Archive for category OS
Anger with Apple pushes firms to Android
The hardline approach taken by Apple towards media companies selling apps through its iTunes Store could push crucial content partners into the hands of competitors such as Google’s Android.
Android has been gaining rapidly on iPhone and a slew of new Android phones and tablets are due out in Australia this year from vendors including Motorola, Samsung, HTC and LG.
IDC telecommunications analyst Mark Novosel predicts Android will overtake Apple’s iOS to become the No.1 smartphone platform in Australia by the middle of this year. From preliminary IDC findings, by the end of last year Android accounted for about a quarter of all new smart phones shipped.
Apple is now strictly enforcing rules stipulating that all newspapers and magazine subscriptions for the iPad be offered through the iTunes store, ensuring its 30 per cent cut of all subscription sales, as well as that of the app’s initial purchase price.
Apple is also asking subscribers if they want their information to be shared with publishers, which could lead to publishers losing access to important data.
In Australia, publishers have had their apps rejected for exploiting loopholes that allow them to sell subscriptions and accept payments without giving a share to Apple. Sometimes apps are rejected without an explanation.
With Android, publishers have far more control over their apps and do not have to give a cut of revenue to anyone. But until Android cements its lead, publishers have no choice but to dance to Apple’s tune if they want a share of the App Store’s spoils – more than $1 billion was spent there last year, according to investment bank Gleicher & Co.
Some publishers around the world have said they feel betrayed by Apple’s hardline approach as their support for the iPad helped ensure its success. The European Newspaper Publishers’ Association was among the first to complain, saying it feared newspaper publishers would lose access to critical information about readers of their digital editions.
Media companies are busily developing apps for Android-powered phones and tablets to ensure their content gets out on to other devices.
But despite their desire for strong competition to Apple, local executives have stopped short of publicly criticising the company, which they rely on to approve their apps.
“Both publishers and consumers will benefit from a competitive tablet market. That will stimulate innovation and pricing competition,” Fairfax Digital chief executive Jack Matthews said.
“We want to make sure we are developing for multiple platforms so that we can encourage that competitive environment.”
News Ltd declined to comment.
Patrick Lo, global chief executive of home networking giant Netgear, encapsulated the private fears of many media executives at a small lunch gathering in Sydney last month.
He said content providers were very “wary” of Apple as the closed model of iTunes meant they were forced to pay a “ransom” to the company for selling their content on the service.
“[Apple chief executive] Steve Jobs wants to suffocate the distribution so even though he doesn’t own the content he could basically demand a ransom,” Mr Lo said.
However, Graham Clarke, chief executive of Australian app developer Glasshouse Apps, said Apple was within its rights to impose strict rules over iTunes as it built the mall, so to speak.
“I’ve never had a qualm with Apple’s 30 per cent [share] – I think they earn it a few times over,” said Clarke, pointing to the millions of potential customers Apple opens up for app makers.
“The opportunity would just never have been there without the App Store … they handle so much of the process so all that developers have to do is create a great app and put it on the App Store and Apple handles the rest.”
Information Source smh.com.au
Is Cloud Computing Just A Dream?
The basic idea of cloud computing is an extension to the “dumb terminal” idea from the 1980′s, that is, there is one master server or place where all the data is kept and all the processing is done and give small dedicated “thin client” machines (basic PC systems with very streamlined features and specifications) a connection to this to perform their work.
Current examples of everyday web-based services that are now finding themselves in the envelope of the cloud computing description are services such as GMail.
Now with virtualisation overtaking the workplace, the hardware idea from the past becomes software, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) seems like the logical next step: desktop machines, laptops, netbooks and other dedicated remote access clients such as smartphones provide access to the data externally, but everything else is in the server room and data center. Sounds like every network and system administrator’s maintenance dream right? But some are a little critical of the purported promised land of networked computing.
Richard Stallman, Founder of the Free Software Foundation, said recently likened cloud computing to a trap and that users are leaving their data and privacy in the hands of companies they do not control and they cannot be guaranteed data integrity or user privacy. “Do your own computing on your own computer with your copy of a freedom-respecting program. If you use a proprietary program or somebody else’s Web server, you’re defenseless. You’re putty in the hands of whoever developed that software,” he said.
Proponents of cloud computing, such as Google, say that cloud computing has many benefits. They believe that netbooks used for cloud computing are secure as third-party programs cannot be installed, which means viruses and spyware will have more difficulty in making life difficult for users.
However the path to future computing runs one thing is for sure, aspects of cloud computing today are here to stay.
How to improve Operation system speed easily
”Speed up your windows”
These are the 5 tips with which you can “speed up your windows”. By following these simple tips your windows will run faster.
(A) “speed up your windows” by Performing a Boot Defragment
The following is the simple way to ”speed up XP startup”: make your system do a boot defragment, which will put all the boot files next to one another on your hard disk. When boot files are in close proximity to one another, your system will start faster.
On most systems, boot defragment should be enabled by default, but it might not be on yours, or it might have been changed inadvertently. To make sure that boot defragment is enabled:
1 Run the Registry Editor
2 Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftDfrgBootOptimizeFunction
3 Set the Enable string value to Y if it is not already set to Y.
4 Exit the Registry
5 Reboot
(B) “speed up your windows” by using a Flash Memory to Boost Performance
This is an other way for your “windows speed up”. To improve performance, you need to install additional RAM memory. It’ll let you boot your OS much quicker and run many applications and access data quicker. There is no easiest and more technically elegant way to do it than use eBoostr.
eBoostr is a little program that lets you improve a performance of any computer, powered by Windows XP in much the same way as Vista’s ReadyBoost. With eBoostr, if you have a flash drive, such as a USB flash thumb drive or an SD card, you can use it to make your computer run better. Simply plug in a flash drive through a USB socket and Windows XP will use eBoostr to utilize the flash memory to improve performance.
The product shows the best results for frequently used applications and data, which becomes a great feature for people who are using office programs, graphics applications or developer tools. It’ll surely attract a special attention of laptop owners as laptop upgrade is usually more complicated and laptop hard drives are by definition slower than those of desktops.
(C) “speed up your windows” by Removing Fonts for Speed
This is the tip number three to ” speed up your windows”.Fonts, especially TrueType fonts, use quite a bit of system resources. For optimal performance, trim your fonts down to just those that you need to use on a daily basis and fonts that applications may require.
1 Open Control Panel
2 Open Fonts folder
Move fonts you don’t need to a temporary directory (e.g. C:FONTBKUP?) just in case you need or want to bring a few of them back. The more fonts you uninstall, the more system resources you will gain.
(D) “speed up your windows” by Optimizing Display Settings
This is tip numer four and important one to “speed up your windows” .Windows XP is a looker. But it costs you system resources that are used to display all the visual items and effects. Windows looks fine if you disable most of the settings and leave the following:
1 Show shadows under menus
2 Show shadows under mouse pointer
3 Show translucent selection rectangle
4 Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
5 Use visual styles on windows and buttons
(E) “speed up your windows” by Detecting and Repair Disk Errors
This is my last tip for you and very important one.Over time, your hard disk develops bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing difficult or even impossible. To detect and repair disk errors, Windows has a built-in tool called the Error Checking utility. It’ll search the hard disk for bad sectors and system errors and repair them for faster performance.
1 Follow Start > My Computer
2 In My Computer right-click the hard disk you want to scan and click Properties
3 Click the Tools tab
4 Click Check Now
5 Select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box
6 Click Start
I hope you like these tips and these will be helpful for you in “speed up your windows”.
Cure Your Windows Xp Slow Startup Problem
Are you running Windows XP and experiencing the slow startup problem? It’s very annoying waiting for your computer to boot or load programs. I used to be able to make a whole pot of coffee while my computer booted. Here’s a few things you can do to speed up the process.
If you have an older computer that tests the memory every time you boot and goes through multiple startup screens there is a way to eliminate that. Restart your computer and enter the bios. Look for boot options and enable quick boot. This will enable you to skip all the unnecessary startup screens and other sequences.
Not all PCs have that option. Next you will want to look at your antivirus program. Going to the options menu and make sure it is not scanning every time you start your computer. If it is disable this option, this can really slow down your boot time.
You’ll also want to do a general cleaning up your hard drive. You can do that by selecting your hard drive and running the disk cleanup. You can also remove any old programs that you no longer use, the less software your PC has to load, the faster it will be. Next you will want to eliminate any startup programs that you do not absolutely need. The problem is Windows XP made this difficult. There really is no easy way to do it. You can download a third-party program like tweak UI. Or most registry repair programs will enable you to remove startup programs safely.
Next you will want to do a full virus scan and also a scan for spyware and ad aware. If you haven’t performed maintenance on your computer for a while you might be shocked at what it finds. All of the above suggestions may help, but in most cases, the biggest problem for slow boot is a corrupted or damaged Registry. You will need a good registry repair program to fix it.
Your computer’s registry contains all the files and settings that your software needs to reference every time it loads. Over time, from uninstalling and installing software your registry collects a lot of orphaned files. These need to be cleaned or repaired. Improper shutdowns, viruses, crashes, improper uninstalls, or spyware will cause your registry to become corrupt or bloated over time.
When you boot your computer, the startup sequence refers to the registry to load software. It may be looking at a corrupted files and software that is no longer working or on your computer. In most cases this is the reason why Windows XP boots
so slow. You should perform regular maintenance on your registry to keep it fully optimized. Doing so is like giving your computer or a tuneup. You will be amazed at the increased performance and speed up your computer.
Resolving Windows 7 Problems Has Never Been So Easy!
Within a very short time of its launch, the Windows 7 operating system has established its safe position in the mind of millions of people in a smart way. Its high quality configuration and usability are the reasons behind its huge popularity; if you are currently using this Operating system then you know the other reasons behind it. While using the OS, have you ever faced any problem regarding its speed? Do you want to gear up the speed of your work? Don’t worry! Here in this article we will give you some valuable tips, which will help you to get rid of the Windows 7 problems in easiest of manner.
• First of all check the configuration of your PC or Laptop. Properly verify whether your system’s configurations meet the minimum criteria of running Windows 7 or not. If you don’t have the required configuration first you need to enhance that in order to run Windows 7 properly.
• If you upgrade you software and hardware
then you will definitely see a number of magical changes in operating the Windows 7. As it is the most recent operating system available in the market, Windows 7 requires supports of latest software and hardware.
• If a less spiffy interface is OK with you then stop using Aero in your Windows 7. You know well that Aero is a wonderful interface that comes with Windows 7. This effect is very attractive, eye-candy and gives lots of special-effects, but it consumes lots of RAM. If you have a large quantity of RAM then it’s ok, but if you don’t have then you are advised to remove this effect you’re your Windows 7.
• You are suggested to clean all your temporary files on a regular basis. Everyday at least once go to “msconfig” and remove all your unnecessary programs from taskbar. This will enhance the operating speed of Windows 7.
• Properly see whether your system has registry problem or not, if you found any kind of registry problem then first resolve it, otherwise the OS problem will not be resolved.
• Uninstall all the programs and software that you do not need. Through this way you will be able to free up hard-disk space, which will help you to run Windows 7 properly.
• Do not install lots of software in your computer that will not help you in future works.
If you follow the aforementioned processes then you will not face any kind of problem while working in Windows 7 platform. If, after following all of them properly, you face any further problem in your OS then do not hesitate to call a remote tech service provider. The Remote computer repair service providers will resolve all kinds of Windows 7 related problems in easiest of manner.
