor
Digital compass

Multimedia

Audio supported formats:

Playback:.aac, .amr, .ogg, .m4a, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .wma (Windows Media Audio 9)
Recording:.amr, .aac

Video supported formats:

Playback:.3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .wmv (Windows Media Video 9), .avi (MP4 ASP and MP3), .xvid (MP4 ASP and MP3)
Recording:.3gp

Internet³

Wi-Fi®:

IEEE 802.11 b/g/n

Bluetooth®

Bluetooth® 3.0 with A2DP for wireless stereo headsets

GPS

Internal GPS antenna

Nokia Windows Phone? Is Microsoft the Right Partner?

2011-02-11T12:18:00.000+01:00

After the long awaited announcement of Nokia's future strategy, I can't really say if this is what fans of the world's largest phone maker were expecting.

Background
There's so much to be said on the subject. Nokia's new chief was a former Microsoft exec. Nokia's share of the smartphone market has been dwindling for a while now and more especially with the rise of the iPhone and Google's rampaging Android. Nokia's share of the smartphone market fell from 38% to 28% in 2010, according to monitoring firm IDC.

Nokia's Stephen Elon and MS's Steve Ballmer (r)

What's next?
In an attempt to solve the problem of dwindling market share, Nokia has just announced that they are going into partnership, well an alliance, with Microsoft to use Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7 operating system to power their smartphones.
While there has been many raving reviews about WP7, I'm not sure if this is the best strategy for Nokia. What happened to a well established OS that's got everyone excited - I'm talking about Android. Most industry watchers were expecting a sort of team-up with the rising star.

It's too late to go back on it now since the announcement has been made. But WP7 is a fresh ecosystem (I'm thinking apps and such) and this alliance, like any other, has its disadvantages but definitely its benefit would show itself when a Nokia phone that hits stores sports the new OS. It is availability of applications and how they are accessed that make smartphones tick. Nokia should have considered that before jumping into bed with MS, IMO.

HP Shows off Tablet - HP TouchPad

2011-02-10T13:39:00.000+01:00

I just saw a teaser video from HP (the computer giant makers) showing off their new soon-to-be released tablet pc. Wow! is this lovely! Spotting the new WebOS operating system and a list of other specs after the video:

Specs from hot competitors:

HP
TouchPad

Apple
iPad

Motorola
Xoom

Platform	webOS 3.0	iOS 4.2.1	Android 3.0
Processor	1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-CPU APQ8060	1GHz Apple A4, PowerVR SGX 535 GPU	1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2
Display	9.7-inch	9.7-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD	10.1-inch
Resolution	1024 x 768	1024 x 768	1280 x 800
Memory	1GB RAM	256MB DRAM	1GB DDR2 RAM
Storage	16GB / 32GB	16GB / 32GB / 64GB	32GB
Front camera	1.3 megapixel	none	2 megapixel
Rear camera	none	none	5 megapixel with 4x digital zoom, AF, dual-LED flash, 720p 30fps video
Cellular radio	"3G and 4G variants"	UMTS / HSDPA / GSM / EDGE	EVDO Rev. A
WiFi	802.11b/g/n	802.11a/b/g/n	802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth	2.1 + EDR	2.1 + EDR	2.1 + EDR
Gyroscope	Yes	No	Yes
Accelerometer	Yes	3-axis	3-axis
Battery capacity	6,300 mAh	6,600 mAH (approx.)	--
Weight	740g	680g (WiFI), 730g (WiFi + 3G)	730g

...courtesy engadget.com
Beyond every doubt, next year will be a tablet pc carrying year - goodbye to laptop hurling!

Google Adds Email/Chat Desktop Alert

2011-01-27T12:12:00.000+01:00

I didn't even notice!

Opening my notebook today and hitting the Chrome browser icon on my overpopulated task bar, I launched my Gmail. I saw one of those little messages that gmail is so good at giving when you need to pay attention to something. This one said "Get mail alerts on your desktop" (or something to that effect). Of course, I clicked it.

At the moment I didn't fully realize what was gonna happen until I got a new email and "pop"! out came a message on the Windows notification area (the region where you have your desktop clock and all that...) like it does when you are using MS Outlook. Oh! So that was what it meant.

This is a new service that Google has quietly added to the Chrome browser and our favourite email service, Gmail.

True the new email alert already existed in other formats but this latest offering is deeply integrated into Gmail and it can alert new for new chat messages as well.

Go to "Settings" section of you Inbox and locate the above section.

This doesn't work for other browsers for now, but Google is refining the process to make it possible in Firefox, Opera and the rest of them. If you can't wait till then, however, find Google chrome and download now.

Become Invisible on Facebook

2011-01-26T08:42:00.000+01:00

Some people will share every silly thought that comes to their heads on Facebook while others are just tired of the medium and might just want to close their accounts - only that they occasionally want to catch up on the latest gossip in town or see that notoriously incriminating photo of a friend!

Well increasingly, it is becoming a disadvantage if you do not have an account with the social networking giant what with over 2 million website needing you to have a Facebook account before you can enjoy their own services. These days, you've got to have a Facebook account to use some very important applications or online softwares or games - and that, you can almost not find a way around.

So what do you do if you don't care much about the musings of a "friend" or the gossips making the rounds? I found this article very helpful if you want to become near invisible on the Facebook website and more. You can even stop websites from tracking your activities just be following the directions on this article.

Let's get invisible!

End of Computing As We Know It?

2011-01-20T08:48:00.000+01:00

That's a very valid question to ask in these times of tablet computers and super smartphones.

I posted a blog earlier about Tablets or PC (this would make a good sequel). So why this question? Well for the following reasons...

- Tablets PCs and smartphones are going to get more powerful with time
Intel and their cohorts are currently in the race for who will make the fastest processor that will support the form factor of these tablets and smartphones. Dual core processors means that same size of processor can do things twice as fast as a single core processor. This, of course, will mean more power consumption (battery power is also being worked on). So in language that we lay people can understand, these small 'computers' will get smarter and do more things that only the regular computer can do like better multi-tasking, running heavy duty programs and games etc.

- Their mobility + the above point makes them hard to ignore.
This goes without saying. You fell in love with your first smartphone because you can see websites nearly as good as they come on your PC monitor. Hey, and you can play robust games on it too and may be chat while you are at it. All these and, while you are on the road. Truly, that's an awesome reason to get one of these babies.

- They are the new rave of the moment
Now not just because your friends will call you cool once they see these gadgets on you, but because soon (within the year) many electronics manufacturers are going to be releasing their own version of tablets and more and more smartphones (it seems like there's always a new Android machine every week!). Well what does the economists tell us, demand and supply right? Right! They will become cheaper once the consumer has more options. And this will be good for you and me.

Well, these and more are the reasons I think, IMHO, that this is a signal to the end of computing like we know it. It might not be completely though. We will still be able to get our usual regular sized computers at our favourite shopping spots.

Until next time...

Nokia, Android and iPhone - Making the most of your money

2010-12-17T15:37:00.000+01:00

When it comes to smartphones, it's all about the best and greatest apps. What can your phone achieve for you? Showing off to your friends the novel applications installed on your phone is always a good pass time - especially if you are the one doing the showing!

Lately however, the array of smartphones in the market has increased putting the buyer in a tight fix of which one to choose over the other. I have a Nokia 5230 and before I bought it, I did research like I was going off to the moon and needed to get my landing coordinates right. While an iPhone user will call this low end touch phone "crap", it does serve it's purpose.

Nokia N8

The issue on ground is Nokia needs to step it's game up! How? I will tell you how. The performance of the Symbian operating system is nowhere near it's closest rivals - whether it's touch, or qwerty. That really annoys me because Nokia has always been the one to come to the rescue of people like us with small sized wallets. Now Android is taking over. I have read reviews upon reviews of Nokia's latest flagship, N8 (running the revamped version of Symbian). Instead of seeing satisfaction, all I see is people returning it for one complaint or the other. It makes one wander, is Nokia really looking out for its customers?

Agreed, they are putting a new software together in Maemo but how long do they think they have before they loose the lead at the top of the global smartphone market? Looking at statistics, one will quickly notice that

Google Nexus S - Pure Android

Google's Android is taking over and winning the hearts of people in the process. They are always fine tunning that little engine of theirs (having released Android 2.3, Gingerbread and word of Honeycomb out already). The iPhone is story for another day.

My point is: make the most of your money! Until Nokia is serious about high-end competition, and Blackberry decides to upgrade their engine, go for the best Android or iPhone your money can buy.

Shoot me a comment on your opinion. Happy holidays!!!

Understanding Chrome OS and Next Gen Computing

2010-12-10T21:52:00.000+01:00

If you have been following technology news, you would have heard that the latest discuss around the world is the new computer operating system called Chrome OS and it's from the Internet giant, Google.

To understand Chrome OS, you have to understand cloud computing. "Cloud Computing, what the hell is that?" I hear you, you are not alone on that. In simple terms, cloud computing is just taking your computer processing unit and dumping it on Google. Well, something like that. The result of outsourcing the processing work initially done on your computer is cloud computing - Google servers do all the hard work and pipes down the result to you all in seconds. You can access document, edit them, generate new ones, create excel sheets, play games (Farmville fans probably understand this by now), etc, only this time you will be doing it through a web browser.

If you live in the US, you can apply to test Cr-48

"What about safety?" This seems to be the first question that pops into the average person's mind. Well, I think it's a question of personal choice and paranoia threshold. We are not here to argue the pros and cons of cloud computing but to draw a link between this new era of computing and what Google has just launched as a platform for their netbook.

Chrome OS is essentially the Chrome browser giving you access to web application from the entire planet. Its still in testing stage (recently a number of Cr-48, as the machine is called, is being distributed to the general public) but the majority of the work has been done.

A really brilliant move that Google added to ensure success of the project is launching Chrome Web Store. Here you can access thousands of apps for your Chrome OS. Some are paid and some free. It seems they are ready to move the world from the usual desktop computing to the cloud.

Lovely Chrome web store showing featured apps

The next generation of computing will see users turning on their pcs in no time (booting is reduced to near instant time), accessing their files, settings and preferences from any computer logged on to the internet and losing no sleep when their computer is stolen or broken. A lot can be said about the whole Chrome OS thing but I'll let Google tell you the story.

Send Free SMS From Your Email Inbox!

2010-11-30T12:50:00.000+01:00

Hello, again.

This is a quick one.

You can now send sms from your gmail (if you have one, if not, go here to open one) to Glo network (update! you can now send to numbers on Starcomms network). Yes, in Nigeria. It's been a long time coming but now we can now enjoy this free service. it's just a pity that it's not active for other networks yet. (I think our friends at 'everywhere u go' will not give us this freebie just yet.)

Here's how it works:
- In your inbox, you will find on the left side "Send SMS".
- Type in the number of the person you want to send the sms and hit the "Enter" key.
- Make sure you type the number out with +234 in front like so, "+23480xxxxxx" or "+23470xxxxxx"

- Complete the small dialogue box (shown above) that pops out and hit save button.
- Now your chat window opens!

The receiver will get the message as an sms and when he/she replies, you get it in your chat window. All without a dime (that's on your part sha!)

Anyways, that's it from me. Enjoy freedom!

P.S. Someone should tell the other carriers to add their network, it will boost their cashflow, not reduce it.
More details here!

Update: You can now send to Starcomms as well.

Tablet or PC?

2010-11-26T09:52:00.000+01:00

Are you wondering what the fuss is about? Confused on what to do? To buy one or not to?
Well, unless you are a millionaire, you should be concerned. All this publicity and adverts hitting us everywhere we turn - is there really something to it?

I am talking about the new computers that look like overblown touchscreen smartphones. I'm not going to analyse the content or how they operate but simply to clear some air about how to proceed with these things.

When it comes to gadgets, the average gadget freak wants to lay his hand on everything that is released into the market. First it was Apple who have made tons and tons and tons and tons of money from their new flagship product, the iPad. Some say they ave sold over 7 million units of the must-have toy.

This has prompted a response from competitors the world over. From China to Korea to Japan and who knows where else. Now everyone wants to make a tablet. Toshiba, Acer, RIM, Microsoft, Samsung etc. Many are already in the market as in the case of Samsung who have just released the Galaxy Tab (it has already sold 700,000 units according to some records). RIM, makers of Blackberry are already building a followership who are earnestly waiting for the Blackberry Playbook (wonder what inspired the name?). Other less fortunate ones are waiting for 2011 to get into the market to start milking this newly available market.

It's gonna get worse.

So now is the time to decide whether it is for you or not. If you are like me, you should probably are waiting for the price to come to a reasonable level before you can put your dollar or Naira in it. This is a wise approach, according to my frugal adviser (lol!). But on a serious not, the price will definitely come down. Apple currently sell the iPad for about $499 in the US depending on the memory size you are buying (16GB, 32GB or 64GB). The Samsung Tab is selling in Nigeria for about 125,000 naira (that's about 800 USD!) from Etisalat carrier.

That price is pretty outrageous by all standards. The trick is to decide what you want these machines to do for you. The tablet cannot replace the good ol' PC workhorse. Most tablets come with 1GB RAM, 16GB hard disk space and 1GHz processor. The iPad only just added multitasking feature.

Considering the foregoing you would agree that the tablet is only a toned down computer or a beefed up smartphone.So again, unless you are a millionaire, consider wisely what you do with your money.

Google Instant Preview Goes Live!

2010-11-09T17:45:00.000+01:00

Rarely do I post two blog topics in one week. But every week is different, right? Right.

Here comes the latest news in the war of the Search Engines: Instant Preview. If you haven't started using Google Instant yet, it's probably because, the service hasn't been rolled out to the servers servicing your region. Like google.com.ng doesn't have the service live yet. So, to enjoy the feature, you have to log in to google.com by clicking the link below the search bar.

The .com page has a lot of features that we currently do not have. For instance, you have the image background for google homepage. (You can activate only on the .com page by following the Select background image link on the bottom left-hand corner.)

The latest is this Instant Preview. I think it is an awesome idea. This feature lets you pre-see the webpage on your search results by clicking on a little magnifying glass. This will help searchers avoid clicking on irrelevant webpages. To enjoy this feature you need to enable it first.

If you don't see the feature, remember to switch to google.com

Your Browser, Re-imagined!

2010-11-08T11:12:00.000+01:00

So a new browser comes to town, eh?

Aint we all tired of jumping from Chrome to Safari, then back to Firefox and then on to Opera without even dropping by at Explorer's doorpost? Well, may be not! Here's why:

As you well know, I only write about something I find exciting - something I think has substance (which writer doesn't think his stuff has substance, lol!). Anyways, I found the link to their website this morning and decided to have a pop at it. The only discouraging thing is that you won't get a link to download the RockMeIt browser; only a Facebook connect sign up for early user.

The stuff shown on this video below makes me want to lay my hands on the browser like, RIGHT NOW! But I'll have to wait till they mail me. I have no words of my own to describe it only that RockMeIt is taking browsing the Internet to a new dimension. Enjoy!

Get Ur Emails on Ur Phone Instantly on Your Nokia (Push Mail for Symbians)!

2010-09-14T16:30:00.000+01:00

Some of my friends think I am anti-BB but that could not be further from the truth. What comes to them is my wanting to be shrewd in the use of technologies available to our generation like no other before us. Yes, we are very fortunate to be in this techno-era but it pays to be in-charge and not be shackled by any thing in the name of being hip.

The selling point of blackberries, as everyone agrees (post a comment if you disagree), is the push mail service and the all-so-popular BB chat (for efficient alternatives, check my earlier post). Well not everyone can afford a Curve or a Javelin let alone Storm or Bold 1, 2 or 3. 'Nuff said about our friends at Research-In-Motion.

I came across a great app for phones running Symbian OS (S60 version 5 and version 3). Which means if you have an e63, e72 and all them other e versions or N series or the very popular 5230 or 5800 and the like, you should be able to start receiving your mails immediately someone sends you an email.

You can set it as a notification so you just see the header (containing sender's name and subject). You can also set it to download content (watch the service charge sha!). Anyhow you decide to set it it's a pleasant effect you get as a result.

Eh! Did I hear someone scream? Patience, my friends. Here is a link to the service website. It is still in the beta phase but having shown up in Ovi store, I guess they plan to stabilize it soon.

I tried it with my also lovely Gmail and official email and it worked without issues. Get to the website and click on "Download Free Application". It will give you different download options that can choose from.

Alright! Now you don't have to burden yourself with monthly payments that you can't afford. But for those of us that can afford it, by all means rock your BB (I hear there's a new flavour now - Torch). However, don't say I didn't warn you!

Enjoy!!!

Great Movies for Almost Free!

2010-08-17T10:27:00.000+01:00

I love movies... great movies that is. Even not so great movies for want of something to watch. :)

We all know how annoying it is to buy a dvd of "32" movies only to be disappointed after loading it into your dvd player. Either the particular movie you specifically bought it for is not there or it is present but the quality is so poor, you didn't enjoy it. Not all of us can jump into a car (or fly okada whichever the case) to Silverbird cinema.

Anyway, I discovered a new service that offers movies on demand. A colleague of mine, unseriously, mentioned hearing about this service. But not having tried it, she couldn't emphasize the greatness of it. Well, I'm a net crawler, most times so almost immediately I decided to quietly investigate. And lo and behold, stars were shinning and diamonds were falling from the skies before I could say jack!

Graboid.com presents you with a whole vista of new fresh blockbuster movies. Whatever you need. All that you require is a little software of theirs that is installed on your PC after download and an account. This software serves as the download manager and as well as the portal for search, rating and recommendation of all the movies accessed.
It is actually that simple... but of course I said "Almost Free" in the title. So why am I so enthused about this? Besides there are multitudes of sites you can get free movies and paid movies.

Here's why:
- Movies are as clear as crystal. They even have some in HD (high definition).
- No viruses or risk of any.
- Titles are organized in categories and rated by users like you.
- You can even get sitcoms and TV shows like Greys Anatomy, Lost, whatever (I discovered a great one called Covert Affairs)
- After you sign up an account with Graboid.com, you get a full one month trial during which you can download all the movies you want.
- After your free trial period expires, you get the option of paying as low as $4.99 for a full month or up to 10GB of movies. That, my friend is cheap compared to what you pay for one lousy movie in some portals.
- Oh, did I mention you can watch full movies online too (that's if you have enough bandwidth).

Well, that's all I've got to share on Graboid.com. It's your turn to try and see if it's worth it.
Till next time, keep learning!

Do You Miss Your Windows XP Machine?

2010-07-15T11:08:00.000+01:00

So here I am trying to get ready for my Microsoft Server certification and it turns out I needed an extra PC to be able to follow along in the exercises. If you've done any certification of any kind you would agree with me that these exercises are the differences between a successful outing and a not so successful one.

Then I started snooping around on the net like I always do to find a solution to this new problem (by the way, solving problems have proven to be an excellent way to add to my repertoire of techie knowledge! ;) and what did I find? Virtual PC, Windows XP Mode and all that jargon. I remembered hearing that you could run an XP OS on a Windows 7 machine (which I'm currently using) but I never counted it as something I would need until, well, I really needed it.

XP Mode on Windows7. XP window can be maximized to fit screen.

Here's the gist:
If you are currently running Windows 7 (Professional and Ultimate), you can actually (virtually, that is) have XP as a secondary OS on your machine. The fun part is that navigating between the two operating systems is accomplished with the click of a mouse - once or twice. It's really that simple. Several websites later, I found out that Oracle even have their own virtual OS aptly called VirtualBox.

How do you go about this: First you need to be running a genuine version (sorry!) of windows 7 professional or ultimate edition on your machine. Then go to the Microsoft website, locate and download the required files then install on your pc. That's it! Well, not quite. Just follow the instruction on the page after confirming the originality of your OS.

After which you can enjoy the simplicity of your friendly XP right from your windows 7 desktop.

Benefits: While Windows 7 is robust enough to accommodate new and old programs, some production softwares do not have the compatibility to work with the new OS. This is where XP Mode come in very handy. And also when you want to show of your technical skills to your friends or anyone bored enough to listen to you :)! or maybe you are just missing the good ol' XP feel.

Nimbuzz!

2010-05-14T17:06:00.000+01:00

I get to share my latest discovery with you. That's one reason I began this blog in the first place, one reason I love this platform. Ok.Before I veer off into the philosophy of blogging.

With all the social networks available to us interneters these days, one is almost overwhelmed with keeping track of where one left off a few minutes ago. If this wasn't enough hassle, add the fact that you have friends across all these available media and sometimes everyone of those friends want to chat with you - at the same time.

Yes. If you are on a computer, you will quickly find out that minimizing one window, to open another one just so you can reply to a chat that just dropped in is one heck of a nuisance. That is why I am so excited to bring to the notice of those who have not been privileged the existence of on medium by which you can save your self the trouble of mastering how to track all your conversations across multiple platforms.

I present to you Nimbuzz.

Mobile Nimbuzz in action!

It is not a brand new innovation - just one I happen to have just subscribed to. Nimbuzz presents us with the super grand opportunity of chatting with all our friends whether they are on Gtalk, Facebook, Yahoo, AIM, Skype, you name it, all from one window. No clicking around - just a list of all online and offline friends (just the way you have it one yahoo messenger).

The sweet thing about it is the ubiquity of the gadget. You can have it on your phone (a must have whatever phone you are using!) or on your computer. The versatility of the app and the simplicity of usage is also very refreshing. The best line of the post will not come until you hear this: try it yourself.

Here is a link to grab a copy for your self: download Nimbuzz. And don't forget to share!

Opera 10 - The Preferred Browser

2010-05-05T09:26:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since my last post. Not because I not seen amazing stories worth posting but I wanted one that blew my mind and I sure hope will interest you, my dear reader.

A whole lot of people use different browsers to access the interesting world of the web - I for one, have four major browsers known to man. Mozilla Firefox, the "compulsory" Internet Explorer, Chrome and last but not the least Opera. If you are already an Opera user, you might relate completely to all the ravings I'm about to give to this amazing portal to the rich digital world.

I initially hated the interface of the Opera browsers I came across until I stumbled on Opera 10.52. "Wow" was the only word coming out of my mouth for the next half hour or so after I installed it on my Windows 7 machine. Let's take a closer look at the different killer points I noticed off the bat.

1. The new interface is so cool and it looks like a cross between Google's Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. The tabs for different open sites reminds you of Chrome while the navigation of these open tabs comes with the fluidity of Firefox.

2. Turbo. Is your internet speed slow? Just turn on Turbo speed. This feature reduces load on the webpage you are accessing and opens the page much faster. Of course, the trade off is always going to be the quality of images on the web page. But who cares about the quality when you don't have to keep staring are the computer waiting for a page to load.

3. Unite. Turn your PC into a file server and web server (you can even launch a website) and share it with either the public (I don't advice that!) or specific guests.

4.Using special web skins is not proprietary to Opera and their approach is not even top notch (check Firefox for that!) but it is there nonetheless.

5. Speed dial. Google tool bar gives your browser the ability to create mini pictures of your most visited sites when you click on the new tab button. You don't need to install Google tool bar to enjoy this feature. And, oh, you can configure what ever site you want to see on your "little website boxes" thus the name speed dial.

These and other really cool features are yours for the taking when using Opera 10.52.

Google Buzz Summary

2010-02-18T17:52:00.000+01:00

"After all my darling has done, one small stumble and I am ready to disown her?"

Google, might be in a position to ask this foregoing question to the general public and, maybe through the media that has been merciless in the conveyance of the strong strong sour taste that Buzz has left in people's taste buds.

I love Google! I am the one who redirected all my Yahoo! mails to Gmail just to enjoy the efficiency of the latter after being weighed down by the clumsiness of the former. I also dumped my Internet Explorer for Chrome for about the same reason. (Although, I have switched back to Mozilla Firefox due to frequent crashes on my Vista machine. Picasa, Google desktop are some of the many little pleasures I enjoy just by befriending the now giant company.

However, the outcry of breach in the last strand of the sense of security that people had in the Google system is disintegrating. I love the article that BBC wrote on the subject. In it you get the sense that the outcry is really blown out of proportion. Sure, Google might have slipped up a bit, but come on, "unless you were working for the Iranian or the Chinese government," really you had nothing to worry about. But swift as they always are on matters arising, Google have long jumped in to make the corrections needed.

This article might be seen as a propaganda for Google, but I believe that the motto: "Don't be evil" that Google adopted early in their business is still guiding them. That been said, it only remains for them to redeem their name by adapting their innovation to suit the mood of the market and to placate the crying voices that have risen and threatening to drown out every good that might have been done with Buzz.\

I thought I had ended this post only to go online and found the latest on the subject. Great is Google. In a matter of days they have successfully launched the patches. Here is what they've done:
1. Created a tab for Buzz under Settings in Gmail.
2. You can now choose to not show Buzz from Gmail.
3. You can now choose to disable Buzz completely (but why should you?).
4. Find out more for yourself.

Two Words Bill Gates Hates to Hear!

2010-01-12T15:17:00.000+01:00

We are here once again to tug at the hem of your technological skirt. Why? Because, if you are a tech follower like me, you would like to know what the next new wave and hurricane is going to go down.

Now, I am no hater of the man many consider a genius. I happen to think that he is worth learning, at least his modes of operation. He has accomplished a great deal! In fact, like I wrote somewhere else, he has managed to build an empire and what it would take most people two life times to accomplish.

However, the world of technology must move on. Yes, I said it. How can technology and computer in particular move on without Uncle Bill? Well, various companies (and from the article I read, three companies in particular) have already started the bold confrontation to a Windows world.

So what are the two words? Try. Tell me what you think.

Ha ha! I wouldn't have left without letting you know. Come on, I'm not that bad. The words are "Cloud computing." So what is cloud computing and who and what is leading the march on to this new horizon?

The answers to this we will begin exploring in the next post so keep your eyes here. Or better still, bookmark this page and come back to it in the near future. I'll be letting you know two of the companies leading the march (sorry, I didn't get the third one).

The Google Phone - "iPhone on beautifying steroids"?

2009-12-16T09:50:00.000+01:00

When rumours about Google going into the phone industry came up, the company responded by launching phone operating systems in Androids instead.

Well, the subject has cropped up again after a post by a Google employee posted on twitter “Stuck in mass traffic leaving work post last all hands of 2009. ZOMG we all had fireworks and we all got the new Google phone. Its beautiful.”

According to Insidetech,"reportedly the phone is powered by a Snapdragon processor. Developed by Qualcomm, demoed chips featured speeds of 1 GHz or faster. The latest chip, the QSD8672 featured dual cores running at 1.5 GHz with integrated HSPA+, GPS, Bluetooth, high definition video recording and playback, Wi-Fi and mobile TV technologies (MediaFLO, DVB-H and ISDB-T). It is unknown which variant of Snapdragon Google will use (the Toshiba TG01 smart phone was the first mobile phone to use the 1 GHz variant). The GPhone is also rumored to be packed with a OLED touchscreen (no keyboard) and dual mics for killing background noise."

From what we know, Google is going to give other smartphones before it a run for their dollars because it will be launched as an unlocked phone unlike others like it that opt for exclusive carriers. If Google keep being Google, I know that this will become a phenomenon like most of it's other products.

We can't wait for it to hit the market!
Check out its other cool features:

Google goes into Twitter, Facebook

2009-12-11T10:00:00.000+01:00

The things that Google does no longer surprises us as they constantly unleash their power and ability to evolve.

Their latest offering being 'real-time' search involves showing, on the search page, relevant comments on the keyword searched for as they appear in near real time in social network sites like Twitter, Facebook and Myspace.

Let's say you type into the google "Obama nobel" when searching for information on the Nobel Peace price awarded the United State President, Barack Obama, there will be a small section on the search result carrying tweets and near real-time posts on the web around the world on this topic. (Try it now by going to Google!)

Whatever your take on this newest addition to the google suite may be, it doesn't take away the fact that Google is alive and strong and is poised to remain leaders in the search industry. Bing (Microsoft's search engine) and Yahoo search, it appears, have similar offerings but popular opinion is that the live search from Google beats them hands-down.

TechNewSpace

Google Chrome (Beta) for Android is Here

Possible Samsung Galaxy SIII ?

What's Up with SOPA/PIPA - Internet Blackout Day

#OccupyNigeria adds a New dimension by Hacking National Website.

What Are Your Gadget Plans for the New Year?

Are You Shopping with Dealdey yet?

Glo Target's Young Subscribers with G-BAM plan

Calls to any network @ 25k/sec

All benefits are available at a daily access fee of N10 only.

Join the G-BAM generation today. Dial *100*5*1*# now!

New Soft tech roundup...

Google takes on Dealfish with Google Trader

Buy Android Smartphones, Tablets & iPhones at these Prices in Lagos, Nigeria

Gmail is Fresh and new!

Nokia's Future: A Flexible Mobile Device

Nokia Windows Phone Unveils Today

New Features on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)

Another first from Etisalat! Custom Android Phones for 18k+

Google now speaks Nigerian Pidgin English

Video Call button now in your Facebook Chat

Etisalat's (Nigeria) Easyblaze Internet (fast Internet)

Steve Jobs is Dead.

Blogger has Changed -- Massively!

How to Share a Google+ Circle with Anybody

How to Create "Add to Circle" widget for your Site/Blog

How to Get the New Facebook Timeline Now!

Google+ Games is Here!

Features Facebook is Stealing from Google+!

So the new iPhone to be announced on Oct. 4th

Google plus is now Open to Everyone!

Glo Nigeria Crashes Blackberry Subscription Rates

What is Dropbox?

How to Export your LinkedIn Contacts to Yahoo, Microsoft Outlook and more

How to Import Your Facebook Friends' Contact to Yahoo & Gmail and Google Plus

Adding Adsense to Single Posts on Blogger

How to add a Floating Facebook Page Share App on your Blogger Site

MTN Funlink Reloaded is now super charged!

Samsung Rolls Out Multiple Free Internet Hotspots in Nigeria

Make Calls at upto 99% Discount on Glo Network

Real time Weather on Google Maps

How to Subscribe to Glo 1derful Tarrif Plan!

For people who make lots of calls and spend long stretches of time on each call, this should be an ideal package for you. Here is how to subscribe to Glo's wonderful offer:

How to Subscribe / Migrate

Features

Rates and Charges

Facebook Messenger!

Share Images Directly on Twitter

MTN FunLink Reloaded Tariff Plan: How to get.

Double or tripple your Site's Traffic - it's up to you!

Make Your Blog Look more Professional!

Do You Need Google+?

What I Love About Glo New Tariffs

MIGRATION

Google+: The Complete Guide

What Do You Love? www.WDYL.com

Speak to Google Your Search!

Microsoft's Bill Gates: A rare and remarkable interview with the world's second richest man | Mail Online

Windows 8

Facebook Messaging: username@facebook.com

Facebook Messaging: username@facebook.com

Why Microsoft is Buying Skype for $8.5 Billion: Tech News and Analysis «

The browser wars: The decline of Internet Explorer, rise of Chrome | memeburn

Get your PMP with your Headphones!

MTN Nigeria now selling Samsung’s Tab Family

Get more followers on twitter instantly!

Has Glo Finally Responded to MTN?

Download IE9 to your Heart’s content

Legacy IE gets it’s 9th version: IE9

Battle continues: iPad 2 Arrives!

iPad 2?

MTN Nigeria, delivers Apple iPad!

HTC Joins the Tablet Race

Detailed specifications

CPU speed

Memory1

Connectors

Network2

Platform

Camera

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Memory¹

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