Yahoo, Vodafone to Distribute Opera Mini

Just as competition is heating up among mobile browsers, Opera hopes to grow its user base through deals with Yahoo and Vodafone.

Yahoo plans to begin offering downloads of the Opera Mini browser from its Yahoo Mobile Web site, which will launch in March. Opera Mini is a very small browser that works in conjunction with back-end servers that shrink Web content for easier delivery to mobile phones.

The browser is already offered free and used by 20 million people, according to Opera. But a promotion on Yahoo's Mobile site will likely boost the number of users.

Yahoo Mobile, introduced on Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress, is a successor to Yahoo Go, an application that serves as a portal for applications and news for mobile phones. The Yahoo Mobile application will become available for iPhones in March and for Java-based smartphones in May.

Opera is likely to rack up additional users through a separate deal with Vodafone. Opera plans to develop a custom version of Opera Mini for Vodafone, designed for low- and mid-priced phones. Vodafone will preload the browser on phones sold in some markets and will target it at people who are likely to connect to the Internet for the first time on their mobile phones. The browser will be available across Vodafone markets in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa, the companies said.

Also at MWC, Opera said it has joined the LiMo Foundation, the group developing middleware for Linux-based mobile phones.

All of the deals could help Opera better compete in the mobile market as browser makers continue to work to improve mobile Internet access. Microsoft announced at MWC an update to IE Mobile with features that let users more easily zoom into portions of Web pages. Also, Mozilla continues progress on development of its Fennec mobile browser.

Facebook Users Claim Content Victory

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg says the social network will return to its previous terms of service regarding user data ownership in the face of a barrage of criticism and planned legal threats from privacy organisations.

A user group protesting the change has claimed victory over the changes, after more than 70,000 facebook users joined forces to voice their complaint. The issue comes down to a couple of alterations within the company's terms of use that, it would seem, gave Facebook eternal ownership of your personal content - even if you decide to delete your account.

“Victory! You spoke, and facebook listened," shouts the Facebook user group page.

In a blog today Facebook's Zuckerberg said the move was only temporary "while we resolve the issues that people have raised".

"A couple of weeks ago, we revised our terms of use hoping to clarify some parts for our users. Over the past couple of days, we received a lot of questions and comments about the changes and what they mean for people and their information. Based on this feedback, we have decided to return to our previous terms of use while we resolve the issues that people have raised.

"Many of us at Facebook spent most of today discussing how best to move forward. One approach would have been to quickly amend the new terms with new language to clarify our positions further. Another approach was simply to revert to our old terms while we begin working on our next version.

"We concluded that returning to our previous terms was the right thing for now. As I said yesterday, we think that a lot of the language in our terms is overly formal and protective so we don't plan to leave it there for long.

"More than 175 million people use Facebook. If it were a country, it would be the sixth most populated country in the world. Our terms aren't just a document that protect our rights; it's the governing document for how the service is used by everyone across the world. Given its importance, we need to make sure the terms reflect the principles and values of the people using the service.

"Our next version will be a substantial revision from where we are now. It will reflect the principles I described yesterday around how people share and control their information, and it will be written clearly in language everyone can understand. Since this will be the governing document that we'll all live by, Facebook users will have a lot of input in crafting these terms.

"You have my commitment that we'll do all of these things, but in order to do them right it will take a little bit of time. We expect to complete this in the next few weeks. In the meantime, we've changed the terms back to what existed before the February 4th change, which was what most people asked us for and was the recommendation of the outside experts we consulted."

The backlash against Facebook's updated privacy policies was about to expand. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is preparing to file a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over the social network's updated licenses, according to PC World.

Access e-mail On Your Phone for Cheap Through GooseBerry

GooseBerry has introduced a service with which users can access their emails on their mobiles, without an internet or GPRS connection. According to a press release, the service helps users receive and reply emails using SMS. Further, the Email content is compressed by up to 30% to ensure that users get only the important part of the email. This service works across GSM and CDMA networks.

The release further states that Gooseberry supports 37 email servers as of January 2009, including corporate emails, Gmail, Yahoo and Ibibo, among others. The service runs on any mobile on the planet without needing to install anything. Among other advantages that the service gives users, as mentioned in the release, includes the low cost of the service, the ability to create filters to prevent unwanted emails on your phone, no extra charges for roaming and easy installation. For more details you can go to http://www.gooseberry.in. 

Compare Windows 7 Versions - which edition of Windows 7 is the best?

Vista's SKUs can be reflected well in all these six editions of Windows 7 to be release towards the end of this year or the beginning of the next. Compare Windows 7 Versions - which edition of Windows 7 is the best?

1. Windows 7 Starter
2. Windows 7 Home Basic
3. Windows 7 Enterprise
4. Windows 7 Ultimate
5. Windows 7 Home Premium
6. Windows 7 Professional

Microsoft is recommending either Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional for most of its customers. 

Windows 7 Home Premium is for the average user and Windows 7 Professional -- replacing Windows Vista Business -- is for small businesses and people who work at home but have to operate in an IT-managed or business environment with security and productivity concerns, according to Microsoft.

Windows 7 Starter is a limited-functionality version of the OS that will be available worldwide but only as a pre-install by OEMs (original equipment manufacturers). This expansion of its availability -- Vista Starter was only available in emerging markets -- led one blogger to surmise that Windows 7 Starter is the version Microsoft will push for the netbook market. Netbook makers will likely choose this version.

Windows 7 Enterprise is Microsoft's SKU for its enterprise customers, while PC enthusiasts that "want it all," according to Microsoft, should purchase Windows 7 Ultimate.

Like Vista, Windows 7 also will have Home Basic edition that will only be sold in emerging PC markets "for customers looking for an entry-point Windows experience on a full-size value PC," according to Microsoft.

Making all editions of Windows 7 available on small form-factor PCs, widely known as netbooks, is an especially strategic move for Microsoft, as the same was not true for Vista.

For more news updates on Microsoft Windows 7, visit out Label: Windows 7 CLICK HERE.

Details about the new Microsoft OS Windows 7 from their official website: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/

How to Remove or Delete AutoPlay Handler from the Options List in Vista and XP

Before you continue to read this article about how to remove autorun virus or autorun options list, we would suggest you to visit our download section in a separate tab(Windows) and continue here.

This article or Windows action requires changing Windows Registry so please be advised to back up you registry before modifying any key.

AutoPlay or AutoRun dialog window will pop up when an removable drive, portable device such as digital camera and media player or CD/DVD disc been inserted into computer or placed into optical drive, with plenty of action choices in a list of options for users to choose to perform on the just connected drive and drive contents. Each item in the AutoPlay list is a handler installed by various applications to show as an option for a particular events or content types such as Pictures, Videos, and Mixed.

Windows by default has several AutoPlay handlers, and other third-party programs, especially media player such as MusicMatch Jukebox and RealPlayer, and image burning software such as Nero will add their own AutoPlay handlers and shortcuts into the list. Over the time, the AutoPlay list can get longer and longer, and some entries can become invalid or orphaned when the program has been uninstalled by the AutoPlay handlers are not removed.

To delete and remove an entry or item from AutoPlay menu, its corresponding handler in the registry has to be deleted. To make the management of AutoPlay entries easier, such as to delete and remove an unwanted or unneeded entry in AutoPlay menu, an AutoPlay cleanup utility is available. Alternatively, you can opt for third party utility tools- Autoplay clean up utility. Visit our download section.

It’s also possible to manually edit the system registry to remove the AutoPlay handlers. The AutoPlay handlers are stored at the following registry location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\Handlers\

Above registry key stores handler settings, which is the action to perform when selected on AutoPlay.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\EventHandlers\

Above registry key stores various event names, which contains associated handlers. Which mean all entries added as the value for the event will be shown as an option when the particular event happens and trigger the AutoPlay menu dialog.

Note that any wrong modification to the registry may cause instability. So if you plan to remove any handlers directly from the registry, backup the key before modifying.

Suggested Readings:

Please, read about Windows utility programs such as Tuneup utility and Vista Manager. Since they are very easy to use programs, you should find them easy to accomplish almost all task to enhance your system.

Portion of this test is taken from PC Tips Box @ http://www.pctipsbox.com/how-to-remove-or-delete-autoplay-handler-from-the-options-list-in-vista-and-xp/

All editions of Windows 7 to run on Netbooks says Microsoft

Microsoft has recently made an announcement that it would be releasing six editions of the much anticipated Windows 7 and all of them will run on range of hardware, including Netbooks - laptops for effective Internet. The upcoming Operating System (OS) from Microsoft giant will emphasis on Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional, these two OS versions are supposed to be purchased by most customer.

Vista's SKUs can be reflected well in all these six editions of Windows 7 to be release towards the end of this year or the beginning of the next.

1. Windows 7 Starter
2. Windows 7 Home Basic
3. Windows 7 Enterprise
4. Windows 7 Ultimate
5. Windows 7 Home Premium
6. Windows 7 Professional

With Windows 7, Microsoft hopes it will be easier for customers to decide which edition of the OS is right for them. By doing so, the company once again seems to be trying to learn from mistakes it made with the release of Windows Vista, premium versions of which had special hardware requirements that hindered customers' transition from XP and confused users as to which edition they should purchase.

When Microsoft released Vista, premium versions such as Windows Vista Ultimate and Windows Vista Home Premium did not run on many PCs that already were running Windows XP. Microsoft tried to give hardware partners and customers fair warning of this and through a controversial program had OEMs put stickers on new PCs to let customers know which version of Vista those machines could run.

Still, many customers did not feel Vista hardware requirements were communicated effectively and Microsoft is still embroiled in a class-action suit over that sticker program, called "Windows Vista Capable."

For more news updates on Microsoft Windows 7, visit out Label: Windows 7 CLICK HERE.

Details about the new Microsoft OS Windows 7 from their official website: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/

Latest tech news with Obama Virus, GEARS OF WAR GAME, Firefox,

WORM FLOATS OBAMA'S HEAD ON YOUR DESKTOP
The odds are pretty good that this will never happen to you, but should a floating head of U.S. President Barack Obama pop up on your desktop Monday morning, know this: You've been hit with the Obama worm. Though it is not detected by any antivirus products right now, it is not considered to be a serious threat because it has infected so few systems. Because antivirus programs don't detect it yet, it's also hard to know when you've been infected. For more Google the news.

GEARS OF WAR GAME RENDERED UNPLAYABLE BY FLAWED DRM
The game Gears of War suddenly 'expired' on PCs on the 28th of January this year. The DRM (Digital Rights Management) associated with the game has a flaw which renders the game unplayable post that date. Gamers are angered by this premature expiry and the forum of the game developer, Epic, is abuzz with complaints. A 'super moderator' on Epic's forum has said "We have been notified of the issue and are working with Microsoft to get it resolved. Sorry for any problems related to this. I'll post more once we have a resolution".

FIREFOX 3.1 BETA 3 DELAYED AGAIN
The release of the third beta of Mozilla's Firefox 3.1 web browser has been delayed again after 18 bugs were detected in TraceMonkey - the browser's JavaScript engine. Mozilla was unable to confirm whether the delay, the second one this month, would affect the releases of the final version of the browser.

Test if your Electronic device is compatible with Windows Vista

It's not that bad when you suffer that the age old music only MP4 player is unsure of running well in Microsoft's Windows Vista. You can test almost all if not many hardwares, cameras,  printers, MFDs (Multifunctional Devices), Input devices, networking devices, TV devices, communication and storage devices including mobile phones and PDAs, graphic cards and components. Get the Windows Vista compatibility information for all types of hardware or software products. You will find graphic applications, PC games, printers, digital cameras and more.

Just make your visit to Windows Vista Compatibility Center @ http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/ and there you are with a lot of choices. The sites goes as:

Wondering if your favorite stuff works with Windows Vista? Here's where you can find out if it already does or if you just need a software upgrade or a new driver. You'll get details on thousands of software programs and devices and benefit from users' feedback.

You can use advanced search feature if you want to check if your specific electronic device is Windows Vista Compatible. Just check more links if you want to know more about Windows Vista Compatibility Center. Windows Vista Compatibility Center, hardware compatibility, software compatibility, Upgrade Advisor, drivers, device, peripherals, download software, applications, programs, Windows Vista all in one site.

Windows Vista Compatibility Center

• About ● Advanced search ● Send feedback ● Suggest a new product ● Report a compatibility issue ● Frequently Asked Questions  ● How partners can participate