Choosing an Anti virus may not be the easiest thing to do but it certainly is inevitable. Panda’s Cloud Anti-virus is free and worth a try. Although introduced sometime back it lacked support for Windows 7 then. Now it has received the official Windows certification for both 32 as well as 64 bit versions. The Anti-virus itself is light and installs in a flash, occupying a mere 22 MB of  space.

The Cloud version of the Anti-virus is made for small and medium sized companies. This reduces their overall costs by obviating the need for expensive hardware, software and IT personnel. It is easy to use and maintain and provides good protection against viruses etc. Also included is E-mail spam filtering.

It has a very good detection rate and it uses online checks for enhanced protection. It does not use the PCs resources, but sends data about potential threats to the Panda’s servers for detailed analysis. This obviates the need for frequent threat signature updates. The app can be downloaded from the Cnet or Panda website. A must try!

It has been a little over a week since Nokia’s Ovi maps (free) was launched. The word “free” is enticing in many ways, it is attractive, inviting and conjures up curiosity in almost everyone. So now there have been over 1.4 million downloads of this application in this small period. By the way Ovi Maps offers free walk as well as drive navigation.

From next month onwards all Nokia devices with GPS will come with Ovi Maps pre-installed sparing users the trouble of downloading and installing the app themselves. Also included will be local country maps, drive and walk navigation, access to Lonely Planet and  Michelion Travel guide.

Supported devices include Nokia X6, Nokia N97 mini, Nokia N97, E72, E55, E52, Nokia 6730 classic, Nokia 6710 Navigator, Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic, Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition, Nokia 5230. Support for other devices can be found at the Nokia website. The app can be downloaded from the same page and is available in over 70 countries.

It’s a busy world we are living in. Technology was supposed to make it more easy for us, but now its getting more complicated, we spend more time with gadgets just to make our lives easier and end up wasting more time. But there’s nor escaping it now, either go to the stone ages or do the techie thing. All right enough of this rambling, lets get to the point. Today we talk about online reminders, how do they work, are they useful and finally which ones to use?

Ok first things first, What is an online reminder?. An online reminder is simply an utility that is available via the web for reminding oneself about any upcoming event like a birthday, meeting, anniversary or whatever.

How does it work? Quite simple, you register via web, you are sent an email for verification purposes and you verify it, finally you start getting reminders in your mail box. (Some services also offer reminders via SMS)

Are they useful?  Obviously, that’s why there are so many of them. In order to use them you have to check your mail on daily basis at least, because otherwise it won’t make much sense. Given that most of us have an E-mail address and we check our mails more than once a day so an online reminder is a very useful service and more importantly because it comes for free. Check out some of these, they will do you good.

If you are going abroad there exist a number of options for getting mobile access in the intended country. You can either get roaming activated on your existing GSM number (only if your operator has a roaming agreement with an operator in the visiting country) or you can get a new (temporary) connection on reaching that country. There still exists a third option of having a SIM that works in over 170 countries! Welcome to TravelSIM.

This is indeed a new and innovative concept. This is basically an international SIM card, that comes in prepaid and postpaid versions both. The company claims that its services are cheaper as compared to other operators.

Some important features are:

• Savings up to 85 % on international calls.
• Free incoming calls for most of Europe.
• Coverage in over 170 countries.
• Calls and SMS to and from all over the world.
• Ability to add airtime as and when required.
• GPRS

What more can I say? Just check out the TravelSIM website for more info.

Not a day passes by when I am not amazed and dazed at how technology is evolving and innovation is shaping things. I blogged about the Airnergy Wi-Fi signals harvesting device a couple of days back, and just now happened to chance upon some very impressive gadgets that are totally out of this world, they really are impressive. I won’t bore you with more adjectives just read on…

SLIMDATA is a USB 2.0 storage device that is easy to carry around. It is not fat and ugly, in fact it is the size of a Credit card and can therefore sit in one’s wallet. To use it simply fold one side to reveal the USB port and insert in your laptop/PC. Currently it is available in 4 GB capacity and comes in five colors. Works with Windows, Linux and Mac. If you place a big order the company will print a customized message or logo. Check out the website for more info.

Washable Mice, Keyboards and TV Remotes. Now eat this, keyboards, mice and remotes that are washable! But why, I mean why not just use a vacuum cleaner instead or may be use a lint free cloth with some liquid? Well the developers of these smart products say that it is good for the health since the product they are made of repels bacteria. Moreover, since these things can be washed just like clothes in a dishwasher, kitchen sink or whatever so there are lesser chances of people infecting each other. This brings us to another problem, when can we see a keyboard, mouse or TV remote washing machine? Just kidding, check out the company’s website.

Mobile TV. This is a portable device that lets users view TV via a Notebook, Netbook and  smart-phone. It can be charged from Mini USB port, has WLAN and weighs just 71 grams. It will work with Symbian, Android and Windows Mobile based devices. Check out the website for more in depth information.

I guess this has to be the gadget of the year. No matter how much I surf for new gizmos this one gets the cake, I mean we have heard about wireless charging but this one beats them all. The device I am talking about is an RCA charger from Airnergy that harvests electricity form Wi-Fi signals to charge batteries. Now that is certainly cool, but wait there is more to it.

It was unveiled at CES 2010, and charged a BlackBerry from 30% to 100 % in about 90 minutes. All it needs is a Wi-Fi router or AP in the vicinity, if there are more than one off course the performance will increase. It also has a battery inside it so one can charge it and carry anywhere. It also has a USB for attaching to various mobile devices. Coming in summer it will cost around $40.

Watch the video here.

Mobile phones have become a part of our lives so much that we can not imagine going anywhere without them. Sometimes fitting in our pocket, sometimes sitting in a purse these devices make our lives easy, till we go on vacations. Every now and then we hear of people loosing their mobiles which is catastrophic for most, as a mobile phone not only carries one’s contacts list but also data that is vital, like family photos, videos and other info.

A new device simply called as the “ZOMM” is a brainchild of a Laurie, who happens to be a mother of three. The motivation was simple, she kept on hearing about people loosing their devices and set out to make a wireless leash. The product was demonstrated at CES 2010 and attracted quite a crowd.

The device secures mobile phones, acts as a speakerphone for incoming calls, has a panic button for calling emergency numbers from anywhere in the world. The gizmo works over Bluetooth, just pair it with your mobile phone and if you walk away for more than 30 feet it will sound an alarm telling you that you have forgotten your mobile phone. It is also a hands free through which one can receive calls. Besides all this one can make emergency calls to 911 by pressing it for 9 seconds.

A good device, but my question is what if you loose the ZOMM? Check out the ZOMM website.

Listening to, reading and finding translation of the Quran is a daily ritual for most Muslims. This can be done using the paper version of the Quran or using specialized software like Quran Reciter etc. Now several websites offer this facility online for free. Tanzil.info is one such website which lets users read and listen the Holy Quran. It also allows users to read translation of the Holy Book in multiple languages.

The interface is attractive and user friendly to use. First time visitors will not find themselves lost in the maze. One can browse through the entire Quran via Suran, Ayah, Juz or even page. Next comes the recitation which can be listened online as well as offline using a separate application. There are 19 Qaris to choose from and the biggest names like Al-Sudais, Abdul Basit and Al-Ghamdi etc are included in the list. A simple mouse-over provides translation in the selected language. A total of 69 types of translation options exist. For example in the English language one can read translation by about 12 people like Marmaduke Pickthall and Mahammad Asad etc.

There are over 4 billion wireless subscribers the world over and 80% out of them use GSM as their preferred system of communication, that by simple arithmetic would translate to some 3.2 billion humans. GSM has been known to be secure, since it uses a specialized digital modulation GMSK to be exact and also has built in security via the A5/1 Algorithm that was introduced somewhere in 1998. There are various variants of this algo i.e. the 64 bit version and the 128 bit version. Operators the world use different versions, some use the 64 bit while others have shifted to 128 bit version which is more secure.

Karsten Nohl a German engineer has broken the 64 bit version of the A5/1 algorithm and released his research online via BitTorrent. What this means at least theoretically is that voice conversations, SMS, and other E-commerce related financial transactions can be heard/intercepted, over the air. But this is true only for operators who have yet not shifted to the 128 bit A5/1 algorithm of the GSM standard.

Apart from this, hackers would need specialized hardware to eavesdrop in to the wireless GSM link, they would also require advanced Signal Processing software (something that is available thanks to Open Source). The engineer says he did it to coax operators (who haven’t shifted to the more secure version of the encryption) to make the switch. The GSM Group however, has termed Kohl’s work as illegal and adding that, “This is theoretically possible but practically unlikely”. Well whatever that means the fact of the matter is that the security was comprised and this calls for stringent actions.

This should serve as an eye opener for people using GSM systems.

The new year 2010 is just across the horizon and people are going for holidays with hopes and wishes for a better and prosperous next year, there are also concerns of how the global and regional economies will emerge from the recession.

It’s was a tough deal to survive the economic recession and keep a company aloft and strong, and the companies which survived and remain profitable in this recession period were the employee favorite places as a working place. GlassDOOR.com is a relatively startup company which allows employees to anonymously take a salary survey and write review about the company for which they work, letting people search and see which companies rank high in the eyes of their employee. The ranking involve many facts and metrics such as average and max salaries, employee freedom and satisfaction, CEO approval and many other.

Glassdoor just released Glassdoor Reveals Top 50 Best Places to Work, 2010 listing of companies which are top as far as their ranking, CEO approval, and surprisingly enough tech companies didn’t make it in the top 10. Among the top tech companies Juniper Networks, Google, Netapp, Apple QUALCOMM were found with many other but Airlines and other business making it in the top 10. Southwest Airlines did however, made it to the top and Intel also made it into the list.