by Admin on March 31, 2009
Welcome back!
Adobe has partnered with one of the most popular social networking Web sites, Facebook, to give developers a new set of tools to create applications.
The applications will use Adobe’s Flash platform and the new ActionScript 3 Client Library for Facebook the two companies developed together. The client library is a free open source programming language that supports Facebook application programming interfaces (APIs) including Facebook Connect.
Adrian Ludwig, Adobe’s group manager for platforms, told Macworld that the companies will release the library and then gather feedback from developers. The libraries will be updated, adding functionality based on that feedback, allowing developers to make better applications.
The number and types of developers using Flash is increasing all the time. Some of the developers are focused on Flash, while others are coming from more traditional segments of the market.
“We are seeing that it’s becoming quite easy for traditional developers to start using Flash,” said Ludwig. “That’s quite a change from where it was five to eight years ago when Flash was focused on animation.”
Adobe said that Flash Player 9 has 98 percent penetration, meaning that 98 percent of all Internet connected computers have the application installed. The company did a study two months after the release of Flash Player 10 and found 55 percent penetration. While not released yet, Ludwig said he expects the latest adoption rate for Flash Player 10 to top 80 percent.
Those numbers give Flash Player 10 the fastest adoption rate of any version of Flash Player, according to Adobe.
Writing Facebook applications in Flash is not new. In fact, 12 of top 20 apps on Facebook use Flash. However, the new tools should make it easier for developers in the future.
Adobe is making documentation, example applications and code available for download from its Web site.
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by Admin on March 31, 2009
Microsoft Corp has signed up multiple software partners for its upcoming cellphone software marketplace, including Web music service Pandora, game publisher Electronic Arts Inc and social site Facebook.
The software company said on Tuesday it plans to discuss those partnerships and conduct demonstrations of the software store — set to launch later this year — at the CTIA wireless showcase in Las Vegas this week.
Apple Inc started the trend for cellphone application stores last summer and its offerings from third- party developers of software, ranging from the practical to the whimsical, have helped boost iPhone sales.
Some analysts are skeptical whether Apple’s rivals will be able to generate as much interest from consumers and developers with their own mobile software offerings.
Analysts expect BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd, which popularized email on the go, to officially launch its application store at CTIA. Google Inc already has a store for phones based on its Android system. And Palm Inc is planning one for its Pre phone.
In February, Microsoft revealed plans to open Windows Marketplace for Mobile in the second half of this year, but had not announced software partners until CTIA.
Along with a list of initial partners, the company said it expects many of its existing 20,000 mobile phone software partners to offer software via the marketplace.
DESIGN COLLABORATION
Other partners include Gameloft SA, weather website Accuweather.com and News Corp’s MySpace social networking website. The Windows application for social network Facebook will be the first to let consumers upload video captured on their phones directly to Facebook in April.
The apps marketplace will work on phones based on Windows Mobile 6.5, Microsoft’s next version of its mobile operating system, also available later this year. Companies expected to sell phones running Windows Mobile 6.5 include LG Electronics Inc and HTC Corp.
MySpace said LG plans to preload its application onto its new Windows phones in the second half of the year.
In a keynote speech at the show, the president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices unit, Robbie Bach, will announce an alliance with fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, who will design themes to let consumers customize their phone’s appearance.
Microsoft also plans to make its marketplace attractive to carriers with options such as a share of software revenue, 70 percent of which goes to the software developers, according to Andy Lees, who heads Microsoft’s Window Mobile division.
“We’re also partnering with mobile operators very closely so they can have their own stores in the mobile market place,” Lees said in an interview ahead of the show.
This would mean that purchases could be included in the consumer’s phone bill.
“That means we’re a very friendly strategy for carriers and for (consumers),” Lees said.
He promised strong operator support for the store, but declined to name specific customers.
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by Admin on March 31, 2009
Microsoft Corp. is to exit its Encarta encyclopedia business later this year after losing ground over the years to freely available reference material on the Internet on web sites like Wikipedia.
“People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years past,” the software maker said in a notice posted on its MSN website.
Microsoft, which axed 5,000 jobs earlier this year to cut costs and warned profit and revenue would fall over the next two quarters, said it would stop selling Encarta software products by June.
Encarta websites worldwide, except Encarta Japan, would be discontinued on October 31 and Encarta Japan will cease after December 31, the company said.
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by Admin on March 30, 2009
Skype will begin offering its Skype for iPhone application on the App Store starting Tuesday. The company will officially announce the new app at the CTIA trade show in Las Vegas.
Using Skype for iPhone, users with an iPhone, or second generation iPod touch with a compatible headset and microphone, can make free Skype-to-Skype calls over Wi-Fi to other Skype users worldwide; have the ability to call landlines or mobile phone numbers (Skype calling rates apply); send and receive instant messages; receive calls to a personal online number on Skype; and see when your Skype contacts are online.
Scott Durchslag, Skype’s Chief Operating Officer, said that Skype for iPhone provides the same simplicity that the desktop app provides to its users.
Skype for iPhone will be a free download from the App Store.
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by Admin on March 30, 2009
Google Inc on Monday launched free downloads of licensed songs in China, while sharing advertising revenue with major music labels in a market rife with online piracy.
Lee Kai-Fu, president of Google in greater China, said one reason Google lagged in the mainland search market was because it did not offer music downloads, the missing piece to its strategy in a market where it trails leader Baidu.com Inc.
“We are offering free, high quality and legal downloads,” Lee told reporters. “We were missing one piece … we didn’t have music.”
The service offers downloads of some 350,000 songs — from Chinese and foreign artists — a number that will rise to 1.1 million in the coming months, said Gary Chen, chief executive of Google’s partner www.Top100.cn, a Chinese music website co-founded by basketball star Yao Ming.
Music from artists signed by Sony Music, Warner Music, EMI and Universal Music will be available on the service, which Google has no current plans to expand beyond China, said Lee.
“This is the first serious attempt to start (monetizing) the online market in China. I can’t overestimate how important this is,” said Lachie Rutherford, president of Warner Music Asia Pacific and Asia chairman of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
Users will be able to search by musical measurements such as the level of “beat” in a song and “instrumentality,” as well as by artist and song name.
IFPI said last year that more than 99 percent of all music files distributed in China are pirated, and the country’s total legitimate music market, at $76 million, accounts for less than 1 percent of global recorded music sales.
The new service will attract users away from illegal download sites because the music and service will be of a higher quality, said Warner’s Rutherford.
Downloads of unlicensed music and videos are rampant in China, the world’s biggest Internet market by number of users.
While Google dominates the global web search market, in China Baidu holds more than 60 percent of the market, more than double Google’s share.
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by Admin on March 30, 2009
Hi Folks,
I celebrated my Birthday on 28th March. I completed 18 this year :p
I was out of town celebrating my birthday with my friends.
Here are snaps of the CAKE.
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by Admin on March 27, 2009
The <title> element is THE most important on-page signal that Google considers in their ranking algorithm. I typically try to have pages focused on one targeted keyword phrase… but I will include 2 or 3 keyword phrases if they are closely related and slight variations of one another.
I always put the most important phrase at the begining of the <title>, then the 2nd and 3rd most important phrase, if applicable. Typically the deeper you drill into the site, the fewer the phrases that appear in my <titles> because the focus of the pages get more and more specific, moving from head terms to long tail to longer tail terms. So my <title> elements get more and more specific.
The <h1> element is the 2nd most important on-page factor that influences Google’s ranking algorithm. It’s a good strategy to include in the <h1> the most important keyword phrase (or a slight variation) from your <title> element. Use an <h1> on every page… Don’t waste this opportunity to reinforce your targeted keyword phrase from the <title>.
The <h2> element is the 3rd most important on-page factor. I typically have my pages broken up into little sections or components. I give each of these an <h2> element. Since there are typically 4,5,6 or more of these per page, I use them to reinforce not only the most important keyword phrase in the <title> but also the 2nd and 3rd keyword phrase from the <title>. I try to use all of the <title> keyword phrases as well as variations (different conjugations of verbs from title, singular vs. plural, etc.)
I try to work the most important keyword phrase from the <title> into my page name, so that my URL is keyword rich. But do it in such a way that the URL does not look spammy.
Picking good <title>, <h1>, <h2>,… elements can go a LONG way towards making a page rank. Unfortunately, on-page SEO alone will usually not lead to great rankings even for less competitive terms… You need inbound links, preferably from relevant pages, but definitely with the major keyword phrase(s) or variations of the keyword phrase(s) as the link text to take you the rest of the way to the finish line.
If you have any other suggestions, please comment below.
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by Admin on March 27, 2009
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by Admin on March 26, 2009
As Facebook users remain in a huff over the site’s new layout, which was unveiled a few weeks ago, it appears change may be coming.
Or so Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg suggests in a cryptic update he posted to his public fan profile on Friday, referring to the “updated designs”.
“Right now I’m reading feedback from users and looking at some updated designs that include ideas from people’s comments,” he wrote Friday. People familiar with the matter confirm that there are likely to be some tweaks.
In a statement, Facebook said they were “listening carefully to what people are saying about the new home page” and take the feedback seriously.
What ideas are in store – and when they might hit – remain unclear.
Major changes are unlikely. Zuckerberg is known for sticking to his guns. When users resisted the launch of news feed in 2006, Zuckerberg defended it in a blog post entitled “Calm down. Breathe. We hear you.” The company enhanced some privacy settings and it became one popular feature on the site.
Facebook has always said that the new design is a work in-progress, so a few changes wouldn’t be surprising. In the new design, Facebook made the area where people get updates on their friends more prominent and more dynamic.
But any significant changes would be a setback for the company, which has pumped the new approach as a way to enable its 175 million users to share more information more easily and more rapidly.
Hundreds of thousands of users who have joined groups to protest the design are unconvinced, complaining about everything from the font being too large and the photos too big to overall confusion about where to find things.
Of course, the real way users vote is with their attention. You can bet that whatever changes Facebook makes are in response to some trend about what people are doing – or not doing – under the new design.
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by Admin on March 25, 2009
After all the controversy about unlocking Apple’s iPhones, AT&T has made it moot by agreeing to sell iPhone 3Gs without a two-year contract. The company confirmed an Associated Press report that it will begin selling unlocked iPhones next Thursday for $599 and $699, depending on memory configuration.
Consumers can still purchase iPhone 3Gs for $199 and $299 with the two-year contract, or purchase a refurbished model for $149 from AT&T or Best Buy.
An unlocked iPhone has been on AT&T’s agenda since at least July. When Apple released the iPhone 3G last summer, the wireless carrier said it would sell a contract-free iPhone in the U.S., but didn’t give a date. The unlocked iPhone can be used on T-Mobile or AT&T networks, but it’s not compatible with Verizon or Sprint networks.
A Stampede Is Unlikely
AT&T’s announcement brings the iPhone into line with standard procedures for every other phone on the market, according to Avi Greengart, a wireless analyst at Current Analysis. AT&T has always been willing to sell the phones it offers unlocked without a contract if consumers ask and are willing to pay for it, he said, but the iPhone has been an exception.
“One of the reasons AT&T hadn’t sold the iPhone unlocked is because there was a kickback to Apple for service revenues,” Greengart said. “The ability to get an unlocked phone is less of a threat to Apple’s goal of getting carrier distribution in multiple markets with the second-generation iPhone. Consumers can buy iPhones from local carriers in Europe and parts of Asia.”
Despite the availability of an unlocked iPhone, analysts don’t expect a rush on AT&T. That’s because, for most people, there’s no need for an unlocked iPhone. For consumers who intend to use the iPhone in the U.S., it makes better financial sense to allow AT&T to subsidize the purchase and save $400 with the two-year contract, Greengart said. The cost of the voice and data plan are the same regardless of the price of the phone.
Unsanctioned Applications
But for some consumers an unlocked iPhone is welcome news. For travelers who commute between Europe and the U.S., an unlocked phone makes the wireless experience more seamless between networks. Members of the military who move around frequently and don’t want to sign a two-year contract might also find investing in an unlocked iPhone a smart idea.
Unlocked iPhones may also be attractive to people who want to install applications on the iPhone that Apple has not sanctioned. Renegade stores are launching to sell unauthorized applications for the iPhone and iPod touch. The Cydia Store is selling applications not available on Apple’s sanctioned store, and another company plans to sell adult games for the iPhone.
Until now, consumers had to jailbreak their iPhones — modify them so they can install and use unauthorized apps. A third party called Rock Your Phone helps users who haven’t modified their iPhones.
Analysts caution, however, that manually unlocking the iPhone voids the warranty.
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