While the world at large shifts to speedier connections through DSL, WiMAX or even CIR pipes there are people who still access the Internet through dial-ups and hence face delays. The ones accessing image intensive websites on their mobiles also share a similar experience. The site that is home to some 250 million earthlings has realized this and is trying to improve the user’s experience by launching a lighter version.   The new “FaceBook Lite” site will have less graphics and hence will load sooner, hopefully. A trial version has been launched in the US and India and others places will have the “Lite” version soon. The stripped down interface has less of toolbars areas from users homepages, links, images and status updates. Resultantly there is more of white space that shows applications, videos, photos and the much needed adverts, and hence the jump in speed. Maybe MySpace or Orkut can learn a thing or two from FaceBook.

Visit http://lite.facebook.com/ and see the preview for yourself.

We’ve got couple of screenshots available for you.

Home Page of Facebook lite profile

Profile home page..

The company that never runs short of innovative ideas has launched the latest iPod Nano that has amazing features which were previously unheard of. this is an iPod Nano with built in camera. Yes sir,the new Apple iPod Nano sports a video camera that captures crisp quality videos for sharing over the web or even E-mailing. Also included is a microphone that promises to capture clear sound. The whole lineup comes in nine catchy colors to choose from, the polished anodized Aluminum finish gives it the much needed facelift. The Nano has a 2.2” screen for better viewing. Also included is an FM Tuner with new features which include ability to pause live music and then listen to it again. One can rewind up to 15 minutes and then catch up to the live broadcast with a simple click. The tuner also displays artists names as well as song titles. Voice over lets you navigate through your songs without looking at the gadgets face since the songs are read over to you via the speaker. You cal also take voice memos, reminders or record a lecture if you will. Perhaps the most stunning feature is the addition of a Pedometer to record each foot step you take on that morning jog!  Next I guess they will include a BMI calculator, a breath analyzer, mood predictor or even a girlfriend tracer if she is  lost, accidently

Previously we had covered unveiling of few cool windows 7 ads,  which are part of the Microsoft Windows 7 marketing campaign.
We have found yet another ad posted on YouTube in WindowsVideo channel. The ad features kylie which has been spotted in previous Microsoft ads as well. This is a small 30 second ad and is in continuation of the ad campaign in which series of ads will be unleashed.
The Ad campaign is titled as "Good news" and hence the ad is titled " Good News – windows 7 commercial". The ad contains selected quotes about the operating system " Windows 7" from popular tech sites such as Gizmodo, Maximum PC, ZDNet and CNet. There are pictures of pig, unicorn, kitten and a bunny shown in the ad.
Although understanding is that Ad campaign will be launched on October 22, however the transcript in ad tells that this ad is supposed to go on air tonight.

See the transcript from ad for yourself.

Agency – Cripsin Porter + Bogusky
Client – Microsoft
Campaign – Good News
Title – Kylie Good News 1 REV HD
TRT – :30
ISCI – SXFT0144000H
Producer – Cindi Blondell
Job # – MICUS0003585
Ship Date – 09/08/2009
Air Date – 09/10/2009

Ever wonder what a mobile phone will look like in the not so far future? Well I have, it will be something fold able, wearable (around wrist, neck or even waist!) , and even washable, it will be voice operated, will play videos, show google ooops I mean Nokia maps, will talk to you, will be your buddy and very much a part of your/my life. Nokia 888 is poised to be this, well a little less but something like it. This is still a concept phone which is going to be launched in the future, but right now it looks like something out of this world. The time is not far I guess when people will be holding one of these devices and the ones holding a N97 will be looked down upon as the needy and downtrodden

In this latest episode, Microsoft Bing is powering up this new social media game in which a user becomes part of the bigger community ecosystem. This is a community-based game, developed jointly by the Lab for Social Computing at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle and Microsoft Bing.

It’s almost like a RRPG ( Real-time role playing game ) in which the member of community are exploring the city of Rochester, the main objective is to encourage the community towards creativity and charitable giving and participate in real events. Something which is becoming scarce in the current capitalist culture. There are lot of engaging activities in which players participate such as invitation to events and locations spread across  the city, the idea is to bring people out in real. There are casual web based games, again the concept of games is to bring people out to events and location in the city. The games also reflect the ideology of Democrat & Chronicle newspaper itself.

User starts the game by selecting a player faction, namely “The Tree standings”, “The Watch Standings” and the “The Forge Standings” during the registration process. As the player proceeds within the game, any points earned by the player in a given week are contributed towards the faction to which the player belongs. the faction standings are aggregated using twitter I believe.

There are other attractions as well such as prizes (Kodak cameras, picture frames, and printers, as well as tickets to a gala party held on October 31st at RIT’s new Student Innovation Center) offered by Kodak to the competing participants.

The social aspect is to indulge players in charitable acts for Foodlink, Unity Health and Wilson Commencement Park. There is even a invite-only ball on Halloween where 300 contestants who have scored high enough in the challenges.

This is one fantastic social experiment where the idea is to engage people in social activities using the power of facebook and twitter and Microsoft search engine “Bing”. Bing will be part of the online game play and will serve the purpose of finding references and solving puzzles through clues. This allows Microsoft to showoff the Bing Maps features of visual data binding.

The game events will start from september 12 to  October 31^st (the ball is on Halloween of course).

Sign up at www.picturetheimpossible.com!

Experts are predicting that in ten years time robots will assist surgeons in carrying out operations without the need for making an incision to the human body. And how will that happen if you may ask? quite simply the small robots will be inserted inside the human body through natural openings which will assemble once there in to bigger units capable of carrying small movements and  surgical operations. The whole concept is to aid the surgeons and not replace them. Such operations will be painless, won’t require anesthetics and will ensure swift recovery for the patients. Laparoscopic cameras which traditionally require an assistant to move will now be moved by a device mounted on the surgeon’s head and a foot pedal. However, the obvious loss to this all is the absence of sense of touch which the human hand has, but this the experts say can be overcome by repeated use and better skills.  But I am going to wait till they start Liposuction without pain and anesthesia

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8238088.stm

Apple just quietly dropped prices of its existing iPods models, just before launching of new iPod models at Rock & roll event.

32iPod touch received the biggest price cut of 120$ from its original price, other iPod models also receive substantial price cuts. Making it right time to buy iPod existing models unless you are more interested in the newly announced models.

This is a unusual move from apple, as typically Apple keeps on selling the current models until new models are announced.

These previous models of iPods can be found on Apple’s online store in clearance or refurbished sections for purchase. And there is a indication that this price cut in iPod models is in effort to clear the inventory so that new models can be stored and sold.

New prices of iPod previous models after price cut.

Apple store displaying prices of refurbished iPods.

A snapshot of Apple store displaying the prices of previous models before launch of new models.

Ok, so you thought a shockproof, waterproof and dust-proof mobile was a novel idea and something out of this world? well I guess not, how about a ring on your finger that connects seamlessly via Blue tooth to your iPhone or iPod to control music. playback and volume functions Well its not fantasy anymore, these guys have designed one and it is going to hit the shelves sooner than you can imagine. It is one slick looking gadget. The touch sensitive surface allows volume control, no hard buttons ! A locking mechanism ensures that unintentional presses and swipes are ignored. The battery has enough juice to last for two days. The ring can be recharged using the provided cradle. An impressive thing to have… but I’ll wait for one those fancy ones that you could present to your sweetheart!

As the world gets more populated, more advanced and even more unpredictable its need for electric power increases even more. Gone are the days when coal fired or furnace oil based systems worked well. Today these solutions are termed detrimental to the environment. Dams are good only when you have lots of inflowing water and undulating ground to move, moreover, silting chokes them up after a few years and desilting is more expensive not to mention time consuming. For the past two decades much research has gone in to alternate sources of energy (power generation). The chief amongst them being Solar and Wind energy. Countries that have good wind corridors or regions where ample sunshine is available can make use of either of these technologies. These are green solutions, they pollute less and give more, require high initial investment but are eventually longer lasting and economical. Large wind turbines in off shore areas is not  unheard of  but just recently Statoil Hydro a Norwegian company has built the world’s first floating wind turbine. Previous turbines huge though they were, had to be fitted in the surface below sea for operation. No more of that now, the new monsters now require less effort. The present turbine is a 2.3 Mega watt system and is a pilot project put in to operations for two years for evaluation purposes. The mammoth tower stands 65 meters high, the rotors have a diameter of 80 meters. The turbine is assembled first on land and is later towed to the desired location. The company says this a much green solution in terms of noise as well since land based turbines produce enough noise to give closely related communities sleepless nights. There are less chances of birds hitting them and the turbines can be shifted elsewhere without much effort. A novel idea indeed, what’s next we ask,  space based turbines?

http://www.statoilhydro.com/en/NewsAndMedia/News/2009/Pages/InnovativePowerPlantOpened.aspx

http://www.statoilhydro.com/en/TechnologyInnovation/NewEnergy/RenewablePowerProduction/Onshore/Pages/Karmoy.aspx

When an established an well known Mobile phone manufacturer unveils plans to bring out a laptop one is a little surprised and bound to take note. After all jumping in to the PC/Laptop category is no joke. And so it happens when Nokia announces to introduce a mini laptop or Netbook to the already saturated and competition ridden market, Nokia Booklet 3G Mini, ain’t that a mouth-full?
The machine is small by all standards measuring 264 x 185 x 19 (mm) and weighs a mere 1.95 kg. The screen size is a respectable 10.1" and an Intel Atom processor is supposed to fire up the machine. Glaring features include built in 3G support, Blue tooth, WiFi, A-Gps, ability to sync with mobile phones in a jiffy, music support by Nokia Music store, OVI support and secure corporate E-mail. Off course the much needed Windows still runs the machine. Oh and before I forget it a 12 hours battery life, ain’t that good. Whatever, that means I guess when this gizmo hits the shelves most N97 owners would be tempted to sell their mobile phones and go for a Mini or will they?