The long awaited operating system Windows 8 has finally arrived with mind-blowing features. Many have started exploring it on different medias including laptops, tablets, smartphones and others. It is designed to meet the needs of customers in many areas like speed, touch screen capabilities, multi-device access and others. The new operating system is packed with some groundbreaking advancements, which make it unique and special. I am sure that you have plenty to explore, and let’s take a look at the business benefits of using Windows 8.

UEFI vs BIOS
New computers bearing the logo of Windows 8 will require UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) to boost up the performance. UEFI replaces the outdated BIOS (Basic Input Output System) that has served its maximum. It’s time we give retirement to BIOS and use the modern interface to improve the booting experience. You will experience faster boot times within 8 seconds from switching on the power button in the latest OS. On top of this, you can enjoy less restarts, which saves a considerable amount of time while upgrading and installing software.

UEFI is built-in with safeguards which saves the IT team at crucial times. What does it do? “Secure Boot” blocks unauthorized OS from loading and the anti-malware “Early Launch” saves your PC against loader attacks. UEFI does not put a block on remote diagnostics and repair that is done within the same environment. A physical technician is not required to restore the machine.

Windows Applications in Tablets
Blackberry and other iOS device have adopted the full windows experience. The similar kind of support is expected from the x86 based tablets and tablet-laptop hybrids. These will come with the new Start screen in Metro Style along with the Windows applications. Metro style apps and MS Office 2013 can be found in both desktops and mobile devices. This will make the task easier for IT employees to work on network management and infrastructure. However, keep in mind that these benefits can be enjoyed only on x86 tablets which is loaded with ARM processor.

Ability to carry the Workstation
The new feature “Windows To Go” in Windows 8 OS will allow you to install a new image or an existing image into a 32 GB or more USB drive or any other portable drive. This can be booted from another PC. This might seem similar to the Linux distributions, however, this feature might work in Vista and Windows XP apart from Windows 7 machines.
This feature is of great use to temporary contractors and telecommuters. The reason being, they perfectly fit the environment which is loaded with settings, files, apps and others. They might need an additional drive in their pockets to boot from any other PC. This is more efficient when compared to carrying a separate device wherever you go. “Windows To Go” acts as a backup for corrupt machines and this can be protected using tools like SCCM, Active Directory and BitLocker. These encrpt the data and prevent the data from being stolen.

Connection Process
Windows 8 OS is featured with several latest network authentication software’s in addition to the EAP authentication option.
• WISPr protocol allows you to switch form one Wi-Fi hot spot to another despite their difference in ISP. This is similar to how mobile phones work.
• EAP-SIM, EAP- AKA Prime and EAP- AKA protocols provides authentication when connecting to 3G or 4G networks.
• EAP-TTLS protocol makes sure that a third-party client is not required in a PC while authenticating these protocols.

Reinstalling Windows
The recovery options Reset and Refresh comes handy when a PC gets corrupted or infected, ready for reuse or disposal. These options can be initiated from the Settings app or from the USB drive.
Reset clears all the data and then starts reinstalling. This procedure makes the computer fresh like how it was when it was purchased. Now, don’t think that this procedure will consume more time. It takes anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes based on whether the option is enabled or disabled.

Refresh maintains all the style apps, important settings, personal data and then does the reinstall. This task can be completed in less than 10 minutes despite the amount of data backed up. If you have done the image backup, Refresh will restore the image.

I have covered most of the important features that will benefit your business. These are not all, there are plenty of small enhancements which simplifies many tasks. You can learn about them in the near future. Windows 87 does seem strong for business purposes. What do you have to say?

Robin Mckenzie has been writing articles related to Technology News, Gadget Reviews and How To’s and does guest posting for Buycenturylink, a site that offers great savings and up-to-date information on consumers broadband internet and cable. With service from Centurylink, you get top-speed internet, excellent value, and award-winning security.

Here are 5 great reasons why smart business owners use Ubuntu for their small and home based offices.

Reason #1: Simple and Great Performance

If you have never tried Ubuntu or another Linux OS, it is time you took a look at it, especially the interface. It does away with features that typically have no value for businesses, and that makes it light for people who want just the minimum and nothing more. However, that does not mean it has fewer features. The fact is, Ubuntu is customizable to your liking, by removing features not normally required for business operations. Anyone can download a copy of Linux and adapt it to their requirement.

Reason #2: Freedom from Viruses, Trojan and Malware

Competing operating systems like Windows and Apple to considerable limit are all plagued by viruses, Trojan and malware. To keep computers and data safe, businesses spend considerable sum on antivirus and firewalls. With Ubuntu on computers, the risk of contracting virus or malware is eliminated to a large extent. This means substantial savings on buying and installing software, and time lost in maintaining equipments. Users can also take advantage of the built in antivirus-like software in the OS. This alone is enough reason for businesses to switch to Ubuntu Linux.

Reason #3: Compatible with Software Developed for Other OS

It is commonly believed that applications and software developed for Windows and Apple may not fit into Ubuntu Linux. However, the fact is that it is not so in all instant. Many of the software that runs on Windows and Apple’s Mac perform well in Linux as well, though it might not be so universally. But little do businesses have to worry over it, because there is already a vast collection of applications specifically made for Linux cutting across different genre.

The fact that Linux is open source helps developers come up with new software at half the normal price of Windows and Mac applications. So businesses can use it for saving money.

Reason #4: Frequent Updates and Great Support at No Cost

Linux is not owned by anyone, and source codes are free to distribute. Developers around the world work on improving the OS, debugging it and fixing lapses. That means unlike other OS developers, there isn’t a waiting period for updates. They are more frequent and of the best quality. Then there is also a huge community of users who can advise users on virtually any issues pertaining to Linux. Most help is usually available in forums and in the official website of Linux. Businesses can use the sources and save considerably. What makes Linux unique is that it is free.

Reason #5: Light Weight & Easy to Use

Ubuntu Linux is light weight, consumes less space on the hard disk and requires less of RAM. As a result it is faster and easier to accomplish most tasks. But to say Ubuntu Linux is better than featured products like Windows or Apple’s Mac OS may be doing injustice to these products. They have features that are not available in Linux, but you shouldn’t mind considering that at least 90% of users rarely touch upon even a fraction of all features available in any software.

This guest post is brought to you by Sandy Coops of cabletimenc.com, a site that offers savings and current information on Cable Time NC.

This increased the number of users TweetDeck had and many more people started using it when it was introduced for different platforms like Android, iOS, and so on. As they were supporting TweetDeck for all these platforms, they have also been developing new ways of improving it. Now Twitter is withdrawing support for TweetDeck. They are developing a new app that is going to be integrated with Chrome. They informed us about this as early as October 2012 and now they are withdrawing support for TweetDeck as announced earlier.

Twitter said in an announcement that they are focused on developing an app that will integrate with most of the modern browsers and have many helpful features. The new feature rich app will include search features, auto-complete tool, and a feature that updates your Twitter stream automatically so that the most recent Tweets stay on the top, and so on. It will also have a new look and feel besides having an option to notify you when you have a new Tweet to read or when someone mentions you. Though these are being developed, the TweetDeck team still has positions to be filled and they are hiring.

The withdrawal of support for TweetDeck app for mobile doesn’t mean that the team has gone completely idle. They are still active and in fact they are hiring more people for the development of the new app that will integrate with the modern browsers. Twitter has also announced that users might experience service outage even before the date mentioned because they are testing the new API. This is nothing to worry about because we are just going to get a new app which has better capabilities than the app that is currently being used.

The list of apps that are going to be retired includes TweetDeck AIR, TweetDeck for iPhone and TweetDeck for Android. It’s a high time Twitter users start using some other app in order to avoid the consequences from the outages that Twitter told might affect users. Therefore, many people have already started using other apps temporarily until Twitter brings the new app to us. People don’t have to say their goodbyes to TweetDeck since it is going to send another app with better features and capabilities that will help them manage their Twitter account even better. Twitter has also said that these apps will be withdrawn from their respective stores from May. Till then we can use it and from May we will have to use a new app until Twitter launches their new app.

Author Bio:
Carlene loves to write about technology stuffs in any field. She has been a writer/blogger for four years and currently working for Internet Bundles – http://www.internetbundledeals.com, where you can find great offers and details on verizon internet.

With one app, though, you can easily get around that. For simple PDF to Word conversions, take a look at Able2Doc PDF to Word, a new mobile app released by PDF converter solutions company, Investintech.com, Inc.

Key Features of Able2Doc PDF to Word
With Able2Doc PDF to Word you can convert hard to edit PDF files to MS Word right from your Android and iOS devices. The app works for tablets or smartphones, and is free to download. Here’s a closer look.

1. User-Friendly Interface
The user interface is designed to work seamlessly on mobile devices and touch screens. To convert PDFs to Word you won’t even need to open the app.
1. Locate your file (this could be in your email, SD card, or default file manager)
2. Long press or tap on the PDF. Then choose to open it with Able2Doc.

Thus, what is normally thought of as a tedious process is now scaled down to 2 taps—the same amount of effort it takes to access a text message.

2. Lightweight and Small in Size
This mobile PDF to DOC converter is quick, lightweight and doesn’t tie up your device’s resources. File conversions are done on the company’s servers, not on your device. This means that the file conversion is managed properly and carried out efficiently then sent back to you.

3. Accurate Conversions
Just because you’re converting PDFs on your mobile device, doesn’t mean that you can’t get quality results. Your PDF files are converted with the same advanced conversion technology that powers the original Able2Doc desktop version.

4. Centralized File List
The file list is where you’ll find your converted docs and it’s also the place where you can share and interact with them. If you’re constantly losing track of where you store your files, Able2Doc’s centralized file list will be your favourite feature.
From here, you can perform the most common tasks. Tap on the Share button to select from a list of sharing services. Or simply tap on the file itself and you can edit it in your default word processing app.

5. Security Guaranteed
Also, there’s no need to worry about the confidential PDF files you just converted. PDF files are kept on Investintech.com’s servers for only 24 hours. After that they’re deleted permanently. You can convert PDFs risk-free. For added security, you can also manually delete them from the File list once you’re done with it.

As working on the go becomes more common, the apps on your device will mean the difference between getting the job done and struggling to get it done. It goes without saying that Able2Doc PDF to Word is geared towards the former.

Got last minute edits to do? Ready to convert? You can find the PDF to Word app for free on the Investintech.com site along with help guides and resources. The apps can also be downloaded directly from the Google Play Store and iTunes App Store.

Design

The One SV from HTC is designed with smart and unique looks. When you look at it from the front, you might mistake looking at an iPhone. The black slim plastic trims that are placed around the glass of the display have given this phone an iPhone look. The back panel of the phone is claded in white with silver linings. It is made fully of plastic and manages to sport the trendy look. Much work has been put in to design the holes of the speaker. The phone looks good with the 4.3 inch screen and snuggles into the palms of your hands. The buttons on the screen are within your thumbs reach, which is an advantage.

Key Features

• Android Ice Cream Sandwich Operating System and a 1.2 dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor
• 1GB RAM with 8GB of storage facility
• An autofocus 5MP camera with geo tagging, face detection and LED flash. Videos can be recorded at 1080/720 pixels with a stereo sound at 30fps. A front facing 1.6MP camera perfect for video chat
• Wi-Fi, GPS and NFC connectivity
• LTE network and HSDPA support
• Bluetooth, FM radio, micro USB port and micro SD card slot

Camera

The 5mega pixel camera at the back panel performs well for a mid-range phone. The camera acts quickly and frames can be captured at the right moment by just tapping on the touchscreen controls. You also have the flexibility to click pictures and capture videos at the same time by pressing both the buttons simultaneously. When you keep pressing on the shutter release, you can take 60 shots continuously at the rate of 4fps.

Pictures when shot at closer levels look very impressive. Good looking videos can be shot using the HTC One SV phone with much ease.

Battery Life and Phone Connection

Calls can be heard clearly in all kind of climatic situations. Calls from this phone can be made via 2G, 3G or 4G networks. It is a known fact that the performance of the LTE network will change based on the locations. So far, the network is limited to the dense populated areas of large cities.

The battery life of the phone seems to be reasonable as the specifications do not eat up much of the battery power. However, if you happen to use the LTE network frequently there might be slight fluctuations in the life of battery. HTC claims that the phone can withstand 8 hours of talk time. When the phone was checked with multiple apps turned on like auto photo uploads, media streaming, web browsing, GPS, Twitter, Facebook and local playback, it was able to withstand battery for a considerable amount of time. On the other hand, if the mobile hotspot is turned on, you can most likely witness your phone exhausting at a quicker rate.

Conclusion

HTC One SV has been launched at the right time when 4G connection is all rage in the world. HTC is most likely going to win the hearts of people who like to have their hands on the latest technology. This mid range handset is expected to go good in the market owing to its reasonable price of about $349. The Taiwanese company will have to wait a little longer to judge the exact results. If you are looking to experience 4G connection on a budget phone, HTC One SV is your choice.

This is a guest post by Sharon Thomas of thecornersuite.com – a site that offers savings and current information on dish network satellite internet, as well as dish.com services.

Since Mac OS is a UNIX system, Linux distributions usually work pretty well. However, the Mac platform is exclusive in that all boot processes take place using Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) in combination with GUID Partition Table (GPT). Hence, an EFI boot loader such as rEFIt, has to be used as the “master” boot loader, which will supply a boot menu to select operating systems situated on the different parts.

In order to boot Linux on Mac OS X one will need the following software:

• An Intel Mac running OS X 10.5 “Leopard” or an advanced version currently.
• A copy of Ubuntu Linux on CD.
• An EFI boot loader – the rEFIt.

After having acquired the above software on can proceed with the following:

• The rEFIt boot manager will automatically detect operating systems on any attached partitions. So it needs to be set up first. While installing rEFIt, click the “Advanced” button on the final dialog and choose to set up the boot loader (GRUB) to the root Ubuntu partition. This will allow one to chainload from the rEFIt menu to GRUB. Reboot the system.
• Next Mac’s hard drive should be partitioned. While one can format the new partition correctly in ext3 for Linux in Boot Camp, free space can be created in Disk Utility. Create the partitions for Linux and switch the partitions before installing Linux. The partition for Ubuntu should have a space of at least 20 Gb. While installing Ubuntu, ensure that the boot loader is also installed in the same partition as the Linux. Also ensure that there is no overwriting on the OS X partition.
• After the installation has been completed and the account has been set up, a notification that “restricted” drivers are present and software that you can install will come up. According to Ubuntu, “restricted,” means that though the drivers will work they are not open source. To get upgraded drivers for camera, wireless card, Ethernet adapter, etc. all the software should be installed.
• Next visit the Ubuntu Software Center and download and update the system software. When all of the drivers are installed the operating system is ready to start working.

Finally one should let rEFIt fix the partition tables by rebooting and restarting the Mac. To find the data on Linux while you are on Mac, you can utilize fuse-ext2, which should help solve the access problem from one partition to another.

This guest post has been brought to you by Robin Mckenzie of Centurylink, a site that offers savings and current information on consumers’ broadband internet and cable.

The camera comes in the typical Canon packing, nothing fancy like the Leica M9 or the Fujifilm X100. It fits perfectly with the other EOSs in design and the button positions are pretty much retained. All the control features that were introduced in the flagship products are available and this comes as a surprise. The power switch is built into the mode selector and the LCD on the top right gives you all the details about the current settings. When you compare it with the 5D, you’ll see the striking similarities. It also has a depth of field preview button and an IR receiver for remote trigger. The 6D grips well in your hands and it weighs just 27.16 ounces. You can also add an extra battery grip, which has a shutter button for easy portrait mode shooting. The Canon 6D also has HDMI, A/V support and a port to connect a stereo microphone.

When you switch it on, the LCD on the back pops into life and with the million pixels, it is sharp. Like every other ESO, the 6D has TV, AV, and P and M modes for shooting. Since it is an entry level full frame camera, Canon seems to have added other easy shooting modes like portraits and sports. There are 11 focal points (the 5D Mark lll has 51) and when you compare it to other full frame EOS models, the auto focus system is a bit slow. The 6D doesn’t have an auto focus illuminator and you need to use an external flash if you want illumination under low light conditions.

Under the highest quality settings, the Canon 6D produces images at 20 mega pixels and the Digic 5+ image processor allows you to shoot up to 5 frames per second. Mirrors are not used in the view finder system and neither is it an electronic view finder, rather, the Canon 6D uses a penta-prism and this gives you a very bright view of what the lens sees. The shutter speeds on this camera go from 1/4000 of a second to 30 seconds (plus bulb). One of the notable features of the Canon 6D is its ISO range. It can shoot from ISO 100 to ISO 25600 under standard settings. The onboard flash syncs at 1/180 of a second and has a range up to 5 meters. You have a hot shoe and additional flashes and speed lights can be attached to the camera. Other than this, the Canon 6D can also shoot videos at 1080 pixels.

In short, the Canon 6D is a good entry level full frame camera and people who wanted to enter 35mm digital photography now have a choice between the Nikon D600 and the Canon 6D. If you are already using an ESO, then the lenses designed for the APS-C sensors don’t work on this camera and you will have to buy new ones.

This is a guest post is brought to you by Samantha Kirk, a writer for AT&T U Verse. Samantha provides up to date content and information for AT&T.

The Dash
The Dash lets you to search both online and offline. Especially, the Dash displays different groups of data sources under which all the search sources you use are found, so that you can easily locate the source you want to use and perform search and get access to the information you are looking for. Moreover, you can easily use the search feature because the search bar displays a clear description of what tasks it can perform. The items are also properly proportioned and positioned in the Dash, letting you access items easily. Moreover, there are many items displayed on the top of the Dash.

Preview

• Of all the changes done to it, the changes to the Preview are more exciting to see.
• To preview an item, you just have to right click on it. The preview will be encapsulated in a dark window in the display, letting you see what the item looks like more clearly.
• Circling the previewed items will circle the ghost icons of those items, too. Thus, we can easily perform our tasks without exiting the preview mode.
• We could also see a fancy inversed animation which goes from the bottom to the top while closing the preview

Other Changes

• When you hold down the Super key, you will be able to see bigger and clearer shortcuts.
• The Spread feature works well with all the themes in this version and you can use it on the window outlines and titlebars, too.
• The Dash has overlay scroll bars so that you scroll easily to the item you want to get access to.
• There is also a new lens icon to make your tasks easier.
• Some processes which run on the background have been designed in such a way that they close automatically when idle and you will be able to revive them back when you need so that not much of the memory is used.
• As only GNOME Shell needs the GNOME Online Accounts, it will not be installed by default. If you need it, you can always install it easily.
• The idle memory usage has been reduced to 400M from 600M for the desktop version. Though it is not so great a change, it is a step taken at the right time.
• Dragging an item to a different location doesn’t change its size or appearance so that you can clearly see what is happening. In the previous version, the size of the item was reduced and so it resulted in poor quality images making it difficult for us to see what we are dragging. It was the case especially with PNG files.

Besides the various visual refinements done to the interface, there are also many changes done under the hood to ensure better performance. You are going to love the interface as the look and feel of it has changed drastically due to the tweaks done to it. There might be items left unattended to on your wish list for Ubuntu, however, they will be addressed soon, too. As always, this is also a momentous change that we’ve been expecting.

This guest post is brought to you by Nicole Wilson of cabletimenyc.com, a site that offers savings and current information on time warner cable nyc.

You can download this Fedora version from fedoraproject.org. You can also download it via BitTorrent. Dubbed the spherical cow, it comes with some interesting new features. Let’s see what they are:

• MATE Desktop: With Microsoft shifting to a touch centric, mobile friendly operating system like Windows 8, can others afford to be left behind? Fedora introduces MATE, the Linux desktop version of Windows Metro UI. According to Fedora spokespersons, this is perfect for those who are used to GNOME classic or Xfce and offers a viable alternative to GNOME 3. You actually have a list to choose from: Xfce 4.10, GNOME 3.6, Cinnamon and KDE Plasma Workspaces 4.9.
• Rewritten Anaconda: The Anaconda graphic Installer has been rewritten entirely and is now capable of being used by a wide range of users. Installation comes with in depth explanations, making the process a breeze even for first time users. It has also been made more appealing visually and the whole installation experience is much better now.
• Secure Boot support: Win 8 UEFI comes with Secure Boot technology enabled. Fedora was quick to catch on to the implications of this inclusion, and have decided that they too will go the same way. So now it can boot on systems with Secure Boot enabled. You also have tools with which you can create custom certificates, as an administrator, to sign local changes to the kernel or GRUB.
• System administrators will also be happy that Samba 4 is included. This is the newest version of the tools suite that perform file and print sharing services in diverse operating system environments. In fact, Samba 4 has introduced the first free open source implementation of Active Directory procedures.
• Eucalyptus: This platform for on premise Infrastructure as a service (or IaaS), has made its debut in Fedora 18 and includes the cloud software’s version 3.2, OpenStack Folson release and oVirt Engine version 3.1 (the management app for the oVirt virtualization platform), which is a core component for the release of RHEV 3.1.
• Also included in this iteration is ownCloud, the open source cloud storage and syncing tool that’s an absolute must have.
• The latest Fedora release also includes several language and programming updates, together with new versions of Rails, D, Perl and Python. Clojure tooling packages and libraries and frameworks (like Korma and Noir) have also been added, including the Leinegen build tool. What this means is that its instrumenting code and other diagnostic capabilities have been extended, and these capabilities can be given to a bigger group of user admission levels.
• New tools and libraries for SAN and NAS management means enhanced management of storage; the System storage Manager has also been added, and this is a united command line UI for organizing numerous storage technologies.

Author bio:

Jem is fond of following the latest trends in technology especially on gadgets, Smartphones, social media, networking, internet and computers. She is currently working for buyVerizon.com – a site that offers savings and current information on finding internet service promotions.

Source: http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com

In totality, WordPress offers its users a wide variation to choose from. The 30 diverse portfolio themes that one can select from come in conjunction with the typical trappings offered by WordPress that comprises the aptitude to alter fonts or colors.

Porfolio Vertical gives you the space to nurture your brand and you can customize your online portfolio as it defines your creativity and the themes that have been offered allow an artist to agree on the already provided customized color or image that serves as a header. Your online portfolio can be transformed into an exceptional piece of art with the aid of the “custom design upgrade”.

Other than providing photographers, designers and the like with the varied themes to choose from, WordPress has also offered many online tools that can be employed for the maintenance of the portfolio and also makes collaborating with clients and potential employers easily possible.

So while you may be great at taking extraordinary shots, the tools and themes provided are designed to make that great image or video you shot look rather superlative and if you would like to display an entire assemblage of images, it can also be achieved by inserting ”image galleries”. These galleries can also be as innovative as can get by introducing images in various geometric shapes or blending it with adorned tiled frameworks.

Anyone who fancies movement in pictures and a touch of audio can encash on some of the most efficient tools wherein you can upload external high definition audio and video straight to the site. Visitors who love your work can also subscribe and get mails to keep them updated on what’s trending on your portfolio. You can also enjoy great visibility through the “sharing buttons” which will enable your regular visitors to in turn expand your work that intrigues them to other social networking mediums.

An artist with diverse talents can build many versatile portfolio themes with a single account and WordPress also provides an opportunity to pool your work with other artists by allowing them to showcase their creations on your profile. You also have the possibility of securing your work or the page you have built by including a password which in turn will restrict users and preferred contacts can be invited to view specific pages.

This can also serve as an ideal platform to increase your network by including a contact form which enables fans and visitors to reach out to you directly. WordPress has a “media uploader” that can be explored to perhaps upload any additional information that would like to share that can be downloaded.

So for anyone who is passionate about anything remotely creative can use Portfolio Vertical to channelize your innovative ideas and have the ideal destination to flaunt it!!!

This is a guest post by Dazzle Rogers of workwelltogether.com, a site that offers savings and current information on comcast cable and internet, as well as other comcast bundles and Comcast.com services.

The Raspberry Pi, an unbelievably tiny and incredibly inexpensive proto type of a computer, is meant to open the minds of children and allow them to explore and tinker with possibilities. This is more in the line do-it-yourself enthusiasts who want their children to follow suit. The moment you unpack to view the contents, you are enthralled and get automatically committed and would need to be a quick learner to be able to use the Raspberry Pi. This computer comes as a challenge to you and your entire family.

The Raspberry Pi comes in two different versions that are priced, as mentioned earlier at ridiculously low prices that will even make you wonder at what quality can be offered at such a price. However, you can rest assured that all the time and money spend on research and developments have not gone in vain. There are two models of which the first one is available for just $25 and second one costs slightly more at $35, which do not look like price tags of computers any way. The difference in the price is solely for the extra USB port that the second one sports. Similarly, the more expensive model has Ethernet, which the cheaper one lacks. There is difference in power consumption as well with the more expensive model consuming half the power that the less expensive one does.

However, the differences seem to end there. There is no noticeable difference in the hardware. The Raspberry Pi (both the models, A and B) sports a Broadcom BCM2835, which is mounted on a chip, which for practical purposes is a mere circuit board. This is the bridge between the central processing unit – the 700-Megahertz ARM and a Broadcom I V GPU. The SD random access memory has a capacity of 256 Megabytes. The external connectivity is taken care of by the thoughtfully provided USB ports, in addition to the two video output options that come in the form of HDMI , composite RCA, and SD card slot. The audio a 3.5 mm output is optimum for all your audio needs.

The power source for the Raspberry Pi is the USB adaptor (micro) that has a minimum rating of 2.5 watts (500mA) for the cheaper model and a slightly higher 700mA (3.5 watts) for the expensive one. However, you may have to make provisions for these, as they do not co0me as a part of the package. Finally, the actual dimensions measure to 2.1 inches by 3.4 inches with a thickness of just 0.6.

This guest post is brought to you by Chad Bauer of timewarnercable.wedocable.com, a site that offers savings and current information on time warner cable bundles.

This article talks more on what separates the two Godly devices. The article is written with the intention of helping people in making the right selection. So if you are someone who is looking for or confused with what to buy between the iPad 4 and the iPad mini, read on.

The Mini

Like many other full-sized tablets, the Mini comes in different flavors – 4G, Wi-Fi only, Wi-Fi + 4G models. These models come with different storage options – the 64 GB, 32 GB and the 16 GB. They also come in two different colors – white and black. Hence there are 12 different models to choose from. Unlike the new iPad 4, the mini measures just 7.9 inches.

Advantages of iPad Mini

1) The iPad Mini is much cheaper than its bigger cousins. The price starts from $329 and that makes a saving of $299 compared to the larger screen devices. The iPad mini is the apt choice for those who want an Apple tablet but feel that the bigger ones are slightly over-priced.

2) The smallness of the Mini has its own advantage just like the bigger ones have theirs. The Mini is much more mobile in nature than the bigger tablets. This makes it easier to fit into pockets and purses. The mini can be hooked to your TVs to enjoy videos on bigger displays.

3) The very fact that it’s still an Apple product is its biggest advantage. Although the iPad Mini does not have Retina display or the fast processor as in the case of iPad 4, it has all the magical stuff that you see in many other Apple products. You can still use all the glorious applications available in the Apple store.

iPad 4

The iPad 4 comes in the same set of varieties as seen in the iPad mini but it features a bigger and much better display. The concept of Retina display from Apple’s end should not disappoint you. Also, the device is much more powerful than all the previous ones.

Advantages of IPad 4

1) The tablet is faster, bigger and more powerful. The 9.7 inch retina display will offer you faster resolutions, and the processor is twice as fast as the Mini.

2) The tablet is much better in terms of productivity. It is definitely a heavy weight lifting champion. You can perform multi-tasking activities and play games with better experience. The tablet naturally has a better video and photo manipulation and a faster web browsing capabilities. If you like editing your photos or interested in the video editing activities, the iPad 4 can be the best choice for you.

What’s our take?

Both these products have the Apple brand on them. Hence there are no worries about their performance and capabilities. It all burns down to individual choice and use.

Robin Mckenzie likes writing articles related to Technology, Entertainment, and Finance and does guest posting for Centurylink home page, a site that offers savings and current information on consumers broadband internet and cable.

Micro-blogging website Twitter has hit the headlines yet again. This time for the launch of its Instagram-like photo filters. A highly placed source from the company made official this new Twitter feature.

Every day, many millions of users world over use Twitter to share the things that they care about. Images are shared with text and other social content on Twitter. Average users, celebrities, artists and famous personalities share images with their tweets on this micro-blogging website. Instagram with the intention of driving users to its parent website has confirmed that it will not display Twitter images going forward.

Furthermore, when its rival acquired the famous photo service feature (Facebook acquired Instagram) Twitter decided to roll out its latest photo sharing update for its Android and iPhone app. With this latest version of update, images that you tweet can be made to look almost picture perfect. Twitter’s introduction of its own library of image editing tools saves users the trouble of using another photo editing tool or app to edit images.

This new image editing tool for the iOS and Android platform is brought by Aviary, a company that provides image enhancement tools and is based in New York. This company also provides photo editing solutions for various websites like Squarespace, Box.net and Flickr.

Twitters photo editing tools
A picture speaks a thousand words. No one understands this better than Twitter. Sharing images is a big hit on this micro-blogging website. Twitter gives you the ability to edit and re-work on the images on Twitter itself.

What you can do with the Instagram-like photo filters on Twitter
Twitter promises its users that pictures will look their very best with the introduction of these filters. To make the already good looking pictures look their very best, users can use filters that come with the app. Here is a list of eight filters you can use with this app:

• Black & White
• Warm
• Cool
• Vignette
• Happy
• Gritty
• Cinematic
• Vintage

These filters allow users to edit images the user-friendly way. The image that you wish to use the filter on is displayed in a grid format. The grid has 3 rows and 3 columns displaying how the image will look when a particular filter is used on it. You can view how the image will look when no filter is used as well. You do not have to tab or turn pages on your phone as all the images appear on a single page. The same page also provides you with other image editing options. Below the same page you will find standard editing tools like zooming, cropping and auto-image enhancement options. Once you have modified the image using filters you can click on ‘Done’ that sits on the top right hand side of the screen and your image is ready to be tweeted.

Visit Google Play or App Store to download the updated version of Twitter app.
With Twitter you no longer will have to depend on image editing platforms to modify images.

This is a guest post by Sharon Thomas of thecornersuite.com, a site that offers savings and current information on dish network internet packages.

Android is the life breath of millions of mobile devices in several countries across the world. This is a world-class platform that offers opportunity to create apps and games for Android users and others worldwide. This operating system that has become quite popular has witnessed millions of users downloading apps every month. Of these several hundred thousand apps, there are few that are ranked highest by popularity and usage. These apps are sort of addictive and help kill boredom. Some of the top such apps are listed below:

X Construction

How would you like to picture yourself as an important construction engineer entrusted with the task of constructing a large bridge? Imagine the amount of planning and effort it is going to take to build a bridge of that magnitude. Remember that the bridge needs to be strong, functional and remain aesthetic at the same time. This is one real challenge and the great thing is that you can go on a trial and error method because it is just a game. You can build it, pull it down and build it all over again. There will be a train going across the bridge, hence it has to be stable enough to carry that many passengers across safely. This app is certainly going to keep you busy and kill all the boredom by the time you are done.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.hms.xconstruction&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImRlLmhtcy54Y29uc3RydWN0aW9uIl0.

Link It

How can a set of pearls keep one busy and help kill boredom? You’ll never know until your try Link It. The basic object is to link all the pearls. After you are done with linking all the pearls you need to get back to where you started from. The starting point always starts off with a green pearl. Each pearl has an arrow sticking out which indicates the direction of the link. You can maneuver the white pearl in any direction by swiping. Tap the green pearl to initiate the linking process. The lite version of the game has 25 levels that you can reach up to.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.boolbalabs.linkit&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5ib29sYmFsYWJzLmxpbmtpdCJd

Cestos 2 Party Time

You may have heard of Cestos, this game is a sequel to that. It is a multiplayer game that was first introduced by Android and is still very popular. It is based on an elementary principle of physics or rather- vector physics, where quantity has scale and direction. The game has some mind boggling graphics that will floor you. You are given set of marbles which need to be controlled according to the pace and speed at which they travel. When all the players are ready and all the marbles are set to roll, the one who gets past the pits and hidden mines to reach the destination is the winner. When you graduate to the other levels the excitement increases with no threat of the game lagging even with the slowest of internet connections. Kick out boredom and add spice to the group playing with you.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chickenbrickstudios.cestos2&feature=search_result

Sketch Online

If you remember having played the game “What The Doodle” you will realize that Sketch Online is the alternative to that. You need to sketch a drawing based on the input from the server. You will be given the name of the object and need to sketch it on the sketching board. You may use different colors and brushes and give others a chance to guess the object correctly. There is a time limit in which you need to accomplish this. As time is of essence, you have the option of skipping a word if you have difficulty in guessing it correctly. You can move on to the next object and try your luck. This game is bound to keep you engrossed and a sure cure for boredom.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.into.sketchit&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5pbnRvLnNrZXRjaGl0Il0.

Parallel Kingdom

You don’t have to set your imagination on fire and think that you are going to play King and have a realm of your own. Rather, you are in the modern day with a Global Positioning System from Google to help you. You need to locate the others and fight with them, meet others inside the game. You need to plant flags to establish your territory. You can plant trees, collect resources and fight different types of creatures. This game is real fun and can be enjoyed thoroughly.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.silvermoon.client&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5zaWx2ZXJtb29uLmNsaWVudCJd

This is a guest post by Lance Goodman of dishtvoffer.com, a site that offers savings and current information on dish tv everywhere near your region, as well as dish.com services.

Nik Software released a photo editing app for the iPad in the summer of 2011. It became hugely popular mainly because it was so simple to use. It’s instinctive touch screen UI made filtering and adding effects, kids’ play. In a couple of months, the app was updated and ready for use on iPhone and iPod touch.

Though the company announced plans for an Android version of the app, when Nik was acquired by Google in the fall of 2011, eyebrows were raised. However the Senior VP Engineering Vic Gundotra asserted that that plan was not being shelved.

In fact, it seems that Google made this their top priority mission and have rolled out a robust photo editing tool for Android devices. This is available on all Android devices with minimum OS of ICS. Considering that most Android devices that have been released in the recent past are ICS or Jelly Bean, nearly all the Android devices out there today can make use of Snapseed.

Probably the best news for Android device owners is that, not only is this app available at no cost, it will be free of ads as well. So Snapseed really scores over the competition: easy to use, and free!

Apple device owners can take heart from the fact that this cool tool is now available for free on iOS devices too. Initially, idevice owners had to shell out $ 5 to download this app. Probably that is why there is an extra feature now available for iOS that has not yet been offered to Android users: scratch and texture effects, frame type options, and frame color adjustment. No doubt, we will soon see these being offered to Android users too, but for now, they are an Apple users’ privilege.

Editing with Snapseed is simple and fun.

• Select the photo you want to edit
• Choose the editing tool/filter from the sidebar
• You get instructions on how to make the modifications
• Swipe up or down to select the augmentation
• Swipe left or to the right to adjust that augmentation

Easy? I told you so!

Of course, if you’re a cowboy and want to do a little in depth editing, you may need to do more than just swipe horizontally or vertically; but for mere mortals like me, the swiping suffices pretty well.

These are the editing tools you will find in Snapseed:

• Crop
• Straighten
• Tune Image
• Rotate
• Selective Adjust
• Auto adjust (if you’re feeling lazy and just need a quick fix)

Filters:

• Vintage: Makes your picture look like you’re from the hippy era, only your hair and clothes are all wrong
• Black and White: Need I say more?
• Tilt Shift
• Drama: Now here’s something interesting. Increase the saturation and filter strength to create that dramatic effect
• Grunge: Well, if you want to give it that dirty and grunged up look! The coolest filter.
• You can also add borders to your images if you want.

After fooling around with all the filters, let’s say you have tears in your eyes because you wish you hadn’t; Presto, no problem! Just revert it to the original.

You can also share your photos directly to Google + and as there is integration with this site, the sharing is super quick and easy. You can also share your photos to other social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, or email them directly from the app itself.
This app is amazingly cool and is capable of keeping a user entertained for some time. While it may not have as much depth or as many options as some other photo editing apps, the fact that it is free and is easy to use, may well push up the popularity of Snapseed. You can download Snapseed from the Google Play Store.

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Based in Tokyo, Japan, Nikon is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of photographic equipment and related accessories. Adding to its wide array of cameras and photographic equipments, Nikon recently unveiled the ‘S800c’ Android-powered point and shoot camera. In the outside the Nikon S800c seems to have all the ingredients to make it a really good camera. But let’s analyze the specifications of the Nikon S800c to gain more insight about the point and shoot camera.

Design

On the first look, the camera does not appear too different from other S-series of Nikon. The only difference is the case that is made of plastic instead of the leather. Tilt it around and you will feel a nice responsive OLED touch screen measuring 3.5 inch. There are 3 buttons below for the Menu, Home and Return function. It appears to be like a smartphone rather than a complete camera.

On turning the camera on, you see a typical camera interface designed for touch navigation. The Menu button takes you to the settings of the camera features. The Menu button like a typical Android phone takes you to the Android home screen along with many shortcuts to start apps including ‘Shooting’ and ‘Play’. Camera functions are accessed using Nikon’s camera interface like Android app.

Operating system

The camera runs on Android’s 2.3.3 Gingerbread (released by Android in Feb 2011). For those that are already using Android 4.0 or newer versions, the operating system of S800C might feel outdated. On the other side, the operating system is easy to use with and you can accomplish many things that you desire like adding short cuts and widgets for your choice of apps, adding email accounts and store account information thanks to the full on-screen keyboard.

Other Notable Features

The camera can get up to 140 shots per change and you can use functions like GPS, Wi-Fi, playing games and streaming music. The battery is removable for replacement and the charger is USB compatible. There are two auto modes in the camera. The Scene Auto Selector mode automatically adjusts settings based on 6 common scene factors. Then there is the regular Auto Mode or the Program Mode (as they call it in other cameras). This mode is capable of handling aperture settings and shutter speeds and also other adjustments like white balance and ISO.

To add to the list of features, there are seventeen scene modes like Portrait and Landscape and other modes for adjusting backlit subjects and panorama photos as well as handheld night shots. An independent Special Effects mode offers creative options. The playback menu offers special scenes like filtering the playback with options like fish eye, toy camera look and the extras offered by other Android apps.

One of the biggest benefits of having an Android-powered device is the large number of sharing and photo apps available in the Android app store. But as far as the camera model is concerned, this is a wonderful point shoot camera from Nikon that is sure to delight you.

Author of this article:
Carlene Masker is a technology enthusiast who is fond of writing helpful tips and fresh tidbits of information about the different fields in technology and innovation. She is currently working with Telco Services where you can find the latest information on Verizon FiOS deals.

Similarly, you can install only one operating system on a disk. If you want to boot into multiple operating systems, then the boot record has to be installed on different partitions. Linux for example, uses a very different file system (a file system is basically an algorithm that the operating systems use to read and write data on the memory sectors present in a storage device). If you want to dual boot Windows and Linux, then you need to partition the hard disk. Here, we see the methods and tips for partitioning hard disks in Linux.

Linux is an open source operating system, which means that almost every single application and tool that runs on it is either free and available on the public domain or available under the General Public License. Basically, there are two ways in which the hard disk can be partitioned under Linux, one is for storage and the other is for swap memory. Under Windows, when the main memory or RAM is full, a process known as paging occurs, where the data is written to the hard drive and accessed from there. Windows uses the same drive where the master boot record is saved for paging. Under Linux, you need to partition the hard disk and dedicate it for paging, this drive is known as swap partition. As a general rule, the size of the swap partition should be twice that of the RAM available on the computer.

To partition a disk under Linux, you can either use the Terminal window if you are comfortable with Linux commands or use GUI applications like KDE Partition Manager. Usually, when you install Linux, you’d be asked to partition the hard disk. You will have to allot space for three partitions. We discussed about swap partition, the other two are root and home. Root partition is where the operating system and the related files are stored and it is a good idea to size this partition at 10GB or more. Even though the footprint of the operating system will not exceed 6 or 7 GB, it is better to allocate 10GB at the least. The next is the home partition; this is where the user data and the files of each user will be saved. This partition can be as big as you can afford.

All of these three partitions can be allocated in the graphical interface that the installer throws up. Like I said, you can also use the fdisk command under the Terminal window to partition the disk. Since disk partitioning is an administrator level operation, you need pseudo rights and you will have to remember that if you resize a partition, then the data that is already present on the disk will be deleted and there is no possible way to recover it.

These are the basic tips for partitioning a disk under Linux and I hope it helped.

This guest post has been brought to you by Robin Mckenzie of Buycenturylink, a site that offers savings and current information on consumers’ broadband internet and cable. With centurylink internet, you get top-speed internet, excellent value, and award-winning security.

1. You will need an iOS Developer Account . iOS Developer Account can be created here: https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/

2. You will need to distribute profile for application. Distribution provisioning profile for the application should be created here: https://developer.apple.com/ios/manage/provisioningprofiles/viewDistributionProfiles.action

3. You need to download the newly created distribution provisioning profile and build the application with this profile.

4. Login to iTunesConnect (https://itunesconnect.apple.com). Please note that only the TEAM AGENT user can access the iTunesConnect.

5. Follow the instruction from “Adding New Apps” section (page 38) from the “iTunes Connect Developer Guide” (https://itunesconnect.apple.com/docs/iTunesConnect_DeveloperGuide.pdf), official guide provided by Apple for Submitting applications.

Some of the salient features of the reader are that it is possible to adjust the size of the font, contract, make bookmarks, and the option to choose a reading mode for day or night in the iOS. Another pleasant addition to the app that users of iDevice will like is the Trouble on Reserve, a short story exclusively written for iOS, by Kim Harrison, a fantasy writer from New York Times. There is however no provision for buying new e-books through the application or the browser. Sony says that the purpose of iOS app is limited to accessing e-books on Reader Store Library.

Does it surprise you, why there aren’t any new e-books to buy? Well, recollect that last year that Apple has made it a point, according to which Cupertino will get a 30 percent share of all in-app, sold through iOS apps. As a consequence, ‘Amazon’s Kindle’ and ‘Barnes & Noble’s’ Nook had withdrawn the option to buy e-books using the app. Instead, using the app, users now will be redirected to their iOS devices so that they can buy there. The Browser on the iOS has been synchronized so that the next time the app is opened it will be redirected. In another move Sony has also completely removed its app from the store. Sony’s Reader Application has now been made free and can be downloaded from the App Store. It works with all devices that can run iOS 4.3 or a later version. The App has already been made available through Google Play exclusively for devices running on Android.

Earlier, Sony had unveiled an advanced version, 6 inches Reader which is an upgrade having touch screen with an improvised layout coupled with access to Wi-Fi and features you can consider social. According to Sony, this advanced version of the Reader will give a real paper-like reading experience with better zoom abilities so that readers can read for long at a stretch. Along with the two English dictionaries, and the means to organize, things will be a lot easier than before in the device.

The Reader Store and Public Library System will give access to users across a wide range of books to choose. The only prerequisite is a valid library card that will permit users to access more than 15,000 libraries all over the country. The Reader store can be accessed using browsers like Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox or Safari.

Author bio:
Sasha loves to write about technology stuffs in any field. She has been a writer/blogger for four years and currently working for Internet Bundles where you can find great offers and details about verizon internet.