Nokia Symbian OS Era Ends!

Nokia confirms return to profitability as it also kills of its Symbian smartphone operating system.In its earnings announcement, Nokia confirmed that the 808 PureView was the last new device.

"During our transition to Windows Phone through 2012, we continued to ship devices based on Symbian," the company said. "The Nokia 808 PureView, a device which showcases our imaging capabilities and which came to market in mid-2012, was the last Symbian device from Nokia." The manufacturer had previously noted that Q4 2012 was the "last meaningful quarter for Symbian", and today's confirmation was not a surprise to industry observers. Nokia's results confirmed numbers it released earlier this month while also adding that the firm is now back in profit.

The $585million profit was boosted by a decision to sell of its headquarters; the company now has £4billion in cash. The 41-megapixel PureView used technology that is now starting to appear appear in Nokia's Windows Phone-based Lumia handsets.

Nokia's earnings release revealed that it sold 2.2 million Symbian units in Q4 2012, half as many as the Lumia range at 4.4 million. Symbian was less than 14 per cent of the overall 15.9million smartphones.

Symbian was the biggest operating system in the world until it was overtaken by Apple, and was used from 1998 when it was a multi-brand proposition from Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola and Psion. Nokia took complete control of it in 2008.
Nokia's lower-end phones are now based on its S40 OS and marketed as Asha devices, and Symbian is looked after by Accenture. It accounted for 2.6 per cent of smartphones last quarter, and is likely to be supported until at least 2016.

Well,after the official announcement the era of the symbian phone came to an end, i am a symbian user feels bad to me,But the last Symbian phone is sure to look for goto my previous post on nokia 808 here http://gprazad.blogspot.com/2012/07/nokia-808-pureview-best-camera-phone.html

Download UC Browser 8.8 now updated!Download Page

Developers previously released two beta versions, so users can try them out and send feedback. UC Web put the stable iteration of UC Browser for Java on its servers so all users can download and install it.

Version 8.8 of UC Browser comes with improved File Manager that features the ability to preview images and create folders.

Lots of known issues have been fixed, including the ones listed below:
- Can't choose input history on touch phone;
- Can't login UDisk on SonyEricsson phone;
- Downloading list of UDisk missing when restarting UC Browser;
- Can't save proxy server configuration.

Now Dropbox for Windows 8!

Dropbox for Windows 8 is the official Dropbox client for Microsoft's new operating system. It comprises features to browse files stored in the Dropbox account, view pictures and watch videos quick and easy, not only on Windows 8, but also on Windows RT.
Dropbox is definitely one of the leading solutions on the market, offering not only cloud storage capabilities, but also file synchronization and client software across a wide array of platforms, including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Android and BlackBerry OS.

The application is, obviously, completely free of charge and just like all the other Dropbox clients, it requires a username and a password to access files stored on the servers. But as compared to the rest of the apps, Dropbox for Windows 8 runs in full screen in order to make the most of the Modern UI.

Installing Dropbox for Windows 8 is piece of cake since the app is available in the Store, so you can easily launch it via its dedicated live tile placed on the Start Screen.

→ Browse and preview all of your files and photos on Dropbox
→ Open, edit and save files from other Windows 8 apps
→ Share any photo, file or folder with the Share Charm
→ Find your files with the Search Charm

SpeedRunner 5.6 Best File Manager (3.3 MB)

Requirements:

· .NET Framework 4.5
· Processor: 2 cores, 1.6 GHz
· RAM: 3 GB
· GPU: 128 MB RAM

Most computer users have numerous folders and partitions on their computers, and while novices are likely satisfied with Windows Explorer for browsing through their files, experts might require faster and more feature-packed apps to meet their requirements. Such an alternative to Windows Explorer is SpeedRunner.
The interface of the utility is intuitive so as to allow beginners, as well as pros, to take advantage of this multi-thread file manager. The main window displays the currently taskbar-pinned applications, yet the users can easily add new tabs if they want to be able to quickly switch between explored folders. Even though all actions can be performed by using the mouse and clicking or right- clicking the icons of SpeedRunner, its actual strength and speed comes from the numerous keyboard shortcuts it supports, so once they get used to them, power users can complete all their tasks using solely the keyboard (such as creating or closing tabs and navigating around the pinned shortcuts).
Another feature of SpeedRunner is that it relies on color codes for each file format it detects, thus helping users get a clear overview of their documents – furthermore, one can choose which format gets a certain color, and new groups can also be created, depending on the file types users typically work with. The Settings window is the place where it is possible to further fine-tune SpeedRunner to make it suitable for each user's necessities: the AeroGlass can be disabled, the hidden containers can be made visible and the shortcuts can be ordered by usage time. All on all, SpeedRunner is indeed a reliable alternative to Windows Explorer, especially since it runs smoothly on the latest OS flavors and leaves plenty of room for user customization.

Astro Photos with 600 Megapixel is One of the Largest

Astro photos are, by necessity, quite large if only because they document large things. What's more, compared to most photos, it's not the artistic value that counts, but the information density, i.e. how much such a photo can tell you about the object you're studying. Still, practical considerations keep the actual images, what you get to see published, quite small.

Even relatively small images can slow down a browser and eat up a lot of bandwidth. The European Southern Observatory recently unveiled a huge photo containing no less than 84 million stars, but there is no way to view it all in a browser, ESO built a special tool which enables you to zoom in on the parts you want while keeping the actual image that you see small.

The US National Optical Astronomy Observatory decided to unload one huge file on us though, a 600 million pixel, 600 megapixel photo of the Cygnus Loop, a supernova remnant in the Cygnus constellation.

The supernova explosion dates to between 5,000 and 10,000 years ago and is about 1,500 light years away. The full, lossless TIFF image is 1.65 GB, the lossy JPEG is just 921.23 MB. The photo is 24,457 x 24,457 pixels and covers an area of the sky 45 times larger than the full moon.

DirectX Software Development Kit (571 MB)

Microsoft's DirectX is a free API (Application Programming Interface) that gives multimedia applications the power to work in Windows-based computers. Games that run in the Windows operating system rely on DirectX because it provides an assortment of drivers and tools that are designed to optimize the game's use of the available peripherals in the target computer. For example, when a user plugs in a joystick that normally needs drivers to run, DirectX has a generic driver that the joystick can be used, so you can enjoy your favorite games with desired game controller too.

Direct3D 11 is out and ready for use by your game today to exploit the latest in video hardware features as well as the current generation machines. Microsoft has been continuously evolving DirectX to implement latest graphics technology features and to support wide varieties of games, Display devices. After making DirectX 10 available for windows Vista here is the next version DirectX 11 with Direct3D 11. The new version of DirectX, the software behind the eye-popping 3-D visuals and immersive sound effects found in many of today's PC games.

DirectX 11 features include:

1. It's designed to be more efficient, leverage the power of today's multicore processors.
2. It's providing support for sophisticated shading and texturing techniques such as tessellation.
3. Results smoother 3-D animation, and graphics more lifelike and nuanced than ever before.

DirectX 11 Updates include:

1. High Quality HDR Post Processing.
2. Improved Tone Mapping.
3. Parallax Occlusion Mapping.
4. Improved Water Rendering.
5. Real-Time Local Reflections.
6. Contact Shadows (SSDO).
7. New Advanced Graphics Options.
8. Realistic Shadows with Variable Penumbra.
9. Improved Multi-GPU Support.
10. Particle Motion Blur and Shadows.

Free Anti-virus : Avast! v.7.0.1474 (93 MB)

Avast! Free Antivirus is a reliable antivirus software solution designed to provide computer users with effective protection against viruses and spyware. Avast comes with well-organized interface that targets beginners and professional users alike, with all features being clearly displayed right in the main window.

1.Core and detection:
· Antivirus and anti-spyware engine

·State of the art scanning engine provides reliable protection against viruses, spyware and other forms of malicious software.

2.Real time anti-rootkit protection:
· Unique "on access" technology checks all kernel-mode drivers that the operating system is loading for signs of rootkit behavior. This enables even unknown rootkits to be detected and stopped before they can do any damage.

3.Potentially unwanted programs detection:
· avast! detects potentially unwanted programs, such as remote admin tools and commercial key loggers. Custom rules can be set for dealing with these types of programs.

4.Scanning:
· Boot-time scanner
· Allows you to scan your computer for infections before the operating system has started and before a virus can be activated (32-bit operating systems only).