Record Skype Calls !

Skype Call Recorder

Riviera for Skype is a Skype call recorder. It automatically records Skype calls and conversations to MP3 files.

Very convenient for recording interviews, tech talks, conferences, audio casts, pod casts for learning later, etc.


You may get more food for thought from Riviera for Skype home page: http://www.jiteco.com/skype_call_recorder.html

Here is a link to download Riviera for Skype : http://www.jiteco.com/download/riviera/riviera.exe

Universal Cell Charger in 2011

The next time when you’ll move into the market to buy a new cell phone don’t worry about carrying it’s charger with you here & there. Cell-phone manufacturers across the world have planned to make our life easier in 2011 & years to come. Market players like Nokia, Apple, RIM are among those who have agreed to adopt micro-USB connector as their charger-jack.

The world’s 14 most prominent mobile manufacturers have been sent details by the European Commission of a new standard connection, after the agreed to sign up to it in June 2009. The micro-USB jack is already becoming popular as manufacturers, including those outside the 14, who have already agreed on it, have made the shift in preparation. The Commission anticipates that the first devices whose chargers meet the precise details of the new standard will appear early next year.

The common charger will make life easier, reduce waste & benefit businesses. It is a true win-win situation. Incompatibility of chargers for mobile phones is not only a major inconvenience for users, but also a considerable environment problem. Users who want to change their mobile phones must usually acquire a new charger & dispose off the old one, even if it is in a good condition.

The common charger is cross-compatible with data enabled mobile phones of different brands. Therefore, frustration of your mobile phone running out of charge and not being able to get your hands on a compatible charger will be a passé.

SnapIt Screen Capture 3.7

I was just roaming around my e-mails when I found this tiny yet powerful wonder – Snap It, in one of my mails. As the name suggests by using this utility you can have a snap of ANYTHING to EVERYTHING on your screen. Also, the quality of the picture taken is appreciably good. Plus! this magician’s wand supports JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP and TIFF file formats. Now tell me what else do you expect from software of just 1.17 MB.

Using this user – interface is a child’s play. I mean even the early man must be knowing the meaning of all those controls shown above. Now that’s what I call ‘Beauty In Simplicity’. That’s not all, the Auto – Save feature makes this smooth ride an exciting one.

This was my first experiment with SnapIt 3.7 and Yes it was a motivating one. That’s why I got pushed to write about this wonderful software. Now all that you’ve read is an honest review from an “Entirely Committed Engineer”.

Do one thing, just go to the link given below & check this out yourself !

http://www.digeus.com/products/snapit/snapit_screen_capture_3_5.html

Quick Specs:

- One button click application - press one button  and whatever is visible will be captured;

- Global hotkeys to activate program’s capture capabilities anytime, anywhere;

- Perfect for professional Technical Writers who need to grab and document dozens of interfaces and buttons;

- Irreplaceable tool for Designers, Office Workers, Business People, Analitics and more;

- Crop out sections of vector graphic files such as Fireworks, Adobe Illustrator or Corel without having to flatten the files or open in a new editor;

- Supports Windows 2000/Me/XP/Vista/7;

- Easy Paste captured images where needed;

- Saves your captured images to graphic files (JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP and TIFF);

- Autonames saved files when selected region is grabbed;

& don't forget to tell ME whenever you create any utility, I'll post it's reviews here on "Entirely Committed Blog"

2010 is set to be a huge year for e-book readers

It is predicted, that by the end of this year, newer models of e-readers with newer display technologies will start to make today's e-book readers look like Model T versions, reports Yardena Arar of PCWorld.

These next-generation readers will sport color displays with refresh rates capable of supporting video, and they will also use flexible display technologies. However, that doesn't mean that you'll be able to roll them up (yet). Instaed, they will make the devices a lot less fragile.

These upgrades will usher in a new age of e-book content, including books and periodicals that depend heavily on detailed color graphics (think children's books or textbooks), video content (think magazines and newspapers), and superior durability (all of the above). While you can read printed content on just about any computer or smartphone these days, the LCD displays on most computers and smartphones aren't particularly well suited to serve as paper substitutes. For one thing, they are backlit, and gazing at a backlit display for extended periods of time can fatigue the human eye.

According to PCWorld, one of the most intriguing upcoming e-reader technologies comes from Qualcomm, the company best known for its mobile network technologies. Qualcomm MEMS (microelectromechanical systems ) Technologies has been showing a display technology it calls Mirasol for several years now. Mirasol is an interferometric modulation (IMOD) technology that, like its electrophoretic rivals, is reflective and doesn't use a backlight. But the similarities end here. Mirasol uses two conductive plates that pull apart when a charge is applied to them; in the same way as a prism creates rainbows, a Mirasol display will create different colors as light passes through it depending on the distance between the plates.

Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey says that another possible contender in the e-reader display market might be a hybrid technology that blends some of the benefits of an LCD with those of a reflective display. A company called Pixel Qi has been showing prototypes of its 10-inch transflective display for netbooks and e-book readers; it claims to offer superior readability (especially indoors, when the LCD backlighting kicks in) and image quality.

Mobile phones to become cheaper

Mobile phones are likely to be a bit cheaper after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced in his budget speech that there would not be any tax charged for batteries, chargers and accessories.

Finance Minister said that full exemption from basic customs duty and CVD available for parts, accessories for manufacturing of mobile handsets is extended to parts for manufacture of battery chargers and hand free headphones also. Presently, full exemption from the four percent special additional duty (SAD) of customs is available up to July 6, 2010.

Welcoming the development, Indian Cellular Association (ICA) President, Pankaj Mohindroo said, "Cellular handset makers are pleased, especially on account of the exemption of four percent SAD, which was resulting in working capital blockage. Such exemption signals the government's renewed focus on manufacturing the mobile phone, and now also its parts, components and accessories." Speaking on similar lines, Nokia stated that the Budget has removed the 24 percent import duty on components, raw material imported for manufacturing batteries, chargers and other part and accessories. The will help in attracting more investment in this area and encourage domestic manufacturing of parts and accessories.

Google unveils Nexus One 'superphone'

Google Inc took the wraps off the first of its smartphones on Tuesday, a device with speech recognition that it hopes can take on Apple's iPhone over time and help shore up the company's dominance in Internet advertising.

Analysts say the phone -- to be sold directly to consumers -- is not expected to dramatically alter the carrier-hardware vendor relationship the industry relies on, nor is it likely to yield a revenue windfall in the short term, though executives said it could be profitable.
Google plans to use what it calls a "superphone" -- the first of many types of smartphones that it will make -- to expand its reach from the PC to the mobile world and ensure its online products and ads get prominent placement on a new breed of wireless Internet devices.
The highly anticipated Nexus One, which marks the first time the 11-year-old Internet search titan has designed and sold its own consumer hardware device, could provide Google with a viable challenge to the iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry.
It "wasn't the game-changer people thought it could be," Canaccord Adams analyst Jeff Rath said. Google could have shaken up the industry by offering the device for free, but instead chose more traditional pricing, he said.
Rath added that though his early impression was that the Nexus One was a good phone, it was unclear how much better it was than Motorola's Droid, released last year and that also runs on Google's Android operating system platform.
"It's very close to the Droid, some people will debate whether it's better. But it looks like an incremental improvement rather than a blow-the-doors-off improvement," Rath said.
The Nexus One, which was garnering favorable first reviews on tech Websites and forums on Tuesday, ships immediately from Google's online store for $179 with a two-year contract from Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA, or $529 without a service plan.
Executives said the phone will be carried on Verizon Wireless's network in the United States, and eventually on Vodafone's in Europe. Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Vodafone and Verizon Communications.
WAIT AND SEE
Investors are taking a wait-and-see view on Google's first effort to sell a hardware product directly to consumers.
Google's stock has risen about 7 per cent since the start of December, setting a 52-week high of $629.51 on Monday. But analysts say that was driven by improvements in its core business of Internet search advertising, rather than the prospect of tapping a new pool of revenue selling smartphones.
Its shares closed 0.44 per cent down at $623.99.
The Nexus One phone comes a little more than two years after Google jumped into the mobile market with the announcement it was developing a free smartphone operating system. Google's Android software is currently available on more than 20 phones from vendors including Motorola and Samsung Electronics.
It pits Google -- the world's No. 1 Internet search engine, with annual revenue of about $22 billion in 2008 -- against a variety of more experienced players in the increasingly crowded smartphone market, including Palm Inc and Nokia.
Some analysts were positive on Google's effort to continue to establish the Android as a popular operating system for smartphones and wireless devices.
"It will help them keep consistency for Android platform," said Jim McGregor, Chief Technology Strategist for In-Stat.
The new phone helps Google "get their partners all on developing a single platform that applications can be developed on."
Motorola, which is banking on the Android system to power a new generation of smartphones to revitalize a flagging business, said on Tuesday it welcomed the competition. Co-Chief Executive Sanjay Jha told Google's audience he did not see the Nexus One as a threat, but as an expansion of the market.
Google worked closely with HTC to develop its phone, which uses a 1 gigahertz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm Inc. The Nexus One is 11.5 millimeters thick and weighs 130 grams -- which executives said was lighter than a Swiss Army knife and no thicker than a No. 2 pencil.
The phone will feature a 3.7-inch (9.4 centimeter) touchscreen display. It will run the 2.1 version of the Android operating system and feature OLED display technology, a trackball for user interface control, an accelerometer chip, and a 5 megapixel camera.

Samsung Corby Pop C3510 for Rs. 7,000 - cheapest touchscreen phone?

Samsung, it seems, is determined to bring the cheapest touchscreen phones to the Indian market. The Samsung S3650 Corby saw moderate success even at its cheap price tag of around Rs. 10,000. Samsung has now decide to launch a scaled-down version of the extensively marketed Samsung S3650 Corby phone - The Corby Pop C3510. It is speculated to have most of the features of its predecessor and a retail price tag of around Rs. 7,000. This will take the low-budget touchscreen phone battle to a completely new level.

The complete feature set of the Corby Pop has not been announced yet, however rumors suggest that it will sport a 1.3-Megapixel Camera, 22MB internal memory and a strong Li-ion Battery suitable for a continuous conversation of as much as 8 hours! The Corby Pop also features a 2.8-inch touchscreen based on QVGA technology. It also has support for MP3 files and FM radio. The handset, like the S3650, will also have the trademark Samsung features such as ‘multi-instant messaging’ and support for social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Though the price is quite decent for a touchscreen phone, it lacks features like 3G and Wi-Fi support. Although the 3G base is not very strong in India, lack of Wi-Fi support is something which will bother the user.

Incidentally, Samsung has also announced a better version of the C3650, which is Wi-Fi enabled as well. Although both phones were displayed on Samsung websites ‘Coming Soon’ section, there has been no official announcement by Samsung about their specifications and price which only allows people to speculate. The Cartoon UI went down well with the Indian consumers who found the interface ‘funky’ and easy to use. Another point favoring Corby is the presence of a Capacitive touchscreen which seems to be the preference among the Indian consumers. The aggressive pricing of this handset not only is a stiff competition to touch screen phones, but also to the basic phones sold around the price tag of Rs 5000-6000. Lets see if this price tag encourages other companies to follow suit.