What is your favorite Browser? Find out Here

Of all the software on your PC, the Web browser may be the most important tool you use each day--but you may not give it much thought. The difference between a merely good browser and a great one, however, can be vast. The best browsers are those that stay out of your way: When you're in the right browser, you feel as though you're alone with your favorite site. The browser loads pages quickly, without crashing, and it can deftly handle any Web page you visit without prompting you to do anything extra.

But there's more to a browser than just that. To satisfy power users, it must support a multitude of add-ons and extensions. It must be customizable. And to protect you online, it should do a good job of catching and blocking potential security threats--such as phishing or cross-site scripting attacks--and be resistant to malware.

We put the top five browsers--Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera--through an exhaustive set of lab-based tests and subjective examinations to see exactly how they stack up in terms of interface, security, extras, and speed.

User Interface

Browser interfaces all follow the same basic formula. Within those constraints, though, browsers exhibit some notable differences.

First off, you can tell quite a bit about a company's approach to product development just by its browser interfaces. Apple's Safari has a fair amount of fit and finish, for example. Google's Chrome is spartan and unadorned, and Mozilla's Firefox interface is usable but feels dated compared with newer competitors.

Slim is in. Most browsers now sport more-streamlined looks, with fewer, narrower toolbars--and in many cases on Windows, no menu bar to speak of. This sort of layout typically works well, since it usually includes a couple of drop-down menus in the toolbar that give you easy access to the browser's features.

Firefox, Chrome, and Opera all let you apply different skins to the toolbars. Generally I find it pretty simple to locate and change skins in each of these browsers. Google, for instance, has an online repository that lets you browse and apply themes for Chrome. Mozilla has a similar site for Firefox. One nifty part of Firefox's skins feature--called Personas--is that you can "try on" any of the skins simply by mousing over the thumbnails on the Personas site. In Opera, meanwhile, you browse themes from within a control pane in the app itself; that works okay, but the pane isn't quite as easy to browse as the Chrome and Firefox skins galleries are.

We based our evaluation here on the ease of use, polish, flexibility, and layout of each browser's interface. We also looked at whether the interface got in the user's way too much, or whether it allowed Websites to take center stage.

In all, I vote for Google Chrome, because of simplicity of use and speed, what about you? let me know your vote, i think it counts.

Read more here: pcworld.com

Is this another iPAD!!

Dell Streak: the Details...and the Reviews

Dell is diving headfirst into the smartphone/tablet market with the Android-powered Dell Streak. The Streak was announced last month and will be availablefor $500 in the US in July, and for 429 pounds in the UK this weekend. Critics have already circled the Streak and dished on how it functions, looks and feels--and its ability to compete with other smartphones/tablets, a hybrid market I didn't even know existed.

The Specs

Here's what you'll get with the Dell Streak, which will be available directly from Dell's Website:

• Android 2.1
• 1GHz Snapdragon processor
• 5-inch multi-touch WVGA display
• VGA front facing camera
• Removable battery
• 3G + WiFi + Bluetooth
• UMTS / GPRS / EDGE class 12 GSM radio with link speeds of up to HSDPA 7.2 Mbps / HSDPA
• HDMI out
• 5 MP autofocus camera with dual LED flash
• 2GB of internal memory
• Micro SD expandable memory available up to 32 GB (42 movies, 32,000 photos, or 16,000 songs)
• Cushions made from 100 percent sustainable, compostable bamboo
• View more here http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/440192/review/dell_streak.html

I must say that Dell Streak has a very monstrous mountain to climb in terms of sales and appeal, but may be not in pricing. Because at the moment Apple's iPad has sold 2 million copies so far, since it's April release, and they've really raised the standards. But, maybe Dell might appeal to user's on price grounds, Let's wait and see. Apple's iPad price is currently between $977 - $1,299, Dell Streak is between $429 - $510

I'll like to know what you think drop a comment below

Sources
1. PC World

2. TechRadar.com

iPhone 4 Vs. Android: The Race Continues

Why Apple's iPhone defense is total nonsense


It would have been too much for Steve Jobs just to say "I'm sorry."

Deep down, we all knew that would never happen. In the world of Steve Jobs, after all, everything is "beautiful," "magical," and "revolutionary." "Flawed" doesn't exactly fit into that flowery-adjective-filled utopia.So when Jobs took the stage at Apple's Cupertino headquarters on Friday, it was no surprise he came across as smug and defiant. Jobs, maintaining the position he'd taken from the start, insisted that his iPhone 4 was not performing below par. Despite the fact that the device, thanks to its unique wrap-around external antenna, has a tendency to drop calls when held with your left hand -- as confirmed by Consumer Reports -- Jobs said there was no real problem.

read more here http://blogs.computerworld.com/16555/apple_iphone_4_antenna

iPhone 4 having little effect on Android so far


Grab your ringside seats, friends: America's mobile phone battle is taking an interesting turn.

Today, we're getting our first glimpse at data showing what effect Apple's new iPhone 4 has had on the overall smartphone market. The answer: not much.
read more here http://blogs.computerworld.com/16530/iphone_4_android

Apple's Antenna Claims Bogus, Say HTC, RIM, and Nokia

Apple CEO Steve Jobs' claim that most smartphones have antenna weak spots has come under fire from BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM), Nokia, and HTC. Apple highlighted at a press event on Friday phones from the three manufacturers as having antenna problems as well, in a bid to address the debate around the iPhone 4 antenna issues, also known as the ‘death grip'.

Following the widely-reported press event on Friday, Apple posted on its website videos showing five modern smartphones suffering from various death grips, or, as Apple calls it, ‘attenuation'. The phones in question, an iPhone 4, a BlackBerry Bold 9700, an HTC Droid Eris, a Samsung Omnia II, and an iPhone 3GS, are all shown losing signal when held in a certain way.

Android Gains, Apple Wanes -- Oh Yes, Yet Again

Don't look now, Apple fanatics, but Android's just made another noteworthy leap in mobile market share.

Google's Android platform grew by 44 percent from February to May, according to a report released Thursday by ComScore. During the three-month period from December to February, Android commanded an average of 9 percent of the U.S. smartphone market. In the next three-month period, from March to May, it had shot up to an average of 13.

Now, it goes without saying that 13 percent is still a relatively small piece of the pie. But the overall trends are what we're watching here -- and, gauging by a wide range of data from numerous sources, Android is showing consistent growth at a pace its competitors can't match.

iPhone 4 vs. Android: And the Winner is...

Apple unveiled its latest magical and revolutionary product this week: the new iPhone 4, also known as "the phone that guy from Gizmodo showed us seven weeks ago."

From a hardware perspective, the new iPhone is a significant improvement over Apple's last offering. And on the software side, the updated operating system brings about numerous capabilities previously unavailable to iPhone users.

The problem, though, is that most of the iPhone's new features feel like incremental upgrades, not game-changing innovations. Put simply, the new iPhone is a step forward within Apple's world -- but outside of that walled garden, it's still worlds behind.

More updates to come later

Robots I'll like to have or maybe not

NEC PaPeRo

PaPeRo (short for "Partner-type Personal Robot") is an adorable personal-companion robot, created by the Japanese technology company NEC. PaPeRo was designed as a more natural way for people to interact with the Internet--it can recognize and speak over 3000 words, notify its owner of incoming messages, give updated information, recognize faces, send video messages, dance, play games, and remotely control other electronic devices.

PaPeRo features two cameras for eyes, four microphones for ears, an ultrasound device in its chest for detecting objects, and three wheels for mobility. PaPeRo also learns from its environment, and has a number of different "personalities" that come out depending on how people treat it. For example, if people ignore it and don't interact with it, PaPeRo will become lazy and listless--but if people talk to it and answer its questions, it will be helpful and serious about doing its job. PaPeRo is currently in prototype mode and is not available for sale.

Now this is something i'll like to have, to tell me about incoming messages, and control other electronic devices, are you kidding!! I like

Want a puppy without the mess?
The Sony AIBO (Artificial Intelligence roBOt) is a dog robot with the ability to learn from its environment. AIBO looks like a shiny space-dog and comes in a variety of colors--including black, silver, gold, red, blue, green, and white. AIBO is not only a virtual pet but also an inexpensive AI-research platform for amateur and professional computer programmers; Sony even released a programmer's kit (for noncommercial use), which includes a set of free tools for users to reprogram their virtual puppies. First released in 1999, AIBO was retired in 2006. Might be continued in 2013
I'm not a fan of pets though, but i might consider getting one of these, no cleaning up of dog poop nice!!, No Barking cool!!, no unnecessary licking on the face, super cool!!

Tiro is a yellow humanoid robot with an LED face, created by a number of companies, including Hanool Robotics of South Korea, and four science universities. Tiro is an intelligent service robot with several careers under its belt--including teacher and wedding MC.

Tiro served as a guest instructor for a 30-minute English class at Euon Primary School in Daejeon, South Korea. It asked questions in English, such as "How many giraffes are there on the board?" Tiro also acted as the officiant and master of ceremonies at Hanool Robotics engineer Seok Gyeong-jae's wedding; a number of other robots worked the event, too, as ushers and assistants. Tiro is priced at 200 million won, or $176,400.

How would you like a robot to be the MC on your wedding day, if you are like me that is a BIG NO in my books, What!! a robot to be the MC on my great day Ko jor!!. I'll let you be the judge, if you want a robot, well good luck!! Plus it's too expensive, i'll rather use the money for my honeymoon, or buy land in lekki or something. Drop a comment let me know what you think



Sega Toys' E.M.A. Robot (for Eternal Maiden Actualization, but pronounced "Emma") is flirtatious and interactive, and features a "love" mode--if you put your head close to the robot, it will "kiss" you. That's right, E.M.A. is a little minx.

The 15-inch-tall, battery-powered robot has unique leg joints that make its hips sway when it walks. The robot can sing, dance, and greet you, as well as hand out business cards. It also has infrared sensors to ensure that it doesn't run into anything as it dances and sways about. E.M.A. is designed for adults, and costs about $175.

This is cool alright, but the kissing part, No way!! But, it's nice for fun sake

That is all for now, more to come later, thanks for reading through. I''ll like you to drop your comments

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/196135/the_cutest_robots_in_the_world.html