This guest post is written by Simon

The LG Optimus 2X has been causing a lot of heads to turn since its official unveiling at January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. This was largely due to its status as the first dual core smartphone set for release, but also for a number of other high profile features including DLNA Wi-Fi, a hefty amount of storage space as well as the all new gyro sensor as found in the iPhone 4.

While many had been touting the Optimus 2X as their next choice of phone it seems that even before its release LG’s new flagship may have been surpassed by Samsung’s latest offering. The original Galaxy S was a huge success for Samsung and one of the biggest selling phones of 2010. The fact that it still ranks highly in terms of popularity several months on means that it is no surprise that Samsung would be planning a sequel. While there is a Galaxy SL on the cards this is not the true successor but the original Galaxy S with a Super Clear LCD screen, purportedly to preserve Samsung’s stocks of Super AMOLED for the Galaxy S II. The Galaxy S II was officially unveiled by Samsung at this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and, even though the event is not officially over, it looks like a safe bet that this is the highlight of the show.

The Samsung Galaxy S II is also dual core but operates on the Orion chipset rather than the Optimus 2X’s Tegra 2. Where the Galaxy S II gets the upper hand with processing speed however, is with its 1GB RAM (compared to the 512MB of the Optimus 2X). Although the Optimus 2X is upgradable to Android Gingerbread (2.3) it will initially ship with Android Froyo (2.2), whereas the Galaxy S II will come with Gingerbread straight out of the box. Both phones come with DLNA Wi-Fi but the Galaxy S II will also feature Wi-Fi Direct making it just a little bit more connectable. The Optimus 2X comes with an HDMI port to connect the phone to a TV but there is still some confusion amongst onlookers as to whether this will feature on the Galaxy S II.

Both phones come with fairly similar 8 megapixel cameras, autofocus and LED flash included, although the Galaxy S II’s 1080p video recording comes with a slightly better frame rate of 30fps. The Galaxy S II also comes with a possible 64GB of storage space with microSD while the Optimus 2X can ‘only’ manage 40GB total.

As they are both Android phones they will both come with some excellent software features including YouTube support, Gmail, threaded SMS and access to Android Market. They both also come with Adobe Flash 10.1. While the Optimus 2X still remains an excellent phone in its own right it is quite easy to feel that the Galaxy S II surpasses it with more memory, a better screen and a few other features that give it just a little bit of an edge over LG’s crowning glory.

I came across this Burner named BurnAware Free . I found it very simple yet very effective.

Description:

BurnAware Free is a free CD, DVD, Blu-ray Disc burning software. It is ideal for users with basic disc burning needs as backup, creating data, audio, MP3 music, DVD-Video discs and burning disc images. Free, easy to set up, it enables you to save your files to disc quickly and provides clean, flexible interface to help you complete your burning tasks much faster.

Features:

1. Create data and multisession CD/DVD/Blu-ray Discs.
2. Create Audio CDs and jukebox CD/DVD/Blu-ray Discs.
3. Create DVDs-Video.
4. Create and burn disc images.
5. Supports all current hardware interfaces (IDE/SCSI/USB/1394/SATA).
6. Supports UDF/ISO9660/Joliet Bridged file systems (any combination).
7. On-the-fly writing for all image types (no staging to hard drive first).
8. Auto-verification of written files.
9. Supports CD-Text.
10. Clean, multilingual, easy to use interface.
11. Supports unicode for multi-byte languages.

Score:

I would give it  (8.5 out of 10 ).

The iPhone can only play movies that are encoded using MPEG-4 and H.264 codecs and have the extensions ‘.mp4′ or ‘.m4v’. In this tutorial I will show you how to convert movies that are in other formats (for example, wmv, avi, mkv, etc.) to iPhone playable movies.

How To Use HandBrake To Convert Movies To The iPhone Format:

HandBrake is an freeware application that can convert movies from any DVD-like source such as: VIDEO_TS folders, DVD images, real DVDs, .VOB and .TS files and any other multimedia formats. It can convert them to MP4, MKV, AVI or OGM using the MPEG-4, H.264, Theora video codecs and the following audio codecs: AAC, MP3, Vorbis or AC-3.

You can download the free tool from Handbrake. Just download it and install it. Now launch Handbrake and let’s see how we can convert a typical .avi movie into a playable iPhone one.

When you launch Handbrake, click on the ‘Source’ button from the menu bar, to select the movie that you want toconvert. As you can see, you have two choices: a video file or an DVD/VIDEO_TS folder. Choose what you prefer and then browse to the desired video file.

Now click on the Browse button and choose a destination folder for the new video and type its file name.

Next, select the output settings for the video file. This can be done from the presets panel on the right. Simply click on the ‘iPhone & iPod Touch’ option and all the output settings will be set in automatically. Also, if you will use thisapplication only for this task, you can click on the ‘Set Default’ button at the end of the panel and make the ‘iPhone &iPod Touch’ preset the default one.

Finally, click the Start button, found near Source. Handbrake will begin the encoding process and a command window will open with details about the process.

When the process ends the window disappears. For this test I used a 22 minutes video file that had 175 MB by default. The encoding process took 13 minutes and the final video file had 91.7 MB. The codec used for the encoding process was H.264 which is the best for image quality.

If you want a smaller file and fewer minutes for the encoding process you can select a different codec, like MPEG-4 XviD or MPEG-4 FFmpeg, from the Video tab.

For example, the MPEG-4 FFmpeg codec made from the original file a new video that had only 38.7MB in 2 minutes. Unfortunately the image quality was quite poor this time. So you have to sacrifice one thing for the other.

The last step is to connect your iPhone to the PC, start iTunes or other alternatives and upload the movie.

Some other free tools:

There are also some other free softwares available but they have got their own drawbacks and i have found handbrake to be the best out of these. However you can still give them a try. They are :

Agree Free AVI WMV MPEG ASF MOV to MP4 Converter

DVDVideoSoft Free Studio (Free Video to iphone Converter)

Kvip

This is the first for Pakistan in 3D gaming industry and before the game was released there was lot of demand of boxed version of the game as well.  Although this game has not created much hype as compared to other cricket games but still this game is lot better than what you think.

Official Trailor:

Lets talk about the Gameplay:

• Well most cricket games have been criticized for their unrealistic gameplay but it is not the case with CR because you really can’t come on the pitch and start hitting big sixes unrealistically.
• There are almost 35 different shots or combos as the game says with 3 special keys push , slog and loft.  In bowling there are some extra special deliveries and different ways of deceiving the batsman.
• The artificial intelligence of the game is too good. Your shot selection , your timing and positioning in the crease really matters while batting. Unlike other games when you play across the line of the ball, you can edge the ball to slips or loft it, if your settled meter is empty.
• Multi-player games are on the hype these days therefore CR’s Multi-player mode will really increase the game’s ranking much higher.
• Very interesting feature of the game is its online gaming support because playing online is a real fun. You can play play matches as well as ranked matches. Ranked matches are used in ranking the leaderboard of the game.
• Graphics of the game are not very good. They need to improve on that. Though their gameplay counters their not so good graphics.
• There are three different game modes. Exhibition mode, Revolution Cup and Revolution League.

My Score for the Game:

Game is now available for purchase from Steam. Its worth only 19.99 USD.

Gameplay – 8/10

Sound and Music – 7/10

Online Mode – 8/10

Graphics – 6/10

Customization – 9/10

Overall – 8/10

Handy Backup by Novosoft is award-winning automatic data backup and disaster recovery software. It is very flexible and can perfectly meet any individual requirements:

• Handy Backup has a comprehensible task-based architecture with three types of tasks available: backup, restore and synchronization.
• In addition to “common” file and folder backup, there is a number of presets that facilitate backups of critical data, such as My Documents, Microsoft Outlook, Windows registry, etc.
• Such inevitable for up-to-date backup software features as backup scheduling, backup data compression and encryption are fully supported by Handy Backup

Unlike most other backup software out there, Handy Backup doesn’t treat your data like faceless chunks of memory. It features a complete, extensible plug-in-based system and a variety of plug-ins designed to back up settings, playlists, tweaks and preferences of your favorite applications that you’ve tweaked to perfection. Users of the utility can also create new plug-ins of their own, which is relatively easy and requires only some basic XML knowledge.

IT-experts can take advantage of extended feature set including disk image backup and database backup. Database backup-related functions are what makes Handy Backup so powerful and unique. There are several advanced plug-ins that can handle backup and restore of most popular DBMS including Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle database, IBM DB2 DataServer, Lotus Domino/Notes environment, and a common Database Backup plug-in that can be used for any ODBC-compatible databases. Also, there is a professional plug-in for backing up Microsoft Exchange Server stores.
Handy Backup Server is a centralized automatic data backup solution for corporate local networks. It enables administrator to install workstation agents on networked workstations and manage the entire network’s backup from a single control point.

Handy Backup is one of the most stable, effective and easy-to-use applications for automatic data backup, recovery and synchronization. Enthusiasts translated Handy Backup for more than 20 languages. With this program, Novosoft LLC has partnered with such companies as Microsoft, IBM and Oracle.

You can download a full-featured 30-days trial by clicking the following link:
Download Handy Backup.

Windows 7 Concept Ads:

Aero Shake:

You can navigate your desktop easily with windows 7. Just give the active window a little shake to quickly shake away the clutter.

Personalization:

You can easily personalize your desktop and user interface according to your mood and your usage.

Windows Live Movie Maker:

Movie making now as easy as never before using Windows live movie maker. Just publish your movie directly to internet like youtube.

Its Not About Icons, Its about Ideas:

Your PC, Your life:

Your PC becomes your entertainment zone. And when it’s time to get some work done, new features help you cruise through your PC like a professional.

For Kids, Kylie’s Conversations :

The happy words just keep on coming as Kylie creates another slideshow to share even more good news about Windows 7 with her friends.

Good News:

Get a Mac Ads, reply to Windows 7 Ads(3 in one):

Mac suggests Windows 7 is the same old thing as ever before like Vista and Windows XP and they try to convince the consumers that Mac is the ultimate solution to their pain and frustration.

7 secs to Windows 7:

This seven seconds demo series is what i like the most. A quick blast through Windows 7 features.

CheapyD & CampingKev vs. Windows 7 Whopper:

Celebrating the launch of Windows 7 in Japan, the Windows 7 Whopper is 791 grams or 1.74 pounds of Burger King beef.

If you have a google wave sandbox account please do participate in this wave and tell about your experience of using google wave. you can also sign in and participate using your gmail account if its activated for google wave.

On the pitch, critical gameplay fundamentals have been enhanced to ensure that FIFA Soccer 10 mirrors real-world soccer, providing more sophisticated ball control, and physical interaction. On attack, players now analyze space more effectively, curve their runs in an attempt to stay onside, create passing lanes naturally, and drive for more variety in attacking options. On defense, new concepts like position priority enable defenders to multitask so dangerous spaces left open by teammates out of position are covered. Plus, slide tackle targeting, press marking, and better urgency clearance logic provide new options that make defending a tactical skill in FIFA Soccer 10.

Official date of release is October 20, 2009. However demo version is now available to get your hands on the game. You can download the game for PC, Playsation or XBox 360.

Game Requirements:

CPU with 2.4 GHz (single-core)
512 Megabytes of RAM (1 GB required for Windows Vista)
DirectX 9.0c Compatible 3D accelerated 128 MB video card or equivalent
(must support Shader Model 2.0 or above)
DirectX 9.0c Compatible Sound Card
MS compatible mouse
Keyboard
Please note that 16 bit colour is not supported

Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista
Note that Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME, and Windows NT 4.0 are not supported.
The title may function in Windows 7, however this operating system is not officially supported.

FIFA Soccer 10 Demo can be downloaded from Here.

Full game version  is available on different torrents. If you want that you can have a try if its working.

Torrent Mirror 1

Torrent Mirror2

Torrent Mirror 3 (PS2)

Torrent Mirror4 ( IPhone )

USB vaccine is a free solution which basically doesnot allow any readability, modification and creation of the autorun.inf file in any removable drive.  Therefore this simple tool provides high degree of protection against malicious attacks.

Some of the features of the latest version are following.

• Support for vaccinating NTFS drives. This uses a completely different technique than the vaccination of FAT/FAT32 drives.

• Executing USBVaccine.exe launches an installer which allows you to configure whether you want USBVaccine to start automatically with Windows.

• Configuration option during setup to hide the tray icon.

• Configuration option during setup to automatically vaccinate any new USB drives inserted into the PC.

• Fixed bug on PC shutdown when USBVaccine was running in the background (Vista).

• Other bug fixes reported by users on certain types of USB drives.

You can download free utility from Here.

Nikon has recently announced that the Coolpix S1000pj will be the first ever digital cam that will have a projector in built. Some other cool features of the camera are 12.1 megapixel sensor and a 5x wide-angle zoom lens. In Addition to that , the S1000pj projects images up to 40 inches in size with a VGA resolution and a maximum distance of 2 meters. The camera is supplied with a remote control and stand for ease of use.

Mark Pekelharing, Product Line Manager Consumer Products at Nikon says: “The launch of our unique COOLPIX projector camera is exciting for gadget and photo lovers everywhere – and another first for Nikon with a compact digital camera that can project images. People can’t help but be blown away by such a beautifully crafted device. It’s packed with everything you need to take amazing photos so easily as well as to show your pictures; a great screen and amazing projector. Sharing photos and videos has never been so easy – or so fun.”

If you’ve ever wanted to share your photos or videos at a party or relive a day’s memories while on your travels, then now you can with one-touch projection on the COOLPIX S1000pj. The built-in projector easily projects an image size from approximately 5 inches up to 40 inches. A supplied remote control means that you can wirelessly operate both the projector and usual camera functions, and a simple projection stand is supplied for optimal viewing wherever you are.

You can now store your images safely and securely using Nikon’s my Picturetown, a free online digital photo storage and sharing service. Easily share photo memories with friends and organise precious memories into online collections. You get 2GB of space free to use for storing thousands of memories and you can upgrade your membership to Gold Account at any time if you need to store more pictures.

Some other features:

• 2.7-inch high-resolution LCD monitor with anti-reflection coated cover
• 16 handy scene modes for optimised shooting in various settings
• D-Lighting
• Active Zoom
• Auto Sort and Favorite Pictures functions
• Four movie modes with sound
• Time zone function for easy setting of multiple locations
• Approx. 36 MB of internal memory
• Hi-Speed USB connectivity

According to the company, the price of the device will be around $430 and it will hit the market in mid September.

Do watch this video: