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According to a recently released study by the NPD group, internet piracy in the US has been trending downward.

The study shows that the percentage of users who obtained their music from a peer to peer (P2P) file sharing service has gone down to 9% (16 million people) in the 4th quarter of 2010 from 16% (28 million people) at the end of 2007. Coincidentally, LimeWire, a widely popular P2P file sharing program/service was shut down in the 4th quarter of 2010. The sutting down of the service was due to a judge’s ruling in favor of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America ) in a copyright infringement case.

The NPD also found that during the same stretch of time, those who still pirated music, pirated less music, with the average tracks pirate per person decreasing from 35 down to 18. Clearly, LimeWire accounted for a majority of music piracy, but not all. Some users have also switched to other means of P2P file sharing to pirate their music including: FrostWire and BitTorrent.

The closure of LimeWire had a wide sweeping effect on music pirates, as it had been popular for so long. The NPD Group says that it still remains to be seen if the closure actually will significantly decrease the amount of total music pirated, though, as there are still many other alternatives for people to turn to.

While many would like to pin the decreasing revenue on internet piracy alone, there are other factors that have played into it. There are simply more convenient ways for people to obtain their music, even legally, with services such as iTunes, VEVO, and Rhapsody. It just doesn’t make sense for someone to go out and buy a record when they can get the couple of songs they want for much cheaper without even getting up.

The public, for better or for worse, was first introduced to the technology called real time media flow protocol (or RTMFP) by Chatroulette. This is the same technology that a new start-up called Sendoid is using to transfer enormous files in only seconds all inside of a web browser. It skips the upload, storage, then download process previously used by many people to privately move larger files to friends via the internet, and provides a direct and private transfer protocol.

Similar services charge money and take a lot more time than Sendoid. This free service can move files in fractions of the time at no cost than services like Yousendit.

The user with the file simply selects it on the Sendoid website and receives a download sharing link. When the link is entered into the second user’s browser, their computers become securely linked together. The file is then transferred straight from computer to computer, and passes through no other servers. This makes the system fast as well as totally private, as no one else can see the data but the sender and the receiver or anyone who gains access to their computers.

The browser based service offers up to a 1GB max file size, but the desktop client does not have a file size cap. Both options are totally free to use, and Sendoid has stated that they have no plans to switch to a paid-for system in terms of file size at all. They will, however, offer a for-charge premium feature set in the future, which will include file grouping as well as additional security layers. The additional security would be great for those transferring sensitive business materials.

Sendoid might just be launching at the perfect time, as the need to transfer larger files has increased with higher resolution images and videos becoming much more popular.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has finally approved the usage of .___ top-level domains (TLDs) for organizations. This decision comes on the heels of the earthquake in Japan where the Red Cross had to deal with false websites set up with the words “Red Cross” and “Japan” in them stealing money from people who thought they were donating to a good cause. Similar situations happens every day since current rules allow anyone to purchase a TLD containing any words so long as it is not already registered to someone.

The new rules, expected to be released by ICANN soon will allow for business, brands, trademark holders, organizations, charities, and even entrepreneurs to become the master of their own domain. This means that they will control who can have access to their TLD, so there will be .redcross websites, .coke websites, etc.

TLDs have proven to be an easy way to have an online presence as they are easy to remember for visitors who just see the domain once or even hear it. They have also proved problematic for owners of legitimate websites that are spoofed by people who register TLDs with similar names. While the ICANN has made it easy enough for companies to sue spoofers under various laws, it is still financially not feasible when there are a large number of them. These new laws will serve to protect legitimate companies from these types of Internet attacks by easily showing if a company has taken the time to prove they are not going to be scamming people.

The Internet will soon begin its transition away from the .com era, which was originally reserved for commercial businesses, but has since been flooded with all types of websites. While a .___ might not totally guarantee a website’s legitimacy, it is a step in the right direction for ICANN.

Google has just hired James Gosling, the creator of the programming language Java, which is what Google’s Android operatingsystem, and subsequent apps are developed in. This move comes in the midst of Google’s battle against a lawsuit from Oracle, the owner of Java. The lawsuit is over the alleged wrongful using of the language in the Android stack.

Gosling developed the programming language while he was an employee at Sun Microsystems. He started on it in 1991, and the release came four years later in 1995. He left a few months after Sun was bought out by Oracle in January of 2010. He has been publicly critical of how Oracle has treated his Java programming language, and has even been quoted calling Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, “Larry, Prince of Darkness.”

According to Gosling he does not know exactly what his day to day responsibilities will be at Google, but he is excited about his new job. Having turned down many other “excellent” opportunities, Gosling is looking forward to the “leverage” that his position might provide him. This is most likely in reference to the lawsuit levied at Google by Oracle. He could instrumental in mounting Google’s defense in the case, being the creator of the entity that they are being sued over.

Other than helping in the lawsuit, it is expected that James Gosling will be taking up a position in the development of Android, using Java to its full potential to better Google’s mobile operating system. While the lawsuit does seem to be a large reason he took the job, it also seems that Gosling would be excited about the prospect of working on a project that was resulting in the one of the largest public uses of Java to date, as more people use Android, more people will develop with it as well.

Apple’s MobileMe service has long be subject to the rumors that it would be going free, and they rumblings have started up again.The iLounge blog recently cited a trusted person at a major educational institution who said that the school could not purchase any new MobileMe subscriptions. Apple says that they are in the process of revamping it, but are asking that people try the free 60 day trial instead of purchasing a subscription. They are saying that the service may be “quite different”.

MobileMe currently costs $99 a year, and was originally released as a service called .Mac, which replaced the old iTools service.  The MobileMe service syncs bookmarks, contact information, and calendar information to a cloud. All of that information can then be accessed on any Mac powered device including iOS devices.

Some recent moves have also pointed to MobileMe becoming a completely free service, including the allowing of remotely tracking and locking down iOS devices as well as the ability to have an @me.com email address. Both of these features had previously been only available to paying customers, but were then turned into free of charge services.

This seems to leave recent paying subscribers in limbo, as they paid the full $99, and might now be transitioned into a free service. The iLounge source claims that Apple will still support the old version, but it would seem senseless as the new version would be fully free. So, unless the version has significantly less features than the current MobileMe, there may be a lot of disgruntled Apple fanboys (and girls).

A more conceivable guess would be that Apple’s new version of MobileMe would still have a pay for premium plan that would offer more or higher end features, or both.  Higher amounts of storage and more advanced features will mostly likely stay on premium plans for a while until they are not so fresh or coveted anymore, and then go free.

In a huge announcement on Sunday, March 20th, AT&T released that they had acquired T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom. The German company will be receiving $25 billion in cash and $14 billion in AT&T stock, giving Deutsche Telekom an 8% stake in the company.

T-Mobile USA customers currently total up to 33 million, and will be added to AT&T’s humongous user base to create a large mobile phone company servicing about 129 million people just in the United States. Their numbers now tower over Verizon’s 94 million subscribers.

This deal will worry antitrust regulators for reasons other than the subscriber count, however. With AT&T and T-Mobile USA being the only two GSM phone carriers in the United States, there will only be one once the deal is completed. This gives AT&T a complete monopoly on the phone standard, and is definitely something to worry about in terms of pricing.

T-Mobile customers wanting 4G connections will definitely benefit from the deal, though, as their carrier only runs on HSPA+, and has no plans on upgrading to real 4G technology. HSPA+ generally measures up to 4G speeds, but lacks the infrastructure to handle a full network load like 4G technology offers. These customers will not have to worry any longer.

This deal announcement follows right on the heels of the rumors stating that Sprint Nextel was getting ready to make an offer for the company to Deutsche Telekom, who had been reportedly unsatisfied with T-Mobile USA’s recent performance. They were reportedly interested in public offers that would result in the company spinning off, but obviously have taken a liking to this private offer.

This deal has been agreed upon by both company’s boards, but has to go through the regulatory approval process still, where it might get held up due to the monopolization of the GSM carrying business, as discussed earlier.

Apple’s iPad 2 is an update of its previous version that was unveiled on 2^nd March 2011. It will be relied on the tablet PC market whether it remains intact or sells like hotcakes pertaining to the improvement of the iPad 2. The worth-mentioning thing is that the first iPad was a booming success owing to its 14.8 million global sales as it captured the 75% of the market during the last year. This lured many of its competitors into building their own killer iPad and joining the tablet bandwagon. Here’s is the head to head comparison between Apple iPad 2 and its strongest competitor Motorola Xoom.

Comparison –

Both the Apple iPad and Motorola Xoom are much similar regarding their functionality and basic hardware design. Considering the ‘processor’, Motorola Xoom possesses greater RAM that operates multi-task effortlessly as compared to the iPad 2. Hence, Xoom is more advantageous here. While talking about the ‘display’ we can say that the iPad 2 has better display to view angles than that of the Xoom. Taking into consideration the ‘camera’, the iPad 2 has dual cameras of 0.7MP main camera and secondary VGA camera yet the Xoom gains upper hand due to its dual-LED flash and auto-focus 5MP main camera and 2MP secondary camera. Turning to the ‘design and build’, we come to know that the Apple iPad 2 is thinner and lighter than the Motorola Xoom. The ‘operating system’ of the Xoom is of Android 3.0 Honeycomb which is more userfriendly for its boosting multi-tasking capacities and iPad 2 (with iOS 4.3) lags behind in this criterion. Regarding the ‘connectivity’ both have same ones but the Xoom has Micro USB port, MicroSD support and HDMI output which are absent in the iPad 2.

Verdict –

It is hard to judge who is the winner, the Apple iPad 2 or Motorola Xoom. However, it depends on the personal usage and needs that decide the excellence. Needless to say, it is up to you which one to choose from the two.

]]> http://www.voip-blog.net/apples-ipad-2-vs-motorolas-xoom/feed/ 0 http://www.voip-blog.net/apples-ipad-%e2%80%93-a-revolution-of-the-era-and-favorite-of-the-next-generation/ http://www.voip-blog.net/apples-ipad-%e2%80%93-a-revolution-of-the-era-and-favorite-of-the-next-generation/#comments Thu, 17 Mar 2011 01:37:04 +0000 Guest http://www.voip-blog.net/?p=234

Apple is famous for its novel inventions, and they have kept the tradition this time also by launching their new much awaited next generation electronic gadget ‘iPad’. With this latest iPad, you will experience the zest and zeal while surfing through the available thousands of apps. Its striking features are more powerful than any other device, which work on any orientation easily.

In order to bridge the gap of notebook and smartphone, Apple designed iPad that successfully gives you all the multimedia benefits like surfing, emailing, video-photo sharing, listening to i-tunes, and reading e-books all in one device. The Apple generated iPad has ½’ width and 1.5 pounds weight. This brilliant latest device bears some excellent features like the IPS technology 9.7” LED display coupled with 16-64 GB flash-enabled memory, powerful battery running up to 10 hours, 2.1 Bluetooth, accelerometer, GPS, and 802.11n smooth Wi-Fi connectivity.

The Apple safari gives you the scintillating mobile browsing experience. Nevertheless, the major difference between the desktop and iPhone or notepad is that the former allows you to touch and flick through the pages, whereas the pages can be viewed only with the latter options. Apple has successfully designed a touch keyboard that we find with laptops.

Even if you are watching a video or photo or listening to your favorite music, its vivid and large wide-screen display gives you a pleasant experience. Hence, it is really an intuitive iPad multimedia device that Apple has ever brought in the market for their potential customers. The App Store of the Apple iPad is capable of storing 140,000 apps, which are worth-browsing even for the fanatic gamer or the business-minded entrepreneur equally. Needless to say, its ‘wow’ aspect makes the Apple iPad a marvelous mobile ebook reader too. Really, Apple’s iPad is an ‘apple’ of everyone’s eye.

Using headphones is the better way to avoid sound pollution and restrict the sound or music to ourselves only. Now with the advent of cordless technology, the introduction of wireless headphones in the market is not an exception too. Harman, the famous company has come up with the two latest wireless headphones namely AKG K 830 BT and AKG K 840 KL with which you can go on enjoying your favorite music in the absence of cords with ease and comfort in your daily routine. This latest technology features the headphones with fantastic sound clarity and the ability of picking the lowest frequency and faintest sounds.

The AKG K 830 BT is based on Bluetooth technology and functions, particularly with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, which are Bluetooth-enabled devices. Using this headset, even the jetsetter can pick up the calls during the run and enjoy the music at the same time. This wonderful headphone has the black color body and gives better results than the ordinary headsets. On the contrary, the AKG K 840 KL is based on Kleer cordless technology and perfect for the audiophile who wants to lose himself in the world of music without the strings of twine. The continuous stream of digital sound is far better than the air.

The K 830 BT is coupled with a directional microphone on ear cup, and you are freed from the ear-cup-mounded control as well as the thunder mic. On the other hand, K 840 KL offers decompressed 16-bit stereo sound over a powerful 2.4 GHz radio link through the Kleer technology. The striking feature of this technology is that it lessens the passive noise brilliantly. Both the models come with satisfactory built and with 3D Axis headband that befits into the carrying case as a portable unit. Overall, these cordless headsets received a warm welcome by the potential customers.