Technology News and Gadgets Updates: 12/18/10

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Opera 11 Features

Opera 11 final version has been released and available for download. Its easy to say main feature of Opera 11 is extensions support than of Tab Stacking. Opera lacks behind Chrome till now due to lack of extensions support, Opera is always speedier and renders pages fastly much like Chrome.

What’s new in Opera 11

1. Opera 11 supports extensions, you can install extensions from Opera extensions catalog page and installed extensi0ns will be updated automatically.

2. Opera 11 Now offers Google search suggestions in the address bar and in search bar.

3. Opera 11 offers new safer address field by hiding web protocols. Opera 11 supports visual mouse gestures. Each Opera extension have options and Opera extension can be allowed to run in private browsing mode.

Read Make Opera 11 to Show Full URL in the Address Bar with Web Protocol

4. Supports new standards and HTML5 technologies means that rich, dynamic web applications and multiplayer games can be supported by Opera 11.

5. Plug-ins can be used on demand.

6. Opera said goodbye to its classic installer, released their own speedier small installer which installs Opera 11 with in seconds. Opera 11 installer has portable install option also.

7. Opera introduces tab stacking which is simple and efficient tab management feature allows to stack tabs by dragging and dropping one over another. Tab Stacking is nice tab management feature when compared to Panorama.

Read How to Use Tab Stacking in Opera 11

8. Due to security issues in WebSockets protocol design, Opera turned off WebSockets in Opera 11 as did Mozilla for Firefox 4 also.

Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us

Apple’s iPhone Is Made Better With Google

Even when vying for industry dominance, sometimes a company’s competitors are also its best friends. This is definitely true of Apple and Google when it comes to the cloud. I took inventory of the apps on my iPhone and found no less than twenty apps from first- and third-party sources that tapped into various Google web-based services. By contrast, only Apple’s own various MobileMe apps plugged into its cloud offerings. Here’s a rundown of just how dependent Apple’s smartphone is on the services of its current biggest rival.

GOOGLE SERVICES VIA APPS FROM GOOGLE

Seven of the apps I’ve installed to access Google’s cloud-based services come directly from Google itself. When Apple relaxed some of its App Store restrictions (and perhaps thanks to a little help from the FCC), Google brought Google Voice to iOS devices. More recently, Google introduced its official Latitude app, which also took the long way round to the App Store. Lets not forget Google’s new e-book challenger, Google Books, which debuted this month as well. Rounding out the list are Google Mobile, Google Authenticate, Google Earth and Panoramio, which adds up to a considerable direct investment in the iOS platform.

BUILT-IN GOOGLE SERVICES INTEGRATION

Let’s not forget that the iPhone (and iPad) supports Google right out of the box. Apple has integrated support for many Google cloud-based services. With Mail, Maps, YouTube, Calendar, Contacts and Notes, you can get up and running quickly using your Google credentials. While with Maps, YouTube and Mail, things are fairly straightforward, integrating Contacts, Calendars and Notes is a little more difficult, but the fact remains that support for Google services exists in all of these apps.

GOOGLE SERVICES FROM EVERYBODY ELSE

Even with all the integration provided by Google and Apple, there’s still plenty of room for third-party developers, too. For access to Google’s Reader service, many have found Reeder to be the best of breed across all iOS devices. If instant messaging is your thing, and you’re looking to use Google Talk, then there’s IM+ Pro and Beejive, among others. For integration with Google Docs, DocsToGo is about as good as it gets. There are even solutions to integrate with your Picasa photo library online (Web Albums), keep the world up to date by posting to your Blogger account (BlogPress), and remind yourself about what needs do be done with Google Tasks (GeoTaskLite).

Granted, Google has more than twenty cloud-based services available today, and has been active in the space for far longer than Apple. One can only hope that Google will continue its commitment to the iOS platform, and not make its services an exclusive platform advantage for Android. At the end of the day, it’s all about revenue, which for Google means search and ad-based revenue, so the company probably isn’t about to ignore what is arguably the most desired and top smartphone platform. But does that excuse Apple dragging its heels on providing competing, better-integrated services of its own available to all its iPhone customers (and not just MobileMe subscribers)? I’m not so sure.

Nokia files 13 patent infringement suits against Apple

Nokia, the world's top cellphone maker by volume, has filed 13 new patent infringement suits in Europe against US rival Apple, accusing it of using Nokia technology in its iPhones and iPads .

The fresh complaints in Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands are part of an escalating battle between the two rivals in the smartphone arena that started more than a year ago when Nokia filed its first suits in the United States.

Apple has also sued Nokia over patents. The two have repeatedly denied each other's claims.

""These actions add 13 further Nokia patents to the 24 already asserted against Apple in the US International Trade Commission and the Delaware and Wisconsin Federal courts," Paul Melin, Nokia Vice President for Intellectual Property, said in a statement.

The new filings accuse Apple of breaching Nokia's patents related to several technologies, including the touch user interface, on-device app stores signal noise suppression and modular structure, Nokia said.

Facebook goes offline briefly after updating slip

Facebook went offline briefly on Thursday to fix an updating slip.

"For a brief period of time, some internal prototypes were made public to a number of people externally," a Facebook spokesperson said in an email reply to an AFP inquiry.

"As a result, we took the site down for a few minutes. It's back up, and we apologize for the inconvenience."

The problem reportedly occurred while Facebook was revamping pages for businesses at the website, which boasts more than 500 million users.

Google rebuffs Connecticut over Street View request

Google Inc has told the Connecticut attorney general's office that it will not comply with its requests for information about its Street View cars collecting personal information.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in November, had issued a civil investigative demand, similar to a subpoena, to determine exactly what information had been scooped up by the Street View cars.

Google's Street View cars, which take panoramic pictures of city streets, inadvertently collected data from unsecured wireless networks in more than 30 countries, Google disclosed in May.

"I am disappointed by Google's failure to comply with my information demands," Blumenthal said in a statement. "We will review any information we receive and consider whether additional enforcement steps -- including possible legal action -- are warranted."

"Google's story has changed from claiming it only collected fragments to acknowledging possible capture of full emails, making review of the data even more urgent," he said. Blumenthal takes up his U.S. Senate seat in January.

A Google representative told Blumenthal's office in a telephone call that the company did not intend to comply with the information request, a Blumenthal spokesperson said.

Google did not respond to Reuters questions about Blumenthal's information request.

The company has been the subject of numerous inquiries around the world over the Street View data collection.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission closed an investigation into the issue but the Federal Communications Commission still has one open.

Google initially said information was limited to "fragments" of unencrypted data because the cars were always moving and because the cars' wireless equipment automatically changed channels about five times a second. But the company acknowledged in October that the cars actually collected more extensive information, including complete emails and passwords.