Monday, May 16, 2011

Reverse Cell phone Lookup



The number of prank calls, malicious calls and plainly harmful calls that go out everyday around the world must number millions. Most of these are dismissed as being of no consequence, which is sensible in many cases, considering the time and effort – and, in some cases, the money, involved in tracing the call. But life, alas, is not always that easy. You sometimes may really require the information on who called you, like when a mysterious girl tells you on a smartphone in a conspiratorial tone that you had better show up at the disco now, or else. Only, the call was meant for your husband. Or, when you are told that a bomb is planted under your bed and will go off in 10 seconds. If in deed, there had been a device but it had not gone off, you would die to know who it was who planted it.

This is when you need to seek the help of something called reverse mobile phone lookup. It is an easy procedure, but may bring out some unpleasant truths. Be sure you want to do it first. This reverse cellphone look up may involve a two timing husband, a child getting lost, or just a pain in the neck prankster out to disturb your sleep.

The best way to find out the owner of the cell phone from which the irritating call came is reverse phone lookup. There are a number of websites that provide this service and some of them are free. You should not, however, take their word for it and seek the help of the first one that you came across. Also, free reverse cellphone hookups are good only for landline numbers, which are everywhere – in telephone directories, yellow pages and many other places; and you do not need a sleuth to tell you that. The service providers need to spend money in order to get the information about the phone numbers and the woners. They also have to spend some tidy amount of money. That is one of the reasons that you have to pay up too. How else do you think you receive those telemarketing calls?

Cell phone numbers, on the other hand, are private and treated as such. There is no central database where you can find the numbers or their owners. Reverse lookup sites do, however, have a database that will serve the purpose.

Most sites allow a customer to search any number of times within a specified area. Phone numbers and their owners are the information that you will get, but you may also be able to collect personal data from them in some cases.

When you register, you must enter the code of the area and the telephone, smartphone or tablet number in question. Within seconds, you will be able to lay your hands on whatever information is available.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Review of Reviews: The BlackBerry PlayBook

Resource from:http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/review-of-reviews-the-blackberry-playbook/?scp=5&sq=blackberry&st=cse

By: Nick Bilton



After its long-awaited arrival, Research In Motion’s BlackBerry tablet is finally making its debut to the world. (You can find a wide selection of reviews and commentary here.) This slick new tablet, which is officially called the PlayBook, sports a seven-inch touch-screen, weighs 0.9 pounds and costs between $500 and $700, depending on memory capacity.

As the reviews have started to roll in, most technology critics seem to like the hardware of the new PlayBook, but are unimpressed with the software and apps on the new tablet. Whether consumers feel the same is yet to be decided, but R.I.M. is going to have some tough competition from the Apple iPad, which is currently estimated to own 87 percent of the embryonic tablet market.

Below are highlights from PlayBook reviews which hit the Internet on Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg has a number of hesitations about the new tablet, saying it feels rushed to market:

This first edition of the PlayBook has no built-in cellular data connection and lacks such basic built-in apps as an e-mail program, a contacts program, a calendar, a memo pad and even R.I.M.’s popular BlackBerry Messenger chat system.

To get these features with your $500 PlayBook, you must use it with a nearby BlackBerry phone connected to it wirelessly over a short-range Bluetooth connection.

I got the strong impression R.I.M. is scrambling to get the product to market, and that it will be adding other features already offered on competing devices for months, through software patches.

Tim Stevens of Engadget is impressed by the design and hardware of the PlayBook, but says the software is lacking in a number of areas:

Writing this review has been a lot like trying to hit a moving target thanks to a series of software updates that have been dropping every few days. The PlayBook of today is considerably better than the PlayBook of yesterday, which also was a big step forward from the one we were reviewing two days before that. This is both encouraging and worrying — encouraging that R.I.M. is actively working to improve things, but worrying that things as critical as memory management are still being tweaked at the eleventh hour.

Right now, the BlackBerry PlayBook is a tablet that will come close to satisfying those users who gravitate toward the first word in its name: BlackBerry. Those who were more excited about the “play” part would be well advised to look elsewhere, at least until Android compatibility joins the party. Then, well, anything could happen.

Tony Bradley of PCWorld cites a number of PlayBook pros and cons, but ultimately sees the PlayBook as a business device:

The BlackBerry PlayBook has a meager 3,000 apps which will be unveiled next week when the tablet officially launches, and it is not capable of running apps developed for BlackBerry smartphones.

Other tablets have video, or even H.D.M.I. out ports that let the tablet be connected to a projector or monitor to deliver a presentation. The PlayBook, however, lets the presenter split screen– showing the actual slides on the main display for the audience, while letting the presenter see the slide notes and other details on the tablet.

Shortcomings aside, though, the tablet has a number of qualities that make it uniquely suited for business use.

The New York Times’ David Pogue, loves some of the PlayBook features, but warns that its lack of apps could hurt consumer adoption:

The PlayBook does two impressive things that its rivals — the iPad and the Android tablets — can only dream about.

The first cool feature has to do with loading the tablet with your music, photos and music. Unfortunately, there’s no iTunes-like software to do this automatically. You have to drag files manually from your computer into the PlayBook’s folders (Music, Photos and so on). But once you’ve set up this process using a USB cable, you can do it thereafter over Wi-Fi — wirelessly.

Second, there’s a wild, wireless Bluetooth connection feature called BlackBerry Bridge. In this setup, the PlayBook acts as a giant viewing window onto the contents of a BlackBerry phone.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Easy Guide Explaining How Smart Phones Work


There are a lot of issues going on about touch screen phones in the mobile technology world. This article will explain how the devices operate and what they are. There is a lot which is offered by the latest phones. In fact, they have the same functions as those of a computer. Smart phones usually combine communication services with other unique features. The features include email, text messaging, internet access, pager and fax. These devices have become essential in the business world. There are professionals whose jobs involve making several calls, as well as sending messages via emails and texts.

If you have not familiarized yourself with these devices, you may be probably wondering about their operation. The external part of the device is the same with the traditional mobile phones. The functioning is similar to standard phones. The main difference is that the latest devices have a keypad which is multifunctional. The keypad features letters and numbers. It resembles a personal digital assistant. The device allows you to play both audio and video files. They have several applications that you can choose from. Some of the applications include word processing software and video games. You can install and run various applications in these devices.

The devices are small and lightweight. This helps in enhancing easy portability, as well as comfort. The benefit of the phones is that they have the ability of installing, configuring and accessing custom designed content. There are various user friendly applications that are installed in the device. There are some applications that are very helpful, especially to those people who are in business. Some of the applications include accounting, word processing, desktop publishing and spreadsheets. It is possible to customize the device so that it can function just the way you like.

There are many features in smart cell phones. There is a camera that comes with high resolution. There is a feature which enables the sharing of music and media files to computers and other technological devices. One important thing which is crucial to the functionality of the device is the operating system. The operating system affects the number of applications that you can enjoy. There are two popular operating systems. The two are an android operating system and Apple IOS. You should decide on the operating system to go for when it comes to these devices. There are several programs that are used by these devices. The phones use an ARM processor which is power efficient. They have memory storage provided. The devices have slots provided into which a memory card can be inserted. This helps in increasing the storage space for the device.

The 3G technology and smart phone



The rate of the change of the communication technology is more or less similar that how fast it works. The other technologies may have taken many decades to reach at the advance stage but the common man has witnessed a rapid revolution in the field of cell phone technology in last 20 years. The pages of the print and electronic media are full with the news of the acquisition and merger of different corporations involved in the business of the mobile phone. The 2G and the 3G are buzzword in the field of communication technology. So the question knocks in the common man mind what the shit this 3G. The G stands for the generation or we can easily say that it is a set of technological standards. It has no connection et al with number of cameras or the available memory. The BlackBerry 9630 is the classical example of 3G cell phone.

The 3G is basically the wireless technology of the third generation. It is enhanced with earlier wireless technology like global roaming, access of multimedia application with advance features and transmission with very high speed. The 3G is basically used with handsets and smart phones to connect with network of internet to get the facility of uploading or downloading of data, surfing of the net and manage voice and video. The main advantage of the 3G technology over the 2.5 G technology is manifold higher data speed, fine audio and video streaming, browsing of web and warp at very high speed and the support of video conferencing. The modern day cell phones are well equipped with it.

It is the revolution of the 3G technology which has enabled the current generation smart phones rich in so many advance features. The components of the 3G standard make the mobile all in one tool ranging from verbal communication to browsing the internet game and the movie through the internet at the very high speed in any part of the world. The mind of the man which is the most fertile place in the world has no limitations. The smart phones supporting the 4G and 5G standards will be easily available in the hands of common man in few days.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Keeping Track with Your Cell Phone


Nowadays our cell phones have become an essential part of our lives; we are reluctant to go anywhere without this essential device. Everyday new functions are dreamed up and developed to make our lives easier and more enjoyable. Did you know that smart phones can even be used as a tracking device? This handy feature means that we can get all the information about our friends and relatives while we are apart. We can actually acquire this information without informing the other person or persons. Also, our mobile phone allows us to actually locate another person since their location appears on the screen when we call their number. For example, the BlackBerry has a mobile tracking device that determines the current location of your cell phone as well as the person you are trying to contact, which is especially useful in the case of emergency such as when you are lost or in a new area.

There are many useful apps that you can download to take advantage of this amazing technology. You can use the smart phone's on-board GPS to see maps to pin point your location, as well as let you know who else might be around to meet up with. Then you can check an app that will tell you all that is happening at that moment where ever you are like the closest restaurants and movie theaters or maybe live shows and specials. If there is an emergency the authorities can instantly locate your smart phone's position and send help. You can also use the GPS to give you street by street driving instructions to find your way and prevent you from ever get lost again.

Cell phones are changing with time


As alteration of technologies goes, there are lots of things that can be changed. If we talk about electronic gadgets or cell phones, we find today almost all of these become changed according to their features or overall services. With your smartphone, you can do lot of things. With the help of GPS software, you can easily navigate from place to place and get all the information about any unknown area.

With this facility you do not need to acquire any big maps, flags or other things when traveling somewhere. With your GPS software, you can get help at any time. When walking on a road, you get all the map information about the road on your phone. When flying or driving cars, you get all the further information about whole area or road maps.

The one good thing about GPS service is that it not gives maps, it give you whole detailed names of the entire area. As for naming the service, do not need to get information from other people. Nowadays, almost all smartphones come with GPS software. You can purchase it from many mobile shops. If you want to make your traveling experience much more comfortable, then smart phones can play a good role to inform you of any unknown place. The gps software is not only used individuals; it also used by government, non-profit organizations and business. Today, smartphones are used as handheld devices; they integrate a mobile phone with PDA Phones, cameras, mp3 players or video game devices.

In modern days, the cellphone are convert in smartphone, today cell phone is not use only for talking purpose, but with help latest mobile gadgets phone, you can do lots of things. Here you can use mobile device not only for talking view, but also for entertainment. Now, some mobiles are made that give you lots of entertaining things. Mobile companies are designing phones after surveying customers. They meet all the needs or requirement of what a customer may want out of his or her cellphone.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Why Smartphones Can See More Than We Can

By KATHERINE BOEHRET
Resource: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703922804576301153452838860.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

If you're tired of looking at the world through the same lens all the time, try adding a few virtual objects.

This week, rather than do my usual product testing, I decided to offer a peek into one of the most exciting trends in technology: augmented reality. AR, as it's commonly known, is about as close to magic as we can get without visiting Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Not to be confused with virtual reality, which substitutes a simulated world for the real thing, AR takes a live view of the real world and/or a real object and adds computer-generated graphics or sounds that appear as if they're right in the scene. The resulting visual can look convincing enough that people reach out and try to touch the AR object.
Built for AR

Most smartphones are now built with the technological requirements for AR—including a camera, accelerometer, compass and GPS—so developers are quickly building AR apps that take advantage of these devices. The technology started showing up in apps in 2009, and now hundreds of them use AR.

AR games add objects to real-life places and scenes, like ghosts in Ogmento Inc.'s Paranormal Activity: Sanctuary that appear as if they're on the actual street that people are on, viewed through the people's iPhones.

Viewdle's Social Camera uses AR for social networking as it identifies people in photos by comparing their images to tagged photos of friends in Facebook. Google Goggles uses image recognition to provide information about real-life objects including books, artwork, wine and menus, which can be translated into a language you can read.
AR: It's All Around You

You may not realize it, but basic forms of AR are at work in our everyday lives. Some cars, like the 7-series BMW, offer heads-up displays that impose data onto the windshield of the car so drivers don't have to glance down to read things like current speed.

Armchair quarterbacks appreciate AR every time they see the National Football League's first-down yellow line, visible only to the television audience. And some sporting events now include advertisements that appear on TV as if they're painted on a field or basketball court.
Physical Object Attraction

Each of the developers with whom I spoke about AR's future agreed: Computer vision is the central element to creating AR apps.

Computer vision describes a device's ability to see, meaning it can recognize an object, extract information from that object and do something with that information.

AR apps that rely mostly on GPS do more guesswork than object recognition. Google Goggles, for example, takes advantage of GPS for local search when someone uses an Android phone to pan around and see points of interest identified on the screen, like businesses. An app called Layar uses GPS and helps people with things like finding the closest drugstore or getting extra points in a game by walking to a certain place.

One example of a device that uses full-fledged object recognition is Nintendo's 3DS hand-held game, which comes with six AR Cards. With the naked eye, these cards look like small rectangles the size of playing cards with question marks printed on them. When viewed through the 3DS's two outward-facing cameras while playing AR Games, the cards come to life with things like boxes that unfold, a dragon that pops out of the box and bull's-eyes that must be shot using buttons on the 3DS.

Hallmark Cards Inc. is getting in on the AR action. Some of its greeting cards come with instructions to hold the card in front of a Mac or Windows PC webcam, which makes the characters drawn on the card appear animated on the computer screen.
Interactive Advertising

The AR Magic Mirror app uses the iPad 2's cameras to impose objects on images of one's face, including masks, hairstyles and marks. The app quickly analyzes the size of one's face and different objects can be selected to appear as if they're being worn in real life.

This app comes from Total Immersion, a company known for the way it incorporates AR into online and print ads. One online ad includes an interactive driving game that made users feel like they were driving the Volvo S60 through whatever their iPhone or Android camera displayed as AR obstacles fell into the road. In another campaign, people printed out a PDF of the Olympus PEN digital camera, held it to a webcam and saw animated demonstrations of the camera's features, as if the camera—not a piece of paper—was in their hands.
Effortless Socializing

The Viewdle Social Camera, a free app for Android devices, suggests names of people in photos taken by an Android smartphone by comparing their faces to a database of friends tagged in a person's Facebook account. Viewdle works completely on the smartphone so images don't need to be slowly uploaded to a remote server each time a face is identified. No one is automatically tagged in Viewdle photos; rather, it suggests who it thinks the person is, and the phone's owner approves this suggestion. The photos can then be shared from this app via Facebook, Flickr, email or MMS.

Viewdle's future plans sound exciting: Devices with enough processor power, including some that are out now, will be able to display photos captured on the smartphone with each person's most recent Facebook status update shown in bubbles above their heads.
Geek Alert

If you aren't too keen on walking around holding your device up in front of you so you can play AR games or use AR apps, Vusix Corp. designs glasses with AR-visualization capability. But if you wear these glasses, don't expect to get a date anytime soon.

From greeting cards to animated advertisements to mobile gaming, augmented reality is well suited for the smartphones people carry every day and we can expect to see much more of it in coming months and years.
—Watch a video with Katie Boehret on mobile apps that are adopting augmented reality technology at WSJ.com/PersonalTech. Write to her at katie.boehret@wsj.com.