MOTOROLA- CDMA phones

Motorola just went official with four new CDMA handsets ready to hit before July: the MOTOROKR Z6m slider (left), MOTORAZR maxx Ve clam (right), and mass market W385 and W355. First up, the RAZR maxx Ve king headed to Verizon which Moto has been teasing us with for a few months. It's what we expected: ultra-thin, EVDO, and 2 megapixel camera with integrated music player and touch-sensitive controls. The Z6m slider (which looks like a CDMA RIZR Z3) hopes to shake the original (E1) ROKR's fumbled hype. The Z6m multi-modal slider packs a 2 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth or 3.5-mm headphone jack to get tethered, and up to 2GB of removable memory. The W385 and W355 bring multimedia on a budget with a mix of GPS location services, Bluetooth, and FM radio. Now go ahead, check the gallery for all the pics -- don't cost nothin'.

Gallery: Motorola's four CDMA multimedia cellphones: ROKR Z6m, RAZR maxx Ve, W385 and W355 Read -- MOTORAZR maxx Ve Read -- MOTOROKR Z6mRead -- W385Read -- W355

LG - CDMA phones

It looks like the LG570 isn't the only LG clamshell hitting the spotlight at CITA today, as the firm has reportedly unveiled another devilish duo for CDMA markets. The oh-so-silver VX-8700 fits nicely into LG's Shine family, and boasts a two-megapixel camera, EV-DO connectivity, stereo Bluetooth support, microSD card slot, and a svelte vertical display that "blends into the brushed aluminum facade" until activated. The music-centric LX-570 touts a glossy black exterior, touch-sensitive, tune-controlling D-pad, 1.3-megapixel camera, an FM tuner, EV-DO, stereo Bluetooth, and a microSD slot as well. Per usual, no release dates accompanied the specifications, but all the specifics should start flowing in soon enough.

10 reasons to or not to ????????

10 reasons you should upgrade to Vista (and 10 reasons you shouldn't)

Why you should upgrade to Windows Vista

1.SecurityOne of primary design focuses for Vista was to create the most secure environment possible. Many basic aspects of Windows (such as running as an Administrator) have been changed to help produce this environment. Not only that, Internet Explorer 7 has many new features designed to help protect you while you are online.

2 Enhanced networkingMicrosoft has rewritten its TCP/IP network stack for Vista to provide better performance. In addition, Vista has dramatically changed how users interact with the network devices in their PC and on their network. Now users can take advantage of the new built-in tools to help diagnose network problems. This will cut down on help desk calls and in some cases, speed up support. The help desk can use the information provided by the diagnostic tools to help in their troubleshooting.

3.Aero Glass user interfaceThe Aero Glass interface in Windows Vista is a major step forward for Windows in GUI design. Your Windows desktop has never looked better than it will under a Vista version supporting Aero Glass. Not only do things look better, but the whole layout of the GUI has been changed to make everything easier to find and more intuitive to use.

4 Integrated Sidebar and SearchMost of us have already installed a third-party search application, RSS reader, and sidebar or gadget dock in Windows XP. These features have been integrated into the OS itself and look fabulous under Aero Glass. You'll no longer need to open a browser to see your stocks or check on the weather. They will be constantly displayed (and updated) from the Windows Sidebar. Searching for your documents has never been easier, either, now that the integrated search function in Windows supports the indexing features of many newer search applications.

5 Windows Reliability and Performance MonitorIT professionals are already familiar with Performance Monitor, but now the power of this utility has been brought to the masses. The new Windows Reliability and Performance Monitor can easily be set by a user to automatically take a baseline performance reading of their new PC. And when performance begins to suffer, this tool will help then diagnose what is causing the problem.

6 500 new GPO objectsMany companies rely on Active Directory and its Group Policy capabilities to enforce standards on their desktops. Windows Vista makes this even better by including more than 500 new Group Policy Objects.

7.BitLockerAs we've seen over the past few years, laptops are one of the biggest security holes for IT departments. The new BitLocker technology in Windows Vista can help mitigate this risk by encrypting data and making the computer unusable to anyone not in possession of the startup key (which can be typed in or stored on a USB key).

8.Continual supportBeing the newest OS from Microsoft, Vista will be eligible for support longer than any other Windows OS available. Along with support from Microsoft, there will be support from the Internet at large, as people will be using Windows Vista for quite awhile into the foreseeable future. This offers some peace of mind, knowing that you can get help should you
run into any issues.

9.ReadyBoost (USB drive as memory)Microsoft has a new way to help you boost performance on your OS without requiring you to buy a lot of new expensive hardware. You can now plug in removable memory (USB key, compact flash, SD card, etc.) and assign all or part of it to use ReadyBoost. This means that the memory will be used as a prefetch section between your RAM and hard drive. In testing, this has shown that it can offer a great speed boost to many systems, especially those with limited RAM.

10.DirectX 10DirectX 10 will be available only on Windows Vista. DirectX is useful for a variety of graphics and video functions, including business applications such as video conferencing. And if you must have the latest and greatest in games, the upgrade to Windows Vista is a no-brainer, as this is the only way you can get it. DirectX 10 also claims to fix the �small batch problem� from previous versions. It has claimed that this could lead to DirectX 10 games that can perform six times better than the same game running in DirectX 9 on Windows XP.

Why you shouldn't upgrade to Windows Vista

1.Stiff hardware requirementsVista has the harshest hardware requirements of any Microsoft operating system to date. To use all of the features of Windows Vista, you need a 1 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM, and a DirectX 9-capable video card. Although this will allow you to run everything, you'll get better performance with a faster processor and more RAM. Since the Aero Glass interface requires a DirectX 9-capable GPU, a lot of older desktops and laptops won't be able to use Aero Glass, even if they meet the other requirements.

2 Learning curveVista is a different animal from previous Windows operating systems. Many of the tools are the same or similar, but there is still a lot to learn. If your IT department is already stretched thin, taking the time to learn and implement Windows Vista may not be worth it right now.

3 No loss of WinXP supportVista will be supported longer than XP, but XP still has two years of mainstream support from Microsoft. And a wealth of information on WinXP (and other operating systems) is already available on the internet. If you and your staff are comfortable with XP, there's little reason to upgrade to Vista for continued support at the moment

4 Application incompatibility
Many popular applications do not work on Vista. Applications like ITunes and Nero have issues running on Vista. In fact, nearly every program involved in ripping or recoding media have issues with Vista. If these majorapplications are having compatibility issues, how many more small applications--those you may use everyday-- will have problems, too?

5.DRM issuesPeter Gutmann from the UK's The Register has called Window Vista's new DRM the "longest suicide note in history." Even though great strides have been made for PCs in the living room as an entertainment device, Vista has put crippling DRM into place when playing next generation (HD-DVD and BluRay) content. When playing this content, the component output and S/PDIF output is disabled, effectively crippling Windows Vista as an entertainment system.

6.Notebook battery drainWindows Vista requires more hardware power to run--and notebook battery life goes down the more you require of your PC's hardware. Even just running the Aero Glass interface will drain your battery faster, due to the additional GPU processing. Any dedicated road warrior should consider this before upgrading.

7.Not so innovativeYou can download many advanced search applications for free. Even Microsoft has released one. Google has a nice sidebar with a built-in RSS reader available for free. Yahoo widgets (formally Konfabulator) allow you to change your desktop into a virtual workspace with all manner of data and tools available at your fingertips. Apple's OS X is by far the leader in modern desktops. Even Aero Glass cannot compare to the smoothness of OS X (which is more than five years old). Sun's Project Looking Glass can provide a minimal 3d desktop for XP for free.

8.CostVista is expensive. There's no way around this. Microsoft has tried to mitigate this by releasing different versions of Vista with different price points. Unfortunately, many of these are feature crippled and cause more confusion than necessary. If you want Vista, expect to pay up to $400 for one of the top versions.

9.A new video card for DirectX 10DirectX 10 being Vista-only means that many gamers are waiting patiently on the newest OS. Unfortunately, not only will they have to pay for the OS, but they will also have to buy a new video card that supports DirectX 10. Currently, only NVIDIA�s 8800 chipset is DirectX 10 compatible, with the lowest model (the GTS) having a retail price of Rs.19000/-
10.Slower game performanceAero Glass is one of the cornerstones of Windows Vista, but it puts a load on your video card that will affect game performance. There are several reports of Microsoft telling developers that current games will run 10 percent to 15 percent slower on Vista than on Windows XP as a result. It remains to be seen whether this performance hit will continue to be an issue on games designed specifically for Vista.

BEST MOBILE PHONES < 10,000

Sony Ericsson Z550i (Rs. 8,000)

This is a clamshell that recently dropped the price below Rs. 8,000, but different places have different rates. The phone packs in a 1.3 megapixel digital camera with video recording, an MP3/AAC player, Bluetooth, FM radio with RDS, 20mb phone memory with a Memory Stick Micro M2 memory card slot. The phone doesn’t have EDGE support, though GPRS is available. The screen is a regular 176x220 resolution one, and there’s an external display. A few people have faced problems with the Z550i, including my dad, but more people seem to be satisfied with it than against it.


LG KG200 (Rs. 8,000)

A new entrant, the KG200 from LG is a candy bar form factor phone with a QVGA display, 1.3 megapixel digital camera with video, MP3 player, Bluetooth, FM radio, 60mb phone memory with a microSD/TransFlash memory card slot. Once again, GPRS is available but no EDGE.

Samsung SGH-X700 (Rs. 8,700)

This is the best of the lot—the X700 is another chunky candy bar with a well rounded feature set. It has a 1.3 megapixel digital camera with video and flash, an MP3/AAC player, Bluetooth, FM radio, 35mb of phone memory with a microSD/TransFlash memory card slot, GPRS as well as EDGE! The screen is a regular 176x220 resolution one—that’s probably the only problem I can point out in this phone. I usually prefer either clamshells or sliders, if this wasn’t the case, I would have bought the X700 right away.

Nokia 6230i (Rs. 10,000)

Yeah, it’s old, but it’s still got pretty much everything. A 1.3 megapixel digital camera with video, Bluetooth, MP3/AAC player, FM radio, 32mb phone memory with an ancient MMC memory card slot, GPRS and even EDGE support. The only problem is the price, which is a little higher than the rest of the phones. But that comes up after you actually find someone selling this phone!

Sony Ericsson K750i (Rs. 10,000)

Grab this bestseller while you can, it won’t be available when the stocks run out. The K750i is the most feature rich in the all-in-one category, giving a fabulous quality 2 megapixel camera with auto-focus and video recording, MP3/AAC playback, Bluetooth, FM radio with RDS, 38mb phone memory with a Memory Stick PRO Duo slot. The display is a medium sized, 172x220 resolution one, and there’s no EDGE network support, but GPRS is available. I’ll say it again: grab it while you still can.

Turn your PC into a Mac

I've got a bonus how-to for you. After becoming obsessed with a story on Wired News from last month about people getting their Windows PCs to have the same look and feel of Mac OS X, we convinced Aqua-Soft.org staff member Kurt Williams to give us the lowdown on how we could do it ourselves:So, you wanna make your ugly Windows XP interface look like Mac OS X, huh? It's really not all that difficult to do, and with a little luck, you'll be able to convince all but the most die-hard Mac users that you run an Apple computer. First, here's a list of the programs you'll need:

StyleXP or WindowBlinds (skins the Graphical User Interface of your operating system)

ObjectBar (the white Finder bar on the top of Macs; has File, Edit, View, etc. on it.)

ObjectDock, YzDock (discontinued), or MobyDock (The dock on the bottom of a Mac that contains icons and shortcuts to programs)

Trillian (chat program that can be skinned to resemble iChat)

YzToolbar (skins the toolbar icons in your Windows windows)

YzShadow (puts a lovely drop shadow under your windows á la Mac OS X)

Rainlendar (popular skinable desktop calendar)

Rainmeter (skinnable desktop system statistics)

Samurize (like Konfabulator for the Mac; can display just about anything, such as clocks, uptime, and the weather)

iTunes for Windows (self-explanatory)

Icons (The pretty little pictures on your desktop that point you somewhere. There are millions out there, but try the link provided for over a 1,000 lifted from Mac OS X 10.3 aka Panther)

That's pretty much what you'll want for starters. You don't need all of these, and in fact, you really only need a few to get a reasonably good looking OS X facsimile, but if you're gonna do this you might as well do it right. Now on to the guide.

This guide assumes that you have either downloaded/purchased the programs listed and 0that you know your way around a computer, at least to a reasonable extent.

1) I use StyleXP for my visual style, so that's what I'll detail here. WindowBlinds isn't that different, but if you prefer it, be my guest. The first thing you'll need to do is download a skin. I recommend Kol's website, StudioTwentyEight for some excellent skins, but feel free to look around for any others that might interest you. Download your ZIP, and extract it to C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes. Open up StyleXP and load up that baby. Your windows should now look like the skin you downloaded. If you chose Panther (an excellent choice) then they should look somewhat like this:

2) Time to find a good ObjectBar skin. I'd suggest crni's website for some excellent themes. Download the one you like best and extract it to your ObjectBar folder. Open the new folder in there (named something like the theme you downloaded) and double-click the .OBTHEME icon. The top of your screen should now look something like this, depending on your theme (Milk for me):

3) Next up is the dock. Open up whichever version you settled on downloading. This is pretty easy to set up. Basically all you need to do is drag shortcuts or executables to the dock and ta da, you have a shortcut. To change it's icon, right-click and select "change icon" or some variation. To get new icons to select, make sure you put them in the icons subfolder (for YzDock) or the main dock folder (for ObjectDock). Easy as pie. When you have the icons and programs you like, it should look something like this:

4) For those that don't know, Trillian is a nifty chat program that sticks AIM, MSN, ICQ, and IRC into one program. If you don't use it, you should if for no other reason that it can look a lot like iChat. You may or may not need the Pro version to get the skin to work. I've heard mixed reports, but if it doesn't work right, I'd say you need the Pro version. An excellent choice for skins are Danimator's iChat skins. Extract it to your Trillian skin directory, open up Trillian's preferences, go to skins, and select the new skin you want to use. You can follow the readme for some more precise directions to get it looking perfect. When you're done, it should look like this:5) YzToolbar and YzShadow are pretty self-explanatory. Just install 'em and run 'em. You can find good YzToolbar skins on the net: I'd recommend Aqua-Soft or AquaXP. Depending on skin (Milk, for me) and settings, it should look something like this:

5) YzToolbar and YzShadow are pretty self-explanatory. Just install 'em and run 'em. You can find good YzToolbar skins on the net: I'd recommend Aqua-Soft or AquaXP. Depending on skin (Milk, for me) and settings, it should look something like this:

6) Rainlendar and Rainmeter are also pretty easy to install and set-up. Just run the installer, and find a good skin. Again, there's many to choose from. I'd suggest searching the forums at the aforementioned Aqua-Soft and AquaXP. Here's the Rainlender skin I use.

7) Samurize is a bit complicated, so if you're going to try and use it, be forewarned that it can be a very big hassle, if it works at all. I'm not even going to try and explain it in this brief overview, but if you are serious about it, check out the Samurize forums at Aqua-Soft.