Aeroport Knuffingen

A few impressions from the new airport section in Miniature Wonderland in Hamburg. part 1

OS X Mountain Lion

OS X Mountain Lion (version 10.8) is the ninth and next major release of OS X, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. OS X Mountain Lion was announced on February 16, 2012 and is scheduled for release in late summer 2012. It will gain additional features from iOS, some of which were previously introduced to the Mac in OS X Lion.
In contrast to prior versions, Apple consistently refers to OS X Mountain Lion as "OS X" rather than "Mac OS X".

OS X Mountain Lion was officially announced by Apple Inc. on their website on 16 February 2012 as a successor to Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion". It is still in development and it is available for download as a developer preview version exclusively to Apple Developers with a paid membership.

System Requirements

As of Developer Preview 1, Mountain Lion supports most of the same hardware as Lion:

• x86-64 CPU (Macs with an Intel Core 2 Duo, i3, i5, i7, or Xeon processor)
• An EFI64-based system, such as:
  • iMac (Late 2007 or newer)
  • Mac Mini (Early 2009 or newer)
  • Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
  • MacBook (Late 2008 or newer)
  • Xserve (Early 2009 or newer)
  • MacBook Pro (Mid 2007 or newer)
  • MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
• At least 8 GB of free hard drive space
• OS X Mountain Lion no longer supports ATI's Mobility Radeon X1600 or Radeon X1900, Intel's GMA 950 or GMA X3100, or NVIDIA's GeForce 7300 graphics processors.
• OS X Mountain Lion now supports AMD's Radeon HD 6000 series of graphics adapters.

New and Changed Features

Deeper integration of iCloud, which includes new Open and Save dialog boxes across built-in applications, iWork and third-party applications via an API. Applications that make use of this API support a new user interface to view and manage documents in the cloud that are specific to the application being used.

Safari has a new omnibar, which is a combination of the address bar and the search field. In addition, the omnibar contains a "Reader" button, which shows the user just the text of the article without advertisements and distraction. When the user is on a website with no article, the button is disabled.

Automatic synchronization of documents in iWork with iCloud

Messages – a multi-protocol instant messaging and texting client (replacing iChat); supports the iMessage service. Also available on Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion" as a beta version.

Reminders – a to-do list application, also on iOS, separated from Calendar

Notes – previously in iOS and separated from Mail into its own application, with support for desktop notes added, replacing Stickies

Share Sheets – a "Share" button and dialog box in Safari and other applications

Game Center – borrowed from iOS

AirPlay Mirroring – remote broadcast of OS X desktop to Apple TV via AirPlay

Gatekeeper – an anti-malware feature based on digital signatures and the Mac App Store

Twitter integration

Notification Center – A desktop version similar to the one introduced in iOS 5. Application pop-ups are now concentrated on the corner of the screen, and the Center itself is pulled from the right side of the screen.

More Chinese features – has additional features for users in China, including support for Baidu as an option for Safari search engine, QQ, 163.com and 126.com services for Mail, Contacts and Calendar, Youku, Tudou and Sina Weibo are integrated into share sheets.

Time Machine is able to do rotating backups on more than one storage medium.

Renamed Applications

iCal is renamed "Calendar"

Address Book is renamed "Contacts"

iChat has been enhanced and renamed "Messages"(see above)

Dropped Features

RSS support in Mail and Safari has been removed

Software Update – has been unified into the Mac App Store

X11.app – users are directed to the open source XQuartz project instead^.

Windows 8

Windows 8 is an upcoming version of Microsoft Windows, a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablet PCs, and media center PCs. According to unofficial sources, the release date for Windows 8 has been set for October 2012, three years after the release of its predecessor, Windows 7. Windows 8's server counterpart, Windows Server 2012, is in development concurrently with Windows 8. The most recent official pre-release version of Windows 8 is the Consumer Preview, which was released on February 29, 2012. An almost-complete Release Preview is scheduled for the first week of June 2012.

Unlike Windows 7, which was intended to be a more focused, incremental upgrade to the Windows line, Windows 8 has been “reimagined from the chipset to the user experience” to connect more with the user. It features the Metro interface that is designed for touchscreen input similar to that in Windows Phone and on the Xbox 360. A version of Windows 8, called Windows RT, also adds support for the ARM processor architecture in addition to the previously supported microprocessors from Intel and AMD.

Early Development

Windows 8 development started before Windows 7 had shipped in 2009. However, it was in January 2011, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), that Microsoft announced that Windows 8 would be adding support for ARM microprocessors in addition to the microprocessors from Intel, AMD and VIA.

On June 1, 2011, Microsoft officially unveiled Windows 8 and its new user interface as well as additional features at the Taipei Computex 2011 in Taipei (Taiwan) by Mike Angiulo and at the D9 conference in California (United States) by Julie Larson-Green and Microsoft's Windows President Steven Sinofsky. A month before the BUILD conference was held, Microsoft opened a new blog called "Building Windows 8" for users and developers on August 15, 2011.

Developer Preview

Microsoft unveiled new Windows 8 features and improvements on the first day of the BUILD conference on September 13, 2011.Microsoft also released the Windows Developer Preview (build 8102) of Windows 8 for the developer community to download and start working with. This developer preview includes tools for building Metro style apps, such as Microsoft Windows SDK for Metro style applications, Microsoft Visual Studio 11 Express for Windows 8 Developer Preview and Microsoft Expression Blend 5 developer preview. According to Microsoft, there were more than 500,000 downloads of the developer preview within the first 12 hours of its release. The Developer Preview also introduced the Start screen. The Start button in the desktop opened the Start screen instead of the Start menu.

On 16 February 2012, Microsoft postponed the expiration date of the developer preview. Originally set to expire on 11 March 2012, this release is now set to expire on 15 January 2013.

Consumer Preview

On 29 February 2012, Microsoft released Windows 8 Consumer Preview, the beta version of Windows 8, build 8250. For the first time since Windows 95, the Start button is no longer present on the taskbar, though the Start screen is still triggered by clicking the bottom-left corner of the screen and by clicking Start in the Charm. Windows president Steven Sinofsky said more than 100,000 changes had been made since the developer version went public. In the first day of its release, Windows 8 Consumer Preview was downloaded over one million times. Like the Developer Preview, the Consumer Preview is set to expire on January 15, 2013.

Metro UI

Windows 8 will employ a new user interface based on Microsoft's Metro design language. The Metro environment will feature a new tile-based Start screen similar to the Windows Phone operating system. Each tile will represent an application, and will be able to display relevant information such as the number of unread messages on the tile for an e-mail app or the current temperature on a weather application. Metro-style applications run in full-screen, and are able to share information between each other using "contracts". They will be available only through Windows Store. Metro-style apps are developed with the new Windows Runtime platform using various programming languages (or in the case of HTML, a mark-up language) including: C++, Visual Basic, C#, and HTML/JavaScript.

The traditional desktop environment for running desktop applications is treated as a Metro app. The Start button has been removed from the taskbar in favor of a Start button on the new charm bar, as well as a hotspot in the bottom-left corner. Both open the new Start screen, which replaces the Start menu.

Software Compatibility

Windows 8 for x86/64 processors will run most software compatible with previous versions of Windows, with the same restrictions as Windows 7: 64-bit Windows 8 will be able to run 64-bit and 32-bit software while 32-bit Windows 8 will be able to run 32-bit and 16-bit software (although some 16-bit software may require compatibility settings to be applied, or not work at all).

Windows on ARM processors (Windows RT) will only support the applications included with the system (including some Office 15 desktop applications), supplied through Windows Update, or acquired through the Windows Store, which will only provide Metro applications. Windows on ARM will not support running, emulating, or porting existing x86/64 desktop applications, in order to ensure the quality of apps available on ARM.

Metro applications can be cross-compatible with both x86/64 based systems and Windows on ARM, or compiled to support a specific architecture.

Logo

On February 18, 2012, Microsoft confirmed that in Windows 8 the Windows logo will be significantly updated to reflect the new Metro design language. The logo was designed by Pentagram partner Paula Scher. The formerly flag-shaped logo has been transformed into four window panes, perspective was added, and the entire logo will be rendered in a single solid color, which will depend on the user's personalization changes.

Editions

On April 16, 2012, Microsoft announced that Windows 8 will be available in four main editions. Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro will be available for retail sale to consumers in most countries.The other editions are not available in retail. The new Windows RT edition is only available preinstalled by OEMs on ARM based devices while the Enterprise edition is only available through volume licensing.

Windows Phone

Windows Phone is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft, and is the successor to its Windows Mobile platform, although incompatible with it. Unlike its predecessor, it is primarily aimed at the consumer market rather than the enterprise market. It was launched in Europe, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, Mexico, and the EPAL region in the second half of 2010, and Asia in early 2011. With Windows Phone, Microsoft created a new user interface, featuring its design language called Metro. Additionally, the software is integrated with third party services and Microsoft services, and sets minimum requirements for the hardware on which it runs.

History
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Development

Work on a major Windows Mobile update may have begun as early as 2004 under the codename "Photon", but work moved slowly and the project was ultimately cancelled. In 2008, Microsoft reorganized the Windows Mobile group and started work on a new mobile operating system. The product was to be released in 2009 as Windows Phone, but several delays prompted Microsoft to develop Windows Mobile 6.5 as an interim release.

Windows Phone was developed quickly. One result was that Windows Mobile applications do not run on it. Larry Lieberman, senior product manager for Microsoft's Mobile Developer Experience, told eWeek: "If we'd had more time and resources, we may have been able to do something in terms of backward compatibility." Lieberman said that Microsoft was attempting to look at the mobile phone market in a new way, with the end user in mind as well as the enterprise network. Terry Myerson, corporate VP of Windows Phone engineering, said, "With the move to capacitive touch screens, away from the stylus, and the moves to some of the hardware choices we made for the Windows Phone 7 experience, we had to break application compatibility with Windows Mobile 6.5."

Naming

The name 'Windows Phone' is used because Microsoft's old mobile OS called 'Windows Mobile' has been replaced by an all new mobile operating system. Before the official announcement of 'Windows Phone 7', Microsoft began to refer to devices running Windows Mobile as "Windows Phones". Microsoft at first announced its new platform as "Windows Phone 7 Series" which initially came under criticism as being too wordy and difficult to say casually. Responding to this, on April 2, 2010 Microsoft announced that the "Series" would be dropped from the name, leaving the platform named Windows Phone 7.^[11] The official statement on the matter was:

"Customers want a simpler way to say and use the name consistently. The important thing is keeping the focus on the Windows Phone brand, which we introduced in October and will continue investing in through Windows Phone 7 and beyond."

Launch

In February 2010, a Microsoft press release listed the companies that would help make and operate Windows Phone. Many hardware makers were listed in the release.

Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone on February 15, 2010, at Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona and revealed additional details at MIX 2010 on March 15, 2010. The final SDK was made available on September 16, 2010.

HP later decided not to build devices for Windows Phone, citing that it wanted to focus on devices for its newly purchased webOS.

Windows Phone supports twenty-five languages and Windows Phone Marketplace allows buying and selling applications in 35 countries and regions.

Partnership

Launch partners
On October 11, 2010, Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer announced 10 devices operating Windows Phone, made by HTC, Dell, Samsung, and LG, with sales beginning on October 21, 2010 in Europe and Australia and November 8, 2010 in the United States. The devices were available on 60 carriers in 30 countries, with additional devices to be launched in 2011.

On February 11, 2011, at a press event in London, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Nokia CEO Stephen Elop announced a partnership between their companies in which Windows Phone would become the primary smartphone operating system for Nokia. The event was largely focused on creating "a new global mobile ecosystem", suggesting competition with Android and iOS by saying "It is now a three horse race". Integration of Microsoft services with Nokia's own services were announced; specifically that Bing would power search across Nokia devices, and an integration of Nokia Maps with Bing Maps, as well as Nokia's Ovi store being integrated with the Windows Phone Marketplace. The partnership involves "funds changing hands for royalties, marketing and ad-revenue sharing", which Microsoft later announced was, "measured in billions of dollars." The first Nokia Windows phones, the Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 710, were announced in October 2011 at Nokia World 2011 event. At the Consumer Electronics Show in 2012 Nokia announced the Lumia 900, featuring a 4.3-inch AMOLED ClearBlack display, a 1.4 GHz processor and 16GB of memory. The Lumia 900 was one of the first Windows Phones to support LTE and was released on AT&T on April 8. An international version will launch in Q2 2012, with a UK launch expected in May. The Nokia Lumia 610 is the first Nokia Windows Phone to run the Tango Variant (Windows Phone 7.5 Refresh) and is aimed at emerging markets.

Microsoft, on May 25, 2011, has announced expansion of partners who plan to release Windows Phone. Acer, Fujitsu, and ZTE, in addition to Nokia, released their first Windows Phones based on the first major upgrade to Windows Phone platform.

Features

User Interface

Windows Phone features a new user interface, based upon Microsoft's Windows Phone design system, codenamed Metro. The home screen, called the "Start screen", is made up of "Live Tiles". Tiles are links to applications, features, functions and individual items (such as contacts, web pages, applications or media items). Users can add, rearrange, or remove Tiles. Tiles are dynamic and update in real time – for example, the tile for an email account would display the number of unread messages or a Tile could display a live update of the weather.

Several features of Windows Phone are organized into "hubs", which combine local and online content via Windows Phone's integration with popular social networks such as Facebook, Windows Live, and Twitter. For example, the Pictures hub shows photos captured with the device's camera and the user's Facebook photo albums, and the People hub shows contacts aggregated from multiple sources including Windows Live, Facebook, and Gmail. From the Hub, users can directly comment and 'like' on social network updates. The other built-in hubs are Music and Video (which integrates with Zune), Games (which integrates with Xbox Live), Windows Phone Marketplace, and Microsoft Office.^[

Windows Phone uses multi-touch technology. The default Windows Phone user interface has a dark theme that prolongs battery life on OLED screens as fully black pixels don't emit light. The user may choose a light theme instead, and can also choose from several accent colors. User interface elements such as tiles are shown in the user's chosen accent color. Third-party applications can be automatically themed with these colors.

Text Input

Users input text by using an on-screen virtual keyboard, which has a dedicated key for inserting emoticons, and features spell checking and word prediction. App developers (both inhouse and ISV) may specify different versions of the virtual keyboard in order to limit users to certain character sets, such as numeric characters alone. Users may change a word after it has been typed by tapping the word, which will invoke a list of similar words. Pressing and holding certain keys will reveal similar characters. The keys are somewhat larger and spaced farther apart when in landscape mode. Phones may also be made with a hardware keyboard for text input.

Messaging

Windows Phone combined messaging through "threads". Threads allow the Windows Phone user to engage with their contacts through Windows Live Messenger and Facebook Chat as well as traditional text messages. Text message can also be composed through voice recognition. Voice recognition allows speech to be converted to text message and also allows text message to be converted to speech which can be read aloud.

Web Browser

Windows Phone 7.5 features a version of Internet Explorer Mobile with a rendering engine that is based on Internet Explorer 9.

Internet Explorer on Windows Phone allows the user to maintain a list of favorite web pages and tiles linking to web pages on the Start screen. The browser supports up to 6 tabs, which can all load in parallel. Other features include multi-touch gestures, a streamlined UI, smooth zoom in/out animations, the ability to save pictures that are on web pages, share web pages via email, and support for inline search which allows the user to search for a word or phrase in a web page by typing it. Microsoft has announced plans to regularly update the Windows Phone web browser and its layout engine independently from the Windows Phone Update system.

In a demo, Microsoft said that users will be able to stream YouTube videos from the browser. Clicking on a video from the mobile YouTube website will launch the video in a standalone app and will also add the YouTube video to the Music + Video Hub.

Contacts

Contacts are organized via the "People hub". Contacts can be manually entered into contacts or imported from Facebook, Windows Live Contacts, Twitter, and LinkedIn. A "What's New" section show news feed and a "Pictures" section show pictures from those social networks made by the contacts. A "Me" section show the phone user's own social networks status and wall, allow the user to update his status, and check-in to Bing and Facebook Places. Contacts can be added to the home screen by pinning them to the start. The contact's "Live Tile" displays his social network status and profile picture on the homescreen and the contact's hub displays his Facebook wall as well as all of the rest of his contact information and information from his other social networks.

If a contact has information stored on multiple networks, users can link the two separate contact accounts, allowing the information to be viewed and accessed from a single card. As of Windows Phone 7.5, contacts can also be sorted into "Groups". Here, information from each of the contacts is combined into a single page which can be accessed directly from the Hub or pinned to the Start screen.

Email

Windows Phone supports Hotmail, Exchange, Yahoo! Mail, and Gmail natively and supports many other services via the POP and IMAP protocols. For the native account types, contacts and calendars may be synced as well. Users can also search through their email by searching in the subject, body, senders, and receivers. Emails are shown in threading view and multiple email inboxes can be combined or kept separate.

Multimedia

Zune for Windows Phone is a built-in application providing entertainment and synchronization capabilities between PC and Windows Phone. The Windows Phone multimedia experience is divided into two distinct hubs, the "Music + Videos" hub and the "Pictures" hub, both of which are similar in appearance and functionality to that of the Zune HD.

The "Music + Videos hub" allows the user to access music, videos, and podcasts stored on the device, and links directly to the Windows Phone Marketplace to buy music, or rent it with the Zune Pass subscription service. When browsing the music by a particular artist, users are able to view artist biographies and photos, provided by the Zune Software.This hub integrates with many apps that provide video and music service, including, but not limited to, iHeartRadio, Youtube, and Vevo. This hub also includes Smart DJ which compiles a playlist of songs stored on the phone similar to the song or artist selected.

The "Pictures hub" displays the user's Facebook and Windows Live photo albums, as well as photos taken with the phone's built-in camera. Users can also upload photos to social networks, comment on others photos, and tag photos on social networks directly from the Pictures hub. Multi-touch gestures permit zooming in and out of photos.

Media support

According to Brandon Miniman's test review for pocketnow.com, he stated "if Zune can play it, your Windows Phone 7 device can play it" – this refers to the supported playback of files. The audio file formats, supported, include WAV, MP3, WMA, AMR, AAC/MP4/M4A/M4B and 3GP/3G2 as standards. The video file formats, supported, include WMV, AVI, MP4/M4V, 3GP/3G2 and MOV (QuickTime) standards. These supported audio and video formats would be dependent on the codecs contained inside them. It has also been previously reported that the DivX and Xvid codecs within AVI are also playable on the system. Unlike the previous Windows Mobile operating system, there are currently no third-party applications for handling other video formats. The image file formats that are supported include JPG/JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIF and Bitmap (BMP).

Custom ringtones were added with Mango. Ringtones must be under 1MB, less than 40 seconds long and the genre marked as Ringtone to appear on the phone, and are either created on the computer or downloaded through apps. Custom ringtones cannot be used for text messages, IMs or emails.

Games

Xbox Live on Windows Phone provides some Xbox 360 features on Windows Phone devices by displaying the user's avatar in a 3D fashion. Via "Games hub", the users are able to interact with the avatar, view gamerscore and leaderboards, message Xbox Live friends, and Spotlight. Multiplayer (turn-based) gaming with live multiplayer are also released. Microsoft has unveiled more than 50 premium Windows Phone Games titles at Gamescom that makes use of Xbox Live on mobile. Xbox Live on Windows Phone currently doesn't offer real-time multiplayer games, but will be added in the future. Some key features of Xbox Live on Windows Phone include ability to be signed in simultaneously on the console and phone, send and receive messages between Console and Phone, unlock unique gamer points only available by purchasing the gaming title on the phone, etc.

Search

Microsoft's hardware requirements stipulate that every Windows Phone must have a dedicated Search button on the front of the device that performs different actions. Pressing the search button while an application is open will allow users to search within applications that take advantage of this feature; for example, pressing Search in the People hub will let the users search their contact list for specific people. This has been changed in Windows Phone 7.5 however – as the search button is reserved for Bing – so applications that previously used this feature (such as the Marketplace) now include soft search buttons.

In other cases, pressing the Search button will allow the user to perform a search of web sites, news, and map locations using the Bing application.

Windows Phone also has a voice recognition function, powered by TellMe, which allows the user to perform a Bing search, call contacts or launch applications by speaking. This can be activated by pressing and holding the phone's Start button.

Bing is the default search engine on Windows Phone handsets due to its deep integration of functions into the OS (which also include the utilization of its map service for location-based searches and queries). However, Microsoft has stated that other search engine applications can be used.

Aside from location-based searches, Bing Maps also provide turn-by-turn navigation service to Windows Phone user and Local Scout shows interest points such as attractions and restaurants in the nearby area.

Bing Audio allows the user to match a song with its name and Bing Vision allows the user to match barcodes and tags with the product online.

Office Suite

The "Office hub" organizes all Microsoft Office apps and documents. Microsoft Office Mobile provides interoperability between Windows Phone and the desktop version of Microsoft Office. Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, PowerPoint Mobile, OneNote Mobile, and SharePoint Workspace Mobile allow most Microsoft Office file formats to be viewed and edited directly on a Windows Phone device.
Microsoft Office files from SkyDrive and Office 365, as well as files stored locally on the phone, can be accessed through the Office Hub. Office files are sorted by tiles: Word documents (blue tile), Excel spreadsheets (green tile), PowerPoint presentations (red tile), and OneNote documents (purple tile).

Multitasking

In Windows Phone 7, multitasking is limited to bundled apps. Starting with Windows Phone 7.5, a card-based task switcher can be accessed by pressing and holding the back button. The screenshot of last five open app are shown as cards. Apps can be kept running even when out of view through "Live Agents". In other cases, apps are suspended and can be quickly resumed.

Sync

Zune Software manages the contents on Windows Phone devices and Windows Phone can wirelessly sync with Zune Software. In addition to accessing on the Windows Phone devices, Zune software can also access the Zune Marketplace to purchase music, videos, and all apps for Windows Phone. While music and videos are both stored locally on the PC and on the phone, apps are only stored on the phone even if purchased from the Zune Software. Zune Software can also be used to update all Windows Phone devices. Although Zune Software is unavailable on Mac OS X operating system, Microsoft has released Windows Phone Connector which allow Windows Phone devices to sync with iTunes for Mac and iPhoto.

Windows Phone OS doesn't support usual USB sync with Microsoft Outlook's Contacts, Tasks and Notes as opposed to older versions of Windows Mobile with Desktop ActiveSync. Syncing Contacts and Appointments is done via a cloud-based service (Windows Live, Google, or Exchange Server) only. There's no way to sync this personal information directly from a computer to a Windows Phone and back. A petition to Microsoft was filed to reinstate USB sync for Outlook.

Update

According to Microsoft documentation, software updates will be delivered to Windows Phone users via Microsoft Update, as is the case with other Windows operating systems. Microsoft had the intention to directly update any phone running Windows Phone instead of relying on OEMs or wireless carriers, but on January 6, 2012, Microsoft changed their policy to let carriers decide if an update will be delivered. The software component, called Windows Phone Update, exists both on the phone (for smaller updates, over-the-air) and in the Zune Software for Windows PCs (for larger updates, via USB connection). Users will be notified to attach their phones to a PC if such an update is required. Microsoft has said that in the future, all updates, both large and small will eventually support over-the-air downloads. Charlie Kindel, Program Manager for the developer experience of Windows Phone, confirmed that the update infrastructure system for Windows Phone was available and that Microsoft is "in a position where we have the systems in place to effectively and reliably deliver updates to (Windows Phone) users".

Microsoft plans to regularly ship minor updates that add features throughout the year, and major updates once a year.

All third-party applications can be updated automatically from the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Advertising Platform

Microsoft has also launched an advertising platform for the Windows Phone platform. Microsoft's General Manager for Strategy and Business Development, Kostas Mallios, said that Windows Phone will be an "ad-serving machine", pushing advertising and brand-related content to the user. The platform will feature advertising tiles near applications and toast notifications, which will bring updating advertising notifications. Mallios said that Windows Phone will be able to "preserve the brand experience by going directly from the web site right to the application", and that Windows Phone "enables advertisers to connect with consumers over time". Mallios continued: "you're now able to push information as an advertiser, and stay in touch with your customer. It's a dynamic relationship that is created and provides for an ongoing dialog with the consumer."

Bluetooth

Windows Phone supports the following Bluetooth profiles:

1. Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP 1.2)
2. Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP 1.3)
3. Hands Free Profile (HFP 1.5)
4. Headset Profile (HSP 1.1)
5. Phone Book Access Profile (PBAP 1.1)

Windows Phone have no Bluetooth File Transfer capability.

Awards

Windows Phone was presented with a total of three awards at the 2011 International Design Excellence Awards, voted by an independent jury at an event co-sponsored by Microsoft, among others; Gold in Interactive Product Experience, Silver in Research and Bronze in the Design Strategy.

"The Windows Phone 7 was built around the idea that the end user is king. The design team began by defining and understanding the people who would use this phone. It was convinced that there could be a better user experience for a phone, one that revolves more around who the users are rather than what they do. The Windows Phone 7 lets users quickly get in, get out and back to their lives."

At the awards ceremony, Windows Phone 7 was given "the noteworthy People's Choice Award, an award handed to the favorite IDEA 2011 gold award winner."

Questions of Fair Play Arise in Facebook’s I.P.O. Process

As Washington intensifies its scrutiny of the initial public offering of Facebook, the company’s bankers are facing questions about whether the process — even if perfectly legal — was fair.

The concerns center on Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and other banks involved in the I.P.O. that shared a negative outlook about Facebook with a select group of clients, rather than broadly with all investors.

In the days leading up to Facebook’s debut, analysts at several banks ratcheted down their growth estimates for the social network. The move came after the company told them that quarterly and annual revenue would be on the softer side, said people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.

As is typical in the I.P.O. process, research analysts at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and other firms contacted certain clients to discuss their revised expectations, while other big investors called on the banks to get their new take. But ordinary mom-and-pop investors did not have the same access to the valuable information.

This week, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement division opened a preliminary inquiry into the Facebook offering, a person briefed on the matter said. The Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee have also started informal examinations into the I.P.O. process.

Congressional aides plan to talk with Facebook executives, regulators and others involved in the I.P.O. in the coming days, after which the Senate committee will weigh whether to hold a public hearing about the matter.

“While the S.E.C. investigates some of the problems surrounding the Facebook I.P.O., I think it is important to broadly and publicly examine the procedures for taking a company public,” said Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island and chairman of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment. “We need to ensure the system is fair, balanced, and works for everyone.”

The scope of the S.E.C. inquiry is unclear, though the agency’s market abuse unit could examine how nonpublic information was disseminated to certain investors — and whether it conflicted with the company’s public disclosures and regulatory filings. One person close to the matter added that the agency has also heard complaints from investors who did not know how many shares they held, amid technical missteps at the Nasdaq exchange on Friday.

No one at Facebook or any of its underwriters have been accused of any wrongdoing, and people close to the matter cautioned that the company and its banks might not have run afoul of any regulations. The S.E.C., Facebook and Morgan Stanley all declined to comment.

The most highly anticipated technology offering in years, Facebook’s debut has instead disappointed many once-enthusiastic investors. While underwriters, investors and analysts had hoped for even a small “pop” on the first day, Facebook barely broke its offering price of $38 a share and required support from Morgan Stanley to remain above that.

Facebook tumbled in its next two days of trading before finally closing up 3.2 percent on Wednesday. Still, at $32, the company’s shares remain well below their offer price.

Many market participants continue to cope with the fallout of Facebook’s messy debut. Morgan Stanley’s brokerage arm wrote in an internal memorandum on Wednesday that it was reviewing clients’ orders and might reimburse customers for pricing discrepancies.

As the largest Internet I.P.O. on record, Facebook’s offering has drawn intense scrutiny from the start. But with the stock shedding $16 billion in market value, some small-time investors are crying foul and regulators are wondering what went wrong.

“What brighter light exists than the highest profile I.P.O. in memory,” Jacob S. Frenkel, a former S.E.C. lawyer and now a partner at Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker. “With Memorial Day weekend, the summer pools are open, and this is an invitation for all the regulators to jump right in.”
One avenue for regulators could be Facebook’s conversations with analysts, particularly whether the social network made statements that contradicted its public filings. Under securities rules, a soon-to-be public company is permitted to provide “material” information to research analysts. But if that data is inconsistent with the company’s public prospectus, the issuer must revise the regulatory filing.

Such scrutiny is likely to focus on at least two recent conference calls Facebook held with its analysts. During a discussion in April, Facebook briefed about 20 bank analysts on its revenue guidance for the second quarter and the full year, according to a person briefed on the matter. On May 9, the day the company submitted a revised public prospectus disclosing its challenges in mobile advertising, Facebook spoke to the analysts again, telling them that revenue would come in at the lower end of its forecast.

One bank then cut its revenue expectations by 5 percent for the second quarter. Goldman analysts sent an internal memo, with the revised figures, to the firm’s private wealth managers and institutional sales force.

While the forecasts did not appear in the company’s filings, they do not seem to contradict any information the company previously disclosed, according to securities lawyers and professors following the details of the Facebook I.P.O. In its prospectus, Facebook highlighted broad risks facing its future growth.

Another potential line of inquiry for regulators, securities experts say, is whether bank analysts disseminated information unfairly to only choice investors. Before a company goes public, analysts at banks that underwrite the offering are not allowed to publish forecasts or other research about the company. They can provide those estimates only orally, for example in a telephone conversation, and they generally do so only with their biggest clients.

Securities lawyers note that research analysts are not obligated to share their work with the wider public. The rules governing the I.P.O. process allow analysts to confer with particular clients, as long as it is done in line with a bank’s longstanding policies.

Still, Facebook’s I.P.O. has left a sour taste with some investors, who believe the system is structured to favor the biggest investors. The process — which prominently features a series of closed-door meetings with management teams known as a roadshow — gives big investors like hedge funds a privileged window into the company.

“You have this legacy problem,” said Christopher J. Keller, a partner at Labaton Sucharow. “Twenty to thirty years ago, there was no such thing as a retail investors as we know it, so we still have rules that allow the large player in the market to have a leg up.”

During Facebook’s first hour of trading on May 18, Mr. Fiani, a 53-year-old employee of the New York City Transit Authority, bought 1,000 shares through Bank of America Merrill Lynch for $38 a share. On Monday morning, he panicked as the stock dove, and unloaded his stake at $33, taking a $5,000 loss.

Two days later, his brokerage firm called, asking him for an additional $4,000. Because of an error, the correct purchase price should have been $42.

Adding insult, he found out that some investors had received information about Facebook’s financials that he never got. He called the S.E.C. on Wednesday afternoon to air his complaints.
“It’s about distrust,” Mr. Fiani said. “This is another stock market rigging.”

Google funds computer teachers and Raspberry Pis in England

Google's chairman Eric Schmidt said money would also be provided to buy "teaching aids, such as Raspberry Pi's or Arduino starter kits".

He said that without investment in the subject, the UK risked "losing a generation" of scientists.

Mr Schmidt had previously criticised the country's ICT curriculum.

He had said the UK was "throwing away [its] great computing heritage" by focusing on using software rather than how it was made.

The comments, delivered last August at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, prompted education secretary Michael Gove to revamp the curriculum to incorporate programming and other tech skills.

Teach First 

Speaking on Wednesday at London's Science Museum, Mr Schmidt outlined further plans: "Put simply, technology breakthroughs can't happen without the scientists and engineers to make them.

The challenge that society faces is to equip enough people, with the right skills and mindset, and to get them to work on the most important problems."

Despite acknowledging progress, he described computer science education in the UK as still being in a "sorry state".

He announced that Google would provide the funds to support Teach First - a charity which puts "exceptional" graduates on a six-week training programme before deploying them to schools where they teach classes over a two-year period.

Many stay on beyond that term while others pursue places at leading businesses associated with the programme.

At present the scheme is limited to seven regions of England: East Midlands; Kent and Medway; London; North East; North West; West Midlands; and Yorkshire and Humber.

Mr Schmidt said the donation would be used to train "more than 100 first rate science teachers over the next three years, with the majority focused on computer science".

Rebooting Computing

He said that he hoped up to 20,000 students would benefit in "disadvantaged communities".

"It's vital to expose kids to this early if they're to have the chance of a career in computing," Mr Schmidt added.

"Only 2% of Google engineers say they weren't exposed to computer science at high school.

"While not every child is going to become a programmer, those with aptitude shouldn't be denied the chance."

Each of the 100 teachers will have a small bursary to buy equipment relating to their teaching. The Raspberry Pi, a low-cost computer designed in the UK, will be used in the scheme.

"The success of the BBC Micro in the 1980s shows what's possible. There's no reason why Raspberry Pi shouldn't have the same impact, with the right support," Mr Schmidt said.

Turing anniversary

Google has also sponsored a new exhibition at London's Science Museum showcasing the life and career of Alan Turing.

It is due to open next month to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the computer pioneer's birth.

In 2014, the museum will open a new gallery, also funded by Google, showcasing modern communications.

Mr Schmidt said he hopes such exhibits can equate to an image change for engineering.

"Rebooting computer science education is not straightforward.

"Scrapping the existing curriculum was a good first step - the equivalent of pulling the plug out of the wall. The question is now how to power up."

Facebook's new Camera app mirrors Instagram

The software allows users to take multiple pictures and share them at once rather than having to upload them one at a time.

The app also features a feed of friends' photos.

The launch is unexpected as the program offers users similar tools to Instagram which the social network is in the process of taking over.

Both apps allow users to add filters and make other tweaks to photographs.

Facebook has agreed to pay $1bn (£638m) for Instagram, but the acquisition has not been completed.

Brian Blau, research director at the technology analysts Gartner, said the move may surprise some, but thought it made sense.

"Facebook has to move its business forward," he told the BBC.

"It said earlier that it would keep Instagram as a separate business, but you need to bear in mind that it is buying a unique social network with a specific demographic.

"By doing this Facebook allows Instagram to remain intact while adopting some of its features to ensure its core service maintains its lead as the internet's most used photo sharing site."

At present Camera only works on Apple's smartphones and tablets.

A news release from Facebook did not mention when it might be released for Android or other systems.

"Let's Talk iPhone" - Tim Cook

The iPhone 4S is a touchscreen-based, slate-sized smartphone developed by Apple Inc. It is the fifth generation of the iPhone and retains the exterior design of its predecessor, the iPhone 4, but is host to a range of improved hardware specifications and software updates. The phone added a voice recognition system known as Siri and a cloud storage service named iCloud. Some of the device's functions may be voice-controlled through Siri.

On October 4, 2011, in Cupertino, California, Apple announced the iPhone 4S. On October 7, 2011, it became available for preorder in seven initial countries (United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan) with the first delivery date set for October 14, 2011 and available on that same day for direct in-store sales in those countries. It was released in 22 more countries, including Ireland, Mexico, and Singapore on October 28.

It is available for 100 cell service carriers in 70 countries, including eight carriers in the United States. For US customers, unlocked (contract-free) sales started on November 11, 2011. The Associated Press said that AT&T described early iPhone 4S demand as "extraordinary". Reception to the iPhone 4S was generally favorable. Reviewers noted Siri, the new camera, and processing speeds as significant advantages over the prior model. Four million units of the iPhone 4S were sold in the first three days of release.

Software

The iPhone 4S uses iOS, Apple's mobile operating system. The user interface of iOS is based on the concept of direct manipulation, using multi-touch gestures. Interface control elements consist of sliders, switches, and buttons. The response to user input is immediate and provides a fluid interface.
Interaction with the OS includes gestures such as swipe, tap, pinch, and reverse pinch, all of which have specific definitions within the context of the iOS operating system and its multi-touch interface. Internal accelerometers are used by some applications to respond to shaking the device (one common result is the undo command) or rotating it in three dimensions (one common result is switching from portrait to landscape mode).

The 4S uses iOS 5.1.1, which was released on May 7, 2012. It can act as a hotspot, sharing its internet connection over WiFi, Bluetooth, or USB, and also accesses the App Store, a digital application distribution platform for iOS developed and maintained by Apple. The service allows users to browse and download applications from the iTunes Store that were developed with Xcode and the iOS SDK and were published through Apple. From the App Store, GarageBand, iMovie, iPhoto, and the iWork apps (Pages, Keynote, and Numbers) are available for purchase to use on the iPhone.

The 4S comes with several applications by default, including Safari, Mail, Photos, Video, YouTube, Music, iTunes, App Store, Maps, Notes, Calendar, Game Center, Photo Booth, and Contacts. Like all iOS devices, the 4S can sync with a Mac or PC using iTunes, although iOS 5 and later can be completely PC-free. Although the 4S is not designed to make phone calls over a cellular network, a user can use a wired headset or the built-in speaker and microphone and place phone calls over Wi-Fi or cellular using a VoIP application.

The 4S access play music, movies, television shows, ebooks, audiobooks, and podcasts and can sort its media library by songs, artists, albums, videos, playlists, genres, composers, podcasts, audiobooks, and compilations. Options are always presented alphabetically, except in playlists, which retain their order from iTunes. The iPhone uses a large font that allows users plenty of room to touch their selection. Users can rotate their device horizontally to landscape mode to access Cover Flow. Like on iTunes, this feature shows the different album covers in a scroll-through photo library. Scrolling is achieved by swiping a finger across the screen. Alternatively, headset controls can be used to pause, play, skip, and repeat tracks. On the 4S, the volume can be changed with the included Apple Earphones, and the Voice Control feature can be used to identify a track, play songs in a playlist or by a specific artist, or create a Genius playlist.

The iPhone 4S introduced a new automated voice control system called "Siri", unique to the 4S, that allows the user to give the iPhone commands, which it can execute and respond to. For example, iPhone commands such as "What is the weather going to be like?" will generate a response such as "The weather is to be cloudy and rainy and drop to 54 degrees today". These commands can vary greatly and control almost every application of the phone. The commands given do not have to be specific and can be used with natural language. Siri can be accessed by holding down the home button for an extra amount of time (compared to using the regular function). An impact of Siri, as shown by Apple video messages, is that it is much easier for people to use device functions while driving, exercising, or when they have their hands full. It also means people with trouble reading, seeing, or typing can access the phone more easily.

On the iPhone 4S, texting can be aided by the voice assistant, which allows speech-to-text. In addition to regular texting, messaging on the iPhone 4S is supported by iMessage, a specialized instant messaging program and service that allows unlimited texting to other Apple iOS 5 products. This supports the inclusion of media in text messages, integration with the device's voice controlled software assistant, and read receipts for sent messages. Input to the computer comes from a keyboard displayed on the multi-touch screen or by voice-to text by speaking into the microphone. Entered text is supported by predictive and suggestion software as well as a spell-checker, that includes many regional dialects like Swiss spoken French.

At announcement, plans were in place for the iPhone 4S to support many languages. Different features have different language requirements, such as keyboards compared to the word predictor and spell-checker, which needs a large dictionary of words. Language support is related to the iOS 5 operating system that the device launched with, although not always. The Siri digital assistant supported French, English, and German at launch. Since it uses a software based keyboard supported by the multi-touch display, it can support many different keyboard layouts without having to change physically. The iPhone 4S can display different languages and scripts at the same time.

Hardware

The 4S uses the Apple A5 system-on-a-chip that uses an Imagination Technologies PowerVR SGX graphics processing unit, which features pixel, vertex, and geometry shader hardware, supporting OpenGL ES 2.0. The SGX543 is an improved version of the GPU used in the iPhone 4S' predecessor, the iPhone 4. However, the iPhone 4S uses a dual-core model, the SGX543, that is integrated with the Apple A5 SoC in the same way as the iPad 2. Apple claims that the iPhone 4S can process graphics up to "seven times faster" than the iPhone 4 was corroborated by Epic Games president Mike Capps.

It has 512 MB of DDR2 (Double Data Rate) RAM (random-access memory). Maximum available storage size increased to 64 GB whilst the 32 GB and 16 GB model options were retained. The screen is the same as the prior generation iPhones; 3.5 inches (89 mm), 640×960 resolution (Apple's "retina" design).There was an improvement in interactive multimedia applications compared to its predecessor.

In both the iPhone 4 and 4S, the cellular (GSM) antenna is divided into two. Therefore, if the iPhone 4S is gripped in such a way as to attenuate one piece of the cellular antenna, the radio will switch to the other piece that isn't being gripped.The iPhone 4S can support a maximum output theoretically of up to 14.4 Mbps with HSDPA+ (AT&T Only) as a result of an upgraded radio chip inside the phone, in addition to being a world phone, so both CDMA and GSM customers can roam internationally on GSM networks. It also supports Bluetooth 4.0.

The camera on the iPhone 4S, also known as an iSight camera, can take 8 megapixel photos (3264 by 2448 pixels) and record 1080p videos at up to 30 frames per second with upgraded quality (30% better clarity, 26% better white balance, color accuracy) due to an additional lens, IR filter, a wider f/2.4 aperture, and Image signal processor (built-in A5).

In iOS 5.1, the camera can be accessed directly from the lock screen, and the volume up button doubles as a shutter trigger. The built-in gyroscope is able to stabilize the camera while recording video. Other features of the camera are macro (for close up pictures) and faster capture including being able to take its first picture in 1.1 seconds and the next half a second later.

Like the iPhone 4, the 3.5 inches (89 mm) 960 by 640 pixel Retina display supports multitouch, a technology that allows multiple simultaneous touch inputs. The iPhone 4S has two volume buttons and a ring/silent switch on the left side.On the top left there is a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a microphone that is used for both noise cancellation during calls and when in speakerphone/FaceTime (video calling) mode. The lock/power button is situated on the top right edge of the device. The right side of the device has a SIM card slot. The bottom of the device features a speaker output on the right and a microphone input on the left with Apple's proprietary 30-pin dock connector in the center.
The iPhone 4S supports video out via AirPlay and various Apple A/V cables. Supported video formats include such as H.264 (1080p 30 fps max.), MPEG-4 video, and motion JPEG (M-JPEG).
In addition to user inputs, the device also has several sensors that give the phone information about its orientation and external conditions. These include a 3-axis gyrometer, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, and an ambient light sensor. The iPhone 4S is stated to have 200 hours standby time (iPhone 4 300 hours), 8 hours talk time on 3G (iPhone 4–7 hours), 14 hours talk time on 2G, 6 hours 3G browsing, and 9 hours Wi-Fi browsing. Additionally, it can sustain up to 10 hours of video playback or 40 hours of audio playback.

The iPhone 4S was unveiled at Apple's "Let's Talk iPhone" event on October 4, 2011, on the Apple Campus in Cupertino, California.The keynote was the first in which Tim Cook led since the Verizon keynote earlier in the year. It was also Cook's first product launch without Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs, whose health was deteriorating and died the day after the announcement of iPhone 4S.

Nokia Lumia 800 - Rediscover their day to day

Nokia Lumia 800 (codenamed 'Sea Ray') is a Windows Phone-OS powered smartphone, first unveiled on 26 October 2011 at the Nokia World 2011 event. It was Nokia's first mobile phone to run the Windows Phone OS and marked the company's shift of focus in favor of Windows Phone for its premium priced phones.
Lumia 800 shares its design with the previously released Meego-based Nokia N9. The outward differences are one added physical button dedicated to the camera on the right side of the phone, and a dual LED flash moved directly above the Carl Zeiss camera lens. Despite a similar exterior, the Lumia 800 has a different interior than N9. Lumia 800's chipset comes from Qualcomm, whereby N9 is based on a Texas Instruments chipset and CPU.

Like the N9, it has a convex curved Gorilla Glass AMOLED PenTile screen with a ClearBlack antiglare filter. The screen diagonal is 3.7 inches (800 x 480 pixels) compared with 3.9 inches (854 x 480 pixels) for N9, to conform with the Windows Phone specifications list, which includes three capacitive softkeys placed under the glass. A trough-colored unibody shell is made from polycarbonate plastic.

Nokia outsourced the production of its Qualcomm-based Lumia 800 to Compal Electronics. According to Nokia, this was due to time constraints and Compal's experience with the chipset. Future models, starting from Lumia 710, would be built in a Nokia factory, according to the same source. Devices for the European and Northern American markets are configured, tested and packed by Nokia's factory in Salo, Finland.