Another Exploding iPhone Case Surfaces In Belgium

A 15-year old Belgian by the name of Salvatore is the latest victim in a series of mysterious iPhone explosions that have captured the attention of France's and the European Commissions' consumer affair watchdogs. Details are scarce for the moment, but according to local news reports the teenager was holding his iPhone in his hand, about to make a call, when the device suddenly 'imploded'. The incident didn't cause any serious injuries but reportedly gave Salvatore a headache for a couple of days. He has been promised a free replacement unit by Apple but hasn't yet received a new phone.

There have earlier been numerous reports of exploding iPhone devices in the United States, United Kingdom and France, with most recently about ten cases having emerged in France where the official competition, consumer affairs and fraud watchdog DGCCRF has now launched an investigation to find out whether the popular Apple smartphone could pose a threat to consumers. Apple, which has sold 26 million iPhones and 200 million iPods to date, said it had been informed of the French cases, but would not comment until it had closely examined the damaged phones.

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25 Years Later, First Registered Domain Name Changes Hands

Did you know the first .com domain name that was ever registered was Symbolics.com, on the 15th of March 1985 by the now defunct Massachusetts-based computer manufacturer Symbolics?

While the first that was created in January of that same year was Nordu.net (used to serve as the identifier of the first root server, nic.nordu.net), symbolics.com was the first domain name to actually be registered through the appropriate DNS process a few months later. This was of course long before there was a WWW, but you already had ‘the Internet’. In fact, the first TCP/IP-based wide-area network had already been operational for two years when nordu.net was created, right around the time the United States’ National Science Foundation (NSF) commissioned the construction of the legendary NSFNET, a university 56 kilobit/second network backbone. Only six companies thought it’d be a good idea to reserve the domain name on the root servers in 1985 (the others were bbn.com, think.com, mcc.com, dec.com and northrop.com). But Symbolics was first to make the move.

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Apple Finally Signs Deal With China Unicom, Brings The iPhone To China In October

Major Chinese news portal 163.com is reporting [Google machine translation] that Apple has finally signed a deal with China Unicom to bring the iPhone 3G to mainland China in October. This is huge news for Apple, which is now to enter a market with around 700 million mobile phone users, the biggest in the world (US: around 270 million).

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Pokhran II not fully successful: Indian scientist

NEW DELHI: The 1998 Pokhran II nuclear tests might have been far from the success they have been claimed to be. The yield of the thermonuclear explosions was actually much below expectations and the tests were perhaps more a fizzle rather than a big bang.

The controversy over the yield of the tests, previously questioned by foreign agencies, has been given a fresh lease of life with K Santhanam, senior scientist and DRDO representative at Pokhran II, admitting for the first time that the only thermonuclear device tested was a "fizzle". In nuclear parlance, a test is described as a fizzle when it fails to meet the desired yield.

Santhanam, who was director for 1998 test site preparations, said that the yield for the thermonuclear test, or hydrogen bomb in popular usage, was much lower than what was claimed. Santhanam, who was DRDO's chief advisor, could well have opened up the debate on whether or not India should sign CTBT as claims that India has all the data required and can manage with simulations is bound to be called into question.

"Based upon the seismic measurements and expert opinion from world over, it is clear that the yield in the thermonuclear device test was much lower than what was claimed. I think it is well documented and that is why I assert that India should not rush into signing the CTBT,'' said Santhanam.

He emphasized the need for India to conduct more tests to improve its nuclear weapon programme.

The test was said to have yielded 45 kilotons (KT) but was challenged by western experts who said it was not more than 20 KT.

The exact yield of the thermonuclear explosion is important as during the heated debate on the India.

Source: Geo.tv

Better Contact Management For Gmail

Gmail made a tweak last night that brings better contact management to the service. When you click the “To:” or “CC:” links in front of each address field, a box pops up with your contact list. (See example at right). It is a simple change, but it saves you from having to go to another page to find a contact.

Most of the time, Gmail users probably won’t use this feature because Gmail already gives you a list of auto-complete suggestions as you begin typing in a name into the “To:” field. These are based on people you’ve communicated with recently, and usually does the trick. But if you haven’t emailed someone for a long time, their name doesn’t pop up. It also doesn’t help if you can’t remember their name.

Anything that reduces the amount of steps it takes to complete an email is a plus in my book. However, this feature is a bit hidden. You have to click on the “To” or “CC” links to expose it, something many people might only do by mistake the first time (which is why I’m telling you).

The contact chooser also works for groups.

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Top 10 iPhone Apps for Students

Ah, the smell of erasers and chalk dust is in the air, which can mean only one thing: it’s back to school time in many parts of the world. While I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was happy my school days are behind me, I am a bit jealous that students heading back to school now have a plethora of great web and mobile applications to help them tackle the tasks involved with obtaining an education. I would have killed for some of the great applications available to students today — almost all of which are cooler (and more useful) than the Tetris app I used to play on my graphing calculator.

In this list we’ve assembled ten of the must-have iPhone applications for students heading back to school. These apps will help you stay organized, take notes, and study better. What other iPhone applications are helpful to you at school? Please add your favorites in the comments.

1. BigWords (FREE)

BigWords is a very handy iPhone application that lets users search the BigWords.com textbook price comparison search engine while on-the-go. That’s helpful for checking out whether you can get a better deal online while shopping for books at your college’s campus bookstore. Other textbook apps to check out are CourseSmart’s eTextbooks (Free), which lets users access over 7,000 digitized textbooks from the iPhone, and the Stanza (Free) eBook reader from Amazon-owned Lexcycle, on which users can access over 50,000 free books (including many classics taught in high schools and colleges).

2. iStudiez Pro ($2.99)

iStudiez Pro is a beautiful, if oddly spelled, application that keeps track of your entire class schedule and assignments. From detailed, color-coded class schedules (the color coding makes the whole thing very easy to scan) to the ability to attach assignments to each course that shows up on the calendar and when they’re due, iStudiez Pro is a must-have companion to busy students. Also check out My Schedule ($0.99), a slightly cheaper but less feature-filled alternative that allows students to make iCal-style, color-coded class schedules and attach notes to each class.

3. Evernote (Free)

If you plan at all on using your iPhone for taking notes in class, you’ll want to utilize Evernote. The free application supports text, photo, and voice notes, and syncs to an online account, as well as Mac and PC versions of the app so you can have access to your notes anywhere. Evernote has some really nifty features, such as Twitter integration, geo-location, and the ability to search text within photos.

4. SimpleMind (Free / $6.99)

SimpleMind is a very easy-to-use mind mapping tool for the iPhone. The free version lets you create and export Mind Maps in the SimpleMind format, and the pay version lets you export your mind maps in OMPL, Freemind, PDF, and PNG formats. Start with the free version to get the hang of it and make sure the app is for you, then upgrade or try iThoughts ($7.99) or iBlueSky ($9.99).

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5. Cram ($6.99)

Got a big test coming up? You’ll want to check out Cram. Cram is a study tool on which users can create flash cards and multiple choice tests (with automatically randomized answers). These study aids can be shared with friends and synced to the offline Mac OS version. Also check out StudyBlue (Free), which links to a StudyBlue.com account to let users study visual flash cards and review uploaded documents (Word, PDF, PowerPoint, images, etc.).

6. Wikipedia (Free)

The free Wikipedia application launched just last month, and provides on-the-go, mobile optimized access to Wikipedia articles. Though Wikipedia should probably not be used as a primary source in any academic paper, it is a great starting point for deeper research, and the Wikipedia iPhone app lets you search the encyclopedia whenever an idea strikes you. Also check out Wikipanion (Free / $4.99), which in many ways is cleaner and more fully developed than the official app.

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7. Dictionary.com (Free)

Dictionary.com is an invaluable application for students to keep in their iPhone backpack. The app provides full mobile access to both Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com, which makes it insanely useful both while reading difficult texts and writing papers.

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8. myHomework (Free)

The free myHomework app is a visually stunning iPhone application that helps students stay organized by creating a calendar of assignments and when they’re due. Assignments are color coded, so you’ll know when due dates are coming and when they’re late. The app doesn’t do much more than that, but it is helpful for keeping overloaded students on top of their work. Also check out MyClasses ($1.99), which keeps track of assignments and grades, iHomework ($0.99), a to-do list aimed at students, and Assignments ($1.99).

9. PI83 Graphing Calculator ($0.99)

For those in need of a graphing calculator for school, a better deal can’t be found. The PI83 Graphing Calculator application faithfully recreates the feature-set of the Texas Instruments TI83 graphing calculator on the iPhone, and for 99 cents, it does so for a lot less dough. There are some bugs that need to be worked out, but it is still one of the best graphic calculator applications in the App Store.

10. Facebook (Free)

After all the hard work, you need to unwind a little as well. And what better way than with Facebook’s iPhone application? If you’re in school, there’s about a 99.99% chance you’re on Facebook already, and their iPhone application is one of the most popular of all time on that platform. It lets you connect to the social network’s best features while on-the-go and a new version should be arriving any day now.

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Facebook to Expand Staff by 50 Percent, who says its recession ?

In an interview with Bloomberg, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company plans to expand its staff by 50 percent this year. Nobody else is hiring, Zuckerberg claims, so there’s a surplus of engineers on the market, and Facebook has big plans ahead, which will require some fresh blood.

“The thing I want to remind people of is we’re way closer to the beginning than the end,” he said. That may very well be true, but one has to remember that a lot of the money at Facebook’s disposal doesn’t come from revenue, it comes from investments. And Facebook had already spent a tidy sum this year on its FriendFeed acquisition.

Facebook has big expectations for this year’s revenue. Board member Marc Andreessen said the revenue for 2009 should reach $500 million; COO Sheryl Sandberg said it should grow 70 percent compared to 2008. Since Facebook’s financials aren’t public, we can’t be sure what the numbers for 2008 really were (Facebook’s own projections from January 2008. were at 300 – 350 million dollars).

There’s one area where Facebook has no problems: growth. We’ve been following it closely, and it’s been phenomenal; even after surpassing MySpace in pretty much all aspects (traffic, number of users, time spent on site), it hasn’t stalled for a second.

Zuckerberg claims the company’s goal is to have a billion users; in July, we reported that Facebook has added 50 million new users in only 30 months. It doesn’t feel like a recession year at Facebook, but to justify the planned staff expansion, Facebook will also have to hit its revenue targets; otherwise it’ll have to turn to investors for another cash injection.

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جیسی کرنی ویسی بھرنی!

’اس قوم نے جو ایوب خان کے ساتھ کیا وہی شوگر مافیا نے اس قوم کے ساتھ کردیا۔۔۔‘

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Google Listen: Google Releases an Audio Search App

Google Labs, the testing ground for the search giant’s experimental products, just released a new project today: Google Listen, an audio search engine that runs as a Google Android app (for now). It allows you to stream or download podcasts, web audio, news shows, and more through your phone.

The experimental app is part iTunes, part audio search engine. It has access to a number of different audio clips, from speeches by Sonia Sotomayor to newscasts by Charles Osgood. Google’s search algorithms find the most relevant audio. You can then subscribe to different audio sources and build a queue, called Listen Queue, which is where Google Listen acts a bit like iTunes. You can get more info from the Google Listen FAQ.

Here are a few screenshots of the new app:

It’s not available for other phones or for the web, but it’s still an experimental product. We bet you’ll see it on other devices if the test results look positive. Once again, it’s an experimental app from Google Labs, so it’s got a ton of bugs, including “networking, sdcard management, download storage, subscription updates, search quality, indexing more web audio, additional languages, and user experience.” Yeah, that’s a lot of bugs, but that’s what you should expect from a Google Labs product.

Will you use this app when it comes to your phone? What would you like to see it do? Let us know in the comments.