While Turntable.fm still provides a more entertaining musical discovery experience, Facebook just rolled out support for social music listening with other Facebook friends.

Announced on the official Facebook blog earlier today, the social network is rolling out a “Listen With Friends” feature that allows Facebook users to click a single button to sync up and listen to a song that a friend is currently enjoying. While the feature requires the user to authorize the Spotify or Rdio application on the user’s Facebook profile prior to listening to the song, the track syncs at the same position as the friend and friends can chat about specific parts of the song. In order to identify Facebook users that are currently listening to music on Spotify or Rdio, a musical note icon will appear next to the name of the user in the chat interface as well as the real-time news ticker.

Similar to the basic functionality of Turntable.fm, Facebook users can act as a virtual DJ while choosing songs in the Spotify or Rdio interface. Up to 50 Facebook friends can listen at the same time as well as make comments about the songs and request upcoming tracks. When a user starts listening to a musical track through Spotify or Rdio, a one-sentence blurb also appears in the Facebook news ticker. Users have the ability to control who sees that they are listening to music as well as delete songs that they have previously listened to from the Facebook Timeline.

While many recording artists are currently dissatisfied with the amount of money made each time a user listens to a track through these streaming services, implementing this new function on Facebook with potentially one billion users this year clicking away will increase the volume rapidly. It will also encourage users to upgrade to premium listening plans on these streaming services after running out of free music listening time faster each month. Facebook has begun rolling out the new function to a handful of accounts and plans to complete the launch by early February.

Source: digitaltrends.com

What makes something an “Ice Cream Sandwich” device? What does it mean to embody the spirit of Android? To help answer these questions, Google on Thursday unveiled Android Design, a guide for how to create the best Android apps and interfaces.

Android Design is “the place to learn about principles, building blocks, and patterns for creating world-class Android user interfaces,” Christian Robertson, head of the Android visual design group, said in a blog post. “Whether you’re a UI professional or a developer playing that role, these docs show you how to make good design decisions, big and small.”

Robertson said Google is “committed to helping you design amazing apps that people love,” and promised more in-depth content on Android Design, as well as design-related blog posts and Google+ Hangouts, in the coming months.

At this point, the Web site has basic tutorials on Android style, patterns, and building blocks.
Google said the latest version of its Android operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich, focused on three overarching goals for core apps and the system at large: enchant me; simplify my life; and make me amazing.
During an appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show this week, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt touched on the need for an aesthetically pleasing user interface. The search giant wants to attract “people with great taste,” Schmidt said. The new model for Android is “cleaner, pristine, and more spare,” he said, doing “enough of what you need” without cluttering the space.

That’s a description you might normally hear coming from Apple, a company that prides itself on a simple, intuitive design across all its devices. Google, meanwhile, has a customizable UI that could look very different from one device to the next. There are also many different versions of Android floating around—Ice Cream Sandwich is on just 0.6 percent of devices at this point—which has prompted concerns about Android fragmentation. At CES, however, Schmidt said he was not convinced Android was fragmented, arguing instead that there was a “differentiation” between the versions.

Source: PC Magazine

Namastec has proudly brought the product of Google Chrome Extension and Theme for its New Cricket Portal Cricnepal.com.

It’s a Cricket World Cup and the fever has become global.  For our readers and fans we’ve developed Google Chrome Theme and Extension for easy access of the live updates and scores.

Please check it out !!

Google Chrome Extension Link

Google Chrome Theme

We anticipate your comments and feedback.

Yes, it’s Free Download of Angry Birds Rio today. Amazon is offering Angry Birds Rio free for few hours from their recently launched appstore. To begin you need to enable  “Debugging Mode” to initiate the installation.  Download Side Load Wonder Machine. Once you’ve downloaded it go to the amazon appstore and download their app for their appstore. To install this use the Side Load Wonder Machine (search youtube videos for tutorials). Then download the Angry Birds Rio. A message prompting unable to install app will popup in the screen.

Browse to “android\data\com.amazon.venezia\cache” in your AT&T android device. You should be able to find an “*.apk”  file in that location. Again using SWM install Angry Birds Rio. This approach should let you install any apps from Amazon which is not currently approved by AT&T.

Bingo! You’re now able to install Angry Birds Rio in your Samsung Captivate.

Edit: You can follow same procedure to install any free apps from amazon store, for e.g  Amazon has already offered Shazam and Swiftkey for free, both of which can be installed via side-loading through SWM.

REUTERS

NEW YORK: AT&T plans to pay $39 billion to buy Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile USA in a deal that is expected to attract intense regulatory scrutiny as it creates a new U.S. mobile market leader.

AT&T, the No. 2 U.S. mobile service, is looking to bolster its constrained network against a near insatiable appetite for videos and data from devices such as Apple Inc’s iPhone and iPad users.

But the world’s largest deal announced so far this year, which will bump Verizon Wireless from its No. 1 U.S. position, could raise the ire of U.S. consumers and regulators as analysts expect it to result in wireless service price increases. Consumers currently look to T-Mobile USA for some of the best value wireless service rates.

The transaction will increase AT&T’s U.S. market share to an estimated 43 percent from 32 percent, putting it well ahead of Verizon Wireless’s current 34.5 percent share of U.S. mobile customers, according to Tolaga Research estimates. AT&T will add 34 million customers to its current 96 million subscriber list.

As a sign of AT&T’s confidence the deal will pass regulatory muster, it agreed to pay an unusually high breakup fee of $3 billion and to give T-Mobile USA wireless airwaves if regulators reject it. But they may be over-confident.

“I think it could reach some level of controversy,” said an antitrust expert, who worked for the Justice Department’s antitrust division. “There’s going to be spectrum issues. This is going to be a complex deal and I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that it will be approved.”

AT&T said it expected regulators to require it to sell some assets as a condition of approving the deal, which it hopes to complete in 12 months.

But another regulatory expert said it could take as long as 18 months for U.S. competition and communications regulators to review the transaction.

“I certainly wouldn’t say that this is a clean deal,” said an antitrust expert with telecommunications experience.

AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson told reporters on a conference call that AT&T had done its “homework” on the regulatory front and boasted that the deal could generate savings of more than $40 billion.

“This is a unique opportunity.” said Stephenson. “It’s rare you have a transaction where the synergies are greater than the price paid.”

The companies have been talking for months according to sources familiar. Stephenson reached out to Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann in December, according to one source, who said he drove the process from the AT&T side.

The substance of the deal came together over the last month, and the companies had a handshake agreement a week ago, the source said.

TALKS SINCE DECEMBER

The transaction, which is Stephenson’s first big acquisition since he took over as CEO, will give AT&T much needed spectrum, or wireless airwaves, to provide the capability to support surges in the delivery of video, games and entertainment to smartphone and mobile devices.

Stephenson said he had to “think differently” to address an expected eight-to-tenfold increase in demand for wireless network capacity in the next five years.

It comes as U.S. wireless operators fight for wireless airwaves that are in short supply as consumers spend more time conducting video chats, playing games and downloading applications over mobile devices that rival the powers of desktop computers of just a few years ago.

The two top operators — a much larger AT&T and Verizon Wireless — will account for nearly three out of four mobile subscriber in the United States, according to Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin.

For Deutsche Telekom, the attractively valued deal terms of an estimated 7.1 times multiple of 2010 adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, gives it a tidy partial exit from the U.S. market that once held great promise at the turn of the millennium, but led to steep stock declines. Under the current terms of the deal, Deutsche Telekom could become AT&T’s largest shareholder with an 8 percent stake.

Left unanswered is the fate of smaller rivals, namely Sprint Nextel, which had held talks to combine with T-Mobile USA, the No. 4 U.S. mobile service.

“Other reported deals involving T-Mobile would have joined together incompatible networks,” said Larry Cohen, head of CWA the main U.S. telecommunications workers union. “Not only would that have forced a rebuild, but would have required new phones for T-Mobile customers.”

The purchase price includes a cash payment of $25 billion with the balance to be paid using AT&T common stock. AT&T has the right to increase the cash portion of the purchase price by up to $4.2 billion.

As part of the deal, which was approved by both companies boards, a Deutsche Telekom representative will join the AT&T board. AT&T can increase the cash component so long as Deutsche Telekom retails at least a 5 percent equity stake in it.

Deutsche Telekom is expected to use 5 billion euros to buy back shares and 13 billion euros to lower its debt, one source with direct knowledge of the deal discussions told Reuters. The source said no other deals are planned in the medium term.

AT&T said it would finance the cash portion with new debt and cash on AT&T’s balance sheet. AT&T has an 18-month commitment for a one-year unsecured bridge term facility underwritten by JPMorgan Chase & Co for $20 billion.

AT&T will not assume any T-Mobile USA debt and that the deal would add to earnings, excluding non-cash amortization and integration costs, in the third year after closing.

Representatives from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and Sprint declined comment as did officials from Verizon Wireless, which is owned by Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc.

Greenhill & Co, JPMorgan Chase and Evercore Partners acted as financial advisors to AT&T.

As a next step to provide better, flexible and innovative services to the subscribers, Ncell has set up the first 3G data connection at the base camp of Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain at 8.848 meter. It’s the world’s highest 3G mobile phone base station. Now visitors, climbers and people living in the Khumbu Valley will savor the ability to make calls and wirelessly connect to the Internet. This means climbers can live-tweet their ascent to the top of Everest. Ncell plans to install seven 3G base stations in the region, which will allow the trekkers to use wireless Internet and to make video calls. It comes real handy when there is an accident or an expedition mishap.

If you are looking for a software, plugins etc. to put your current playing song over skype status. What you will do for it ?

I have a got some ideas and link just for you. Moodsongs is a useful plugin that sets the song you are currently playing in Windows Media Player, iTunes, Winamp, MediaMonkey or RealPlayer in your Skype mood message, also known as the status message. Please make sure that you have the most recent version of skype running in your machine.

The plugin got following features
- Show your music in your Skype mood message and share it with all your friends.
- Add colors to your mood
- Support for Windows Media Player, iTunes, Winamp, MediaMonkey and RealPlayer (requires update)
- Automatic updates

Download:
Click here to download the latest version of Moodsongs.

Compatibility:
Compatible with Windows 2000, XP, Vista or 7.

Tired of using your home computer that takes a long to boot up? Don’t worry, it’s time to say hello to a new technology which scientists claim will reduce the start-up times drastically.

With the 25-year-old BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) technology making way for new start-up software known as UEFI, the next generation of computers are set to boot up in just a few seconds, experts said.

The traditional BIOS technology, which has been used to boot up computers since 1979, was never designed to last as long as it has, and is one of the reasons modern computers take so long to get up and running.

By contrast, UEFI — which stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface — has been built to meet modern computing needs, and will soon be the pre-eminent technology in many new computers, enabling them to go from “off” to “on” in seconds, the Telegraph reported.

“At the moment, it can be 25- to 30 seconds of boot time before you see the first bit of OS sign-on,” Mark Doran, head of the UEFI Forum, was quoted as saying.
“With UEFI, we’re getting it down to a handful of seconds.

“It’s not quite instant-on, but it is already a lot better than conventional BIOS can manage.”

BIOS technology has barely changed since the early days of mass computing, and the system struggles to cope with modern computing evolutions, such as USB-connected keyboards or flash drives.

UEFI is a more adaptable system, that can cope with keyboards and peripherals being connected to different ports, and which could also be used to support the next-generation of touch-screens and natural gesture interfaces.

Experts expect UEFI to start gaining a significant foothold in the computing market from as early as next year.

Many consumer electronics companies are working hard to reduce the boot times of their machines — a factor that is particularly important with mobile devices and tablet computers.

Internet Search giant Google’s forthcoming Chrome OS has a rumoured boot time of just a few seconds.

Google recently released its updated version of Google Calendar Sync (version 0.9.3.6) which is compatible with Microsoft Outlook 2010. Although it includes one and two-way sync support, like earlier version of Google Calendar Sync, it doesn’t support 64-bit version of Microsoft Outlokk 2010. Please make sure that you have 32-bit of OS before you download this.

The latest Google Calendar Sync for 32-bit MS Outlook is available at http://dl.google.com/googlecalendarsync/GoogleCalendarSync_Installer.exe.

Upon completion of installation, users can modify the sync options to their own preferences based on frequency and type of synchronization.

Via: Erictric