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Week That Was: Win XP lives, New iPhones coming
Techtree News Staff, Apr 11, 2009 1203 hrs ISTTechtree's weeky roundup is back with a compilation of top tech news of the bygone week
Time for yet another edition of the Techtree Weekly news roundup. Let us take a look at the stories that made waves all of this week and what you might have missed.
Facebook Saves British Boy
The week started on a slightly positive note with news coming of a British boy's life being saved, thanks to Facebook where the boy had posted his intentions to give up his life. An alarmed friend of his from across the Atlantic alerted his parents who in turn alerted officials and help reached the boy in a matter of hours and managed to save his life. See? Social Networking could help save lives too!
Google Eyes Twitter
Google is rumored to be in talks with microblogging phenomenon Twitter on acquiring the latter. Michael Arrington of TechCrunch reported that news sources mentioned about Google's interest in acquiring Twitter. Furthermore, it was rumored that Google was in "last-stage talks" to buy Twitter. Google seems to have gotten this habit of picking up things that really make it big! Remember YouTube. Anyone?
Airtel Introduces 16Mbps Broadband on DSL
After the 100mbps service unveiled by Tata Indicom, Airtel has come up with a comparably not so spectacular, but equally desirable 16mbps broadband plan. Initially to be rolled out in the cities of Delhi NCR, Chennai and Bangalore it will soon also be seen in Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai and Kolkata.
Microsoft: Windows 7 Downgrade-able to XP
Microsoft's beloved operating system Windows XP might just get another life extension shot. With Windows 7, the software giant Microsoft and PC makers will offer Windows 7 downgrade options to consumers. Under the downgrade option, PC buyers would be able to downgrade Windows 7 to Vista or even Windows XP. Of course, there would be certain conditions applicable. Nevertheless, I seems it's difficult for Microsoft to abandon XP, which still happens to be the most popular Desktop OS on the planet now.
Sony Ericsson launches two new phones
In trouble handset maker, Sony Ericsson has introduced two new mid range handsets to its folio with the announcement of th W205 and the S312. Both the phones are reasonably spec-ed and are targeted at the youth.
How well these releases boosts he company's fortunes remains to be seen. The W205 as he name suggests is a Walkman branded slider phone.
The S312 on the other hand is a funky looking phone screaming its intentions of being aimed at the youth. It features a decent 3.2 megapixel camera and a host of features that will appeal to the young and the young at heart. Both the phones are expected this very quarter.
Yahoo! Messenger for iPhone Arrives
Yahoo! has finally announced a separate Yahoo! Messenger for the iPhone platform. This Instant Messaging application is available for 'free' from the Apple's App Store. Earlier, Yahoo! Messenger was usable under the Yahoo! application for iPhone, but under the 'More' option.
With the Yahoo! Messenger application on iPhone or iPod Touch, you can send Instant Messages with emoticons or web links to the online or even offline contacts. If you need to hide your online status, just choose 'Sign in as invisible' at the time of logging in. In special cases, if you know the number of the contact, you can also send an SMS.
Gmail Mobile Peps New Web Interface
Gmail has announced a new web interface for iPhone and Android platform based mobile web browsers. Built over a new engine, this Gmail Mobile interface closely resembles the Gmail Desktop version. The whole mail browsing, reading and composing experience has become faster, even over weak network connections.
Acer Announces the Aspire Revo Nettop
Taiwanese PC major Acer has announced the launch of its first Nvidia Ion based nettop, the Aspire Revo. The pint size Net Top is powerful enough to run Windpws Vista with all the Aero Jazz and is capable of playing HD content. All for a price that will put many decent sized desktops to shame. Coming soon to a dealer near you.
Next Gen iPhones Coming This June?
Indications and rumors loom large over the possibility of the next generation iPhone making a grand entry just two months from now.
The cue comes from various Taiwanese manufacturers shipping parts for what is suspected to be of the new iPhone. The rumors got a nice kick, thanks to the decision by several carriers to slash the price of their existing iPhone 3G stocks - a move that is being seen by many as an attempt to clear old stock and make way for the new product. If that was not all, the recent OS 3.0 update had also showed cues of two new iPhone variants that might see the light of the day in the near future.
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