Booktrack are claiming that their soundtracks has the ability to “boost the reader’s imagination and engagement”, although I am not quite so sure.  While carefully selected audio may lead to deeper immersion in a book, it could just as well have the opposite effect and create another distraction.

From the company website:

Booktrack represents a new chapter in the evolution of storytelling, and an industry “first” in publishing, by creating synchronised soundtracks for e-books that dramatically boost the reader’s imagination and engagement. The company’s proprietary technology combines music, sound effects and ambient sound, automatically paced to an individual’s reading speed.

Funded by investors including, Peter Thiel, co-founder and former CEO of PayPal, and member of Facebook’s board of directors — and in partnership with the largest publishing houses, best-selling authors, and award-winning composers and musicians — Booktrack is already well on its way to creating a new genre of entertainment. Download Booktracks in the Apple App store for your iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

While Booktrack is an iOS-only app at this stage, there are plans to make it available on Android devices in the near future.  However, the books purchased do not appear in iBooks, but instead show up as individual apps.  The app is designed to learn the reading speed of individual users through page turns, with a progress indicator to let you known where the software thinks you are up to at any given time.

The audio itself is available in three layers – ambient, sound effects, and music.  Users have the ability to activate different layers individually, with the default setting being all three layers at the same time.  While there are many positive reviews of this app on the Booktrack website, only time will tell if this manages to capture the imagination of eReaders around the world.

• Kindle Users Can Now Download Audio-Books Directly Over Wi-Fi
• The HP 3115m Notebook with Beats Audio
• Britain’s High Court tweets its first injunction via Twitter
• Amazon Kindle E-books to be Made Available in Libraries
• Imagination

The software was announced in an article called “Automatic Prediction of Facial Trait Judgments: Appearance vs. Structural Models”, which was published in the journal PLos One.  By using machine learning and facial recognition technology, the tool is able to measure such traits as meanness, dominance, extroversion, and trustworthiness.

Here is a section from the article abstract:

Evaluating other individuals with respect to personality characteristics plays a crucial role in human relations and it is the focus of attention for research in diverse fields such as psychology and interactive computer systems. In psychology, face perception has been recognized as a key component of this evaluation system.

Multiple studies suggest that observers use face information to infer personality characteristics. Interactive computer systems are trying to take advantage of these findings and apply them to increase the natural aspect of interaction and to improve the performance of interactive computer systems.  

The study analyses different parts of the face in relation to personality traits, with the areas around the eyes and mouth seeming to play the most important roles.  The alignment and size of the eyes was found to contain the most information relating to attractiveness and judgement, while the area around the lips was linked to the traits of extroversion and introversion.

To bring their point home, and show off the capabilities of this software, the team involved analysed some very well known faces such as Angelina Jolie, Albert Einstein, Cameron Diaz, and Data from Star Trek.

• Luxand Blink brings facial recognition to Windows
• Violent video games harmless if you’re stable
• New Software Links Witness Drawings with Mug Shots
• How an electronic device, a laptop and some basic software can transform a life
• TVs are soon going to be able to read your moods – really!

• Microsoft release latest Windows Mobile OS and launch app store
• Windows 7 Is Almost Five Times Safer than XP
• Windows 8 To Bring Keyboard and SMS Revolution
• Windows Mobile 7 makes a clean break
• 400 Million Windows 7 Licenses Sold So Far

When you go to the Hotel Finder URL, you are faced with four large icons and a minimal but friendly user interface.  The first icon allows you to draw simple shapes around specific neighbourhoods, with more than one area able to be defined at any one time.  The Google database will then be able to find hotels within the specified area.

The second icon provides the biggest clue that Google have plans to expand this service in the future, with users able to find tourist hot spots and other popular locations.  The third icon allows users to create a short list based on their searches, which is very useful when you are trying to isolate a particular hotel in a busy neighbourhood.  The last icon uses the Google pricing database, and compares pricing information between different hotels and times of year.

Anyone who has ever spent time driving or wandering around a new city looking for a hotel will appreciate this tool, which is designed to take all of the hard work out of the hotel search experience.  While it is still in experimental mode, and only available at the moment in the United States, Hotel Finder does function and is available to use now.

In related news, Google has also expanded the information in its public transit agencies, with the London Underground now officially on the Google books.  While it does not provide real time alerts or schedule information, it does offer a detailed mapping and navigation system for one of the busiest public transport networks in the world.

• Google To Offer New SMS Services For Africa
• Live Traffic Information With Google Maps
• 1-800-GOOG-411: Now with Google Maps
• Google Sued Over Spying Android Users
• China’s Xunlei Downloading Service Powered By Google

“This marks the point in the development process where we hand code to our handset and mobile-operator partners to optimise Mango for their specific phone and network configurations,” wrote Terry Myerson, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of engineering for Windows phone, on a company blog. “Here on the Windows Phone team, we now turn to preparing for the update process.”

The first version of the update has already been viewed by some people, and features seamless multitasking support and a new version of the Internet Explorer browser.  This will be the first major software update to reach the Window Phone 7 platform since March, although it is not being considered as a totally new version.

Some of the new features that will grace the Mango release include extended Facebook support to include check-ins and events in the phone’s calendar, the addition of conversation view and email grouping, enhanced app integration, and lots of changes to Bing.

The Windows Phone 7.5 update offers an additional menu with four new icons: Local Scout, music search, Bing Vision, and voice search.  Local Scout gets database content from Yelp and other businesses to offer relevant information on events, dining, and retail stores.  Bing Vision is a visual search app that acts as a traditional bar code reader in the US.

Other developments include new integration with Zune, an improved voice-to-text application, and seamless switching between multiple applications.  This is one of the most useful new features, which allows programs to be switched by pressing and holding the back arrow.  With over 500 new features overall, consumers are starting to get excited about this release, which should be available in devices some time this fall.

• Windows Phone 7.5 Mango to Bring 500 New Features
• Are MS Ready for Windows Phone 7 App Development?
• How To Make Your Own Google Cell Phone In Minutes
• The Dell Venue Pro Smartphone with Windows Phone 7
• Safari 4 Beta Version Browser Released By Apple

“For over twenty years, the SAS Survival Guide has been the definitive guide to surviving any situation, anywhere in the world. Now, for the first time ever, the million-copy bestselling book has been reinvented for the iPhone.” reads the product description.

The SAS Survival Guide app is available for both the iPhone and iPad, with the smaller iPhone probably being the best choice for a survival-type application.  After all, if you are running from wild lions or trying to hide from Terminator-style robots in the future, your iPad may draw too much attention.

This app comes with nine sections, which are much like the functional chapters in the book.  Each chapter starts off with a case study that describes a particular emergency situation, and then provides hints on how to survive.  For example, in one section you can learn how to make a rope, and in another you can learn how to gut a chicken, fight an infection, or use a termite’s nest to build a fire.

All of the tips come with graphics, and most of the scenarios are explained really well.   While not many people are probably going to use this in real survival situations, just having it on your phone or tablet is likely to give you a sense of security.  This app would also be a great companion on camping trips or hiking adventures.

The SAS Survival Guide app is available now and selling for $6.99.

• The Very Useful iHome iB969 Charging Station
• Apple iPad launches in US
• Will Carling turns spy to hunt iPad down!
• iPhone vs. Blender (Guess Who Wins?)
• Laptop Docking Stations, Sony VAIO , Lenovo Thinkpad

“Lion is off to a great start, user reviews and industry reaction have been fantastic,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing.  “Lion is a huge step forward; it’s not only packed with innovative features but it’s incredibly easy for users to update their Macs to the best OS we’ve ever made.”
There are over 250 new features in the Lion OS, including support for full screen applications, additional mulitouch gesture support, system resume, AirDrop file transfer, auto save for app data, and a new feature called “Launchpad”.  Launchpad is designed to copy the icon based app launcher in iOS, and helps to bring the two worlds of mobile and desktop computing closer together.

Other new features include built-in voices with support for 22 languages, picture to picture zoom, and single letter web page navigation.  Some of the broader areas of the OS that have received feature upgrades include Apple Script, AirDrop, FaceTime, FileVault, Finder, iCal, iChat, and many more.

Some of the new gestures are getting people excited, with rubber band scrolling, forward and back swiping, tap to zoom, pinch to zoom, swipe between full-screen apps, swipe for Expose, and a three finger pinch to show Launchpad.

The response to Lion has been astonishing, and even Apple are boasting about the sales numbers.  It is the first time since Leopard was released back in 2007 that Apple have been so keen to show off their figures.  Lion has also received 9,376 user ratings on the Mac App Store, averaging out to a 4.5 star rating out of 5.

• Motorola Xoom – Designed for Upgrades
• Mac OS X Lion and Windows 7: What Is Your Pick?
• The Motorola Xoom – Is it a Serious iPad Competitor?
• iPhone 5 With 3D Camera?
• AsusTek unveil all singing all dancing tablet pc

Windows 7 has sold more than 400 million licenses worldwide, which means that 27% of the world’s PCs are currently running it.

Although Windows 7 has doubled its market share this year, there is still a huge gap between Microsoft’s latest OS and the good old Windows XP, which runs on more than 51% of the world’s computers. However, Windows XP has had ten years to get where it is now, and the fact that it can run on low requirement systems, which are quite common in poor countries, has given it a huge advantage compared to Windows 7.

Microsoft’s attempt to force users to upgrade to Windows 7 has failed. The company has dropped support for Windows XP SP2 and has decided to continue to offer support for Windows XP SP3 till 2014 only.

Microsoft has even issued an official message to its business partners announcing the end of the Windows XP era and offering its partners a deadline of 1000 days to upgrade their OS to Windows’ latest platform.

It may seem bizarre that Microsoft is pushing users to switch to Windows 7 taking into account the fact that Windows 8 will land on the market in less than one year. However, according to the company’s vision, the world should have two main Windows operating systems, which will coexist peacefully for a long time. While Windows 7 is the favorite OS for companies and the majority of average users, Windows 8 is an OS designed for tablets, new generation PCs and other gadgets customized to run it.

• New Windows Embedded Server For Embedded Systems
• Windows 7 Has More Users than Windows XP
• Netbook users not happy with Windows 7 Starter Edition
• Windows XP for Netbooks will die on October 22nd
• Windows 7 Release Date Confirmed By Microsoft

From plotting a transport route on a map to searching and saving information on the internet, users will always reach to the computer for ease of access as well as speed. However, when it comes to retrieving that same information on a smartphone, generally we would have to start over, doubling the time wasted in using one piece of information.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odjSlKO0YsY

However, with the creation of Deepshot, this process will be significantly simplified. The small piece of software requires installing on both phone and computer, and uses URI (uniform resource identifier) recognition algorithms.

What this means, for all intents and purposes, is that we will be able to search for a location on Google maps, utilizing a mouse and keyboard for faster and more responsive access, take a picture of the computer screen with the phone’s camera, and see the same map indications and information on the phone’s Google map app, without us having to input anything, as the URI transfers app information as well as the specific state of the app.

Moreover, this process works just as well viceversa, with users being able to send information from phones to the PC in the same manner.

Unfortunately, while many common applications contain URI’s, not all are optimized to work with DeepShot, requiring some additional coding. Moreover, this software will most likely be used for websites rather than desktop apps, as broad agreements on interoperability standards across many manufacturers do not come around very often.

Still, this little innovation is only at its infancy. Since the inventors were working for Google at the time, the company owns property over the Deep Shot, which might work to its advantage. It would take a giant corporation, if it finds uses for it, to grow this idea into something that could very well end up being the most useful application since the dawn of smartphones.

• How Safe Is Your Smartphone?
• Toolkit for Android: The Super Box 10-In-1
• First Android SMS Trojan circulating in the wild
• Study Reveals 19% of People Have Dropped their Phone in the Toilet
• 39% of Smartphone Users Actually Use Their Device in Bathroom, Google Says

Although Windows has had a virtual keyboard since ancient days, this unreleased OS has revolutionized the look and feel of it, making it touch friendly, and ultimately tablet friendly. Moreover, the new on-screen keyboard will also come with a split option, effectively cutting the keyboard in half and pushing each halves to their respective edge.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFVgR7nyAD4

The Win 8 Keyboard will also incorporate support for emoticons as well as feedback sounds similar to those heard on Windows Phone OS.

Another feature discovered hidden in the code for the build was a type of per-feature licensing, which leads us to believe that Microsoft might consider offering users a basic version of the OS and prompting them to buy new features. This approach is very similar to Apple’s built method of supplying the iPhone with basic software, but marketing the App Store.

An interesting discovery made by Redmond Pie in the 7989 build was, strangely enough, support for SMS (Short Message Service), a service usually used in mobile communications. Most likely present for the tablets, SMS enabled Windows 8-based slates would allow users to directly send text messages. Another worth mentioning feature discovered would be the geo-location ability, supposedly intended to automatically detect a user’s time zone.

However, besides the many new features to be soon added to Windows 8, Microsoft’s ambiguous statements have frustrated many developers. While accustomed to using Visual Basic, .Net and Silverlight, programmers were baffled by certain comments stating that the only tools used to develop applications would be HTML 5 and JavaScript.

• 400 Million Windows 7 Licenses Sold So Far
• Microsoft Ices Windows XP SP1
• Microsoft release latest Windows Mobile OS and launch app store
• Microsoft Won’t Switch to Tablets Any Time Soon
• Mac OS X Lion and Windows 7: What Is Your Pick?

„A bunch of studies have shown that the prime cause of crashes in operating systems is device drivers. They’re notoriously hard to get right” Arun Raghunath, software engineer at Intel explained the need to develop such tools.

“The task of writing a driver is basically translating OS commands into internal device operations. What this means is one programmer needs to be an expert in both OS internals as well as know a lot about the device details. Second thing is, they are manually interpreting these documents – there’s scope for misinterpretation there. And that, we believe, is the prime cause for many of the bugs in drivers today”, further explain Raghunath.

Intel engineers are working together with the Australian researchers from NICTA on this project. Google Research Award has also contributed to the project by partly financing it.

The driver generating tool needs to have enough information about the OS and the device to actually create the driver. This type of information is provided by hardware and software manufacturers.

“We will reuse the languages that are already being used by hardware developers [...]. We don’t want to create a new standard”, Raghunath stated.

The method the team has chosen is game theory. The hardware that needs the driver is one player. The second player is the OS. When the two interact, the synthesizer memorizes the winning scenarios thus creating the driver. It is a „test-and-error” method, therefore it requires time.

The synthesizing algorithm is independent from the OS and the hardware is negotiating with. It will run the same basic game rules every time, the only difference is that it will deal with different players and will display different results.

The first drivers that have thus been created have not been optimized well enough, but still they are very valuable, Raghunath says. Perhaps it would be better if users had a clunky but functional driver than a driver that can work perfectly but causes crashes. The team is planning to work on increasing the optimization capabilities. The system depends on the information supplied by manufacturers: the more detailed the information, the better the driver created.

In this case, hardware and software manufacturers should try to work together for their customers’ sake.

• How To Backup A Laptop
• Why Apple’s AirPlay is so Cool
• Are Facebook Making Their Own Phone?
• HDCP Key Cracked – Intel React Strongly
• Portal Gun replica to be auctioned for Child’s Play charity

This secure print solution allows users who work outside the office to print emails, presentations and other business documents stored on their smartphone on the printer located in the office or any other printer from nearby, anywhere and anytime. Moreover, the solution developed by Xerox secures both the printed documents as well as their destination.

According to a study carried out by IDC, 919.5 million employees were working outside the office in 2008 but it is estimated that their number will increase to almost 1.2 billion in 2013, which represents 35% of the world’s labor force. The study also point out that 75% of all US employees will work outside the office by 2012. All these employees will be able to print the documents they need straight from their smartphone on a Xerox printer thanks to the solution Xerox has developed.

How does it work? Users need to send an e-mail in which they have attached the document they want to print in its original format (Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF) to a secured server. No additional drivers or special apps are required. Users then receive an email containing a security code which allows them to take the printed documents from any multifunction device or printer available in the network.  Users then go to the printer, select the Mobile Print option, punch in the security code, and select the documents they want to print and their layout: front and back printing, landscape mode etc.

The new printing solution from Xerox runs on the companies’ private servers and obeys the existing security infrastructure:

• keeps all the format options applied to  Microsoft Word documents
• Allows users to print preview the document using the printer’s interface
• Offers the same printing options available on desktop printers: front-back printing, color printing, layout options etc.

The advanced mobile printing solution by Xerox helps employees working outside the office not only to print various business documents on a printer available in the network but to secure the data. And this is a vital thing in the business world. Users need a security code to take the documents from the printer and only the persons who will use them have access to that code, therefore data is safe.

• Document Extractor converges monitor, scanner, printer
• Microsoft Release Office 2011 for Mac
• iPhone Case working as a Polaroid Printer
• The Origo 3D Printer Could Change the World
• Microsoft Joins The Documents-For-Free Movement

iMessages has one clear purpose: annihilate SMSs. SMS services are text messaging services controlled by carriers. On the other hand, Apple will launch iMessages, a new text messaging service for iOS devices particularly to replace SMS services. iMessages will be controlled solely by Apple and will be provided free of charge.

Of course, one could say that iMessages will be a limited service because it addresses iOS gadgets only. Let us remember that more than 200 million iOS devices are active worldwide, therefore iMessages won’t be just a small niche market. Apple now has the power to impose its own messaging app for its devices. Taking into account the fact that SMS services are just the tools carriers use to rip off their customers, we can be glad that Apple has come up with this idea.

At the beginning, SMSs were offered as additional services to voice transmission services, but they soon became a profit source for carriers. Apple’s iMessages will definitely make carriers’ profit plummet, so why would they allow Apple to implement the service? It’s simple: they have no choice since most carriers have fought hard to obtain the right to distribute iPhones or iPads. Besides, iMessages will only be valid for iOS gadgets, thefore carriers still have the SMS traffic from other operating systems to exploit, including traffic between iOS and Android or Symbian.

iMessages will not destroy SMSs just because it is free. It will do so because it is better. SMS and MMS services allow indeed users to send photos, video content and text messages, but iMessages is easier to use and functions continuously. Moreover, iMessages lets user send contact or location information and receive live-typing indicators as well as delivery notifications. Group messaging and encrypting features are also available.

iMessages is some sort of a free SMS 2.0 version. And the good news does not stop here. Google is working on a SMS service that will only be used between gadgets that run different operating systems.

We have all paid too much money to carriers for a simple service that required no investment from their side. And they have made profit while ripping us off. Well, time has come to send them the following messages: „Hasta la vista, baby!”

• Verizon Wireless Subscribers Send 10 Billion SMSs In June
• Yahoo Mail Adds Mobile Text, Microsoft To Its Mix
• Google Voice finally allowed on the App Store by Apple
• The New iPhone iOS
• Visual Voicemail For The Non-iPhone Crowd

The company has described this Windows version as a „reimagined” operating system able to run on all devices, from small touch screen gadgets to traditional large screen PCs. Users will be able to operate Windows 8 with a mouse, a keyboard or by touch.

“Although the new user interface is designed and optimized for touch, it works equally well with a mouse and keyboard. Our approach means no compromises — you get to use whatever kind of device you prefer, with peripherals you choose, to run the apps you love”, said Julie Larson Green, Windows Experience corporate vice president.

Microsoft hopes that the new OS will allow it to become a strong player on the growing tablet market where Windows 7 has been struggling to compete against Google’s or Apple’s platforms. During the press conference, Microsoft officials introduced several prototype systems running Windows 8, including a tablet, a laptop and an all-in-one PC. The new interface is very different from the traditional Windows desktop Microsoft has relied on for years.

The desktop displays large and colorful app icons, similar to those from Windows 7. By touching the icon with their finger, users can launch the apps which will then cover the whole display because the usual Windows menus and the scroll bars are no longer visible.

The Windows Start menu will be replaced by a tile-based Start screen with fast launching apps. Live tiles with notifications will also be available and they will show users always up-to-date information from their apps. The switching between running app will be “fluid and natural” while users will be able to “snap and resize an app to the side of the screen” and multitask, thanks to Windows’ capabilities, Julie Larson Green wrote on Microsoft’s website.

Microsoft has also revealed the new platform dedicated to software developers which will be based on HTML 5, Javascript and CSS and will let developers build web connected apps for Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 10. “We are excited to bring an innovative new platform and tools to developers and see how their creativity jumpstarts a new generation of apps”, Green stated.

Windows Explorer and Windows desktop will still be available  in the  future and the software will also be compatible with all Windows 7 apps, Microsoft informed. The new platform will run both on Qualcomm’s or Texas Instruments ‘ARM processors and on Intel’s and AMD’s x86 platform.

Windows 8 is expected to become available on various devices in the fall of 2012.

• Are MS Ready for Windows Phone 7 App Development?
• Microsoft Loosen Restrictions on Windows Phone 7 Apps
• Microsoft Won’t Switch to Tablets Any Time Soon
• Windows Phone 7 Features a New Clean UI
• Windows 8 To Bring Keyboard and SMS Revolution

At the moment, there are more than 500,000 applications in the AppStore, one third of them being paid. Users can carry the iPhone in their pocket and use the games installed on the device to play and relax during their spare time. However, some hardcore gamers might disagree to that, saying that playing games on the iPhone is not real gaming.  But the iPhone has indeed changed the way people view mobile gaming.

By being versatile enough, iPhone and iPad quickly reshaped the mobile gaming industry, luring more and more interest from developers. One big example is set by AngryBirds.

iOS games can be played by gamers of all ages, between the age of seven or even 77. One of the most succesful types of games being the „super-casual, mass-market ones”, that appeal to everyone, from hardcore gamers to occasional gamers.

Another major advantage for the iOS lies in its update options. Users can be sure that as soon as a new version has appeared they will be able to download it from the Internet. iOS game developers also care about users’ preferences and the opinion they have expressed in game reviews. Developers use the reviews and the feedback to update the game and give gamers what they want.

Of course, users also have a wish list for the next iPhone in terms of games. They suggest Apple should add tactile feedback for shooting or connect the smartphone to a bigger TV so that they can play games on TV.

One thing is sure, Apple will definitely innovate the game section in its next iPhone. Users just need to wait till it is released to try out the new game capabilities.

• Apples iPhone emerges as major competitor to hand held gaming devices
• New iPhone OS 4.0 allows multitasking and more
• ShadowGun, One of The Most Advanced Shooter Games for iPhone
• Sinaxis Controller App For Android Allows You To Use PS3 For Gaming
• Say Good Bye to PSP Go, can Xperia Play be Blamed?