Mengawali awal tahun 2012 dunia gadget tentu saja penuh dengan isu tentang akan munculnya gadget² canggih berbagai platform yang di usung para vendor, baik itu berupa smartphone mau pun tablet. Pada postingan di awal tahun baru ini saya akan membahas isu gadget yang mungkin akan muncul di tahun 2012.
1. Sony Etricsson
Menjelang akhir tahun 2011, Sony sudah mengakuisisi sekitar 50% saham Ericsson, selain itu aka nada perubahan nama dari Sony Ericsson menjadi Sony. Beberapa rumor tentang keberadaan smartphone Sony berulang kali terungkap. Bahkan hasil tes dari smartphone ini kerap kali dibicarakan di dunia maya. Bagaimana teknologi Sony di tahun ini tanpa Ericsson.
2. Ipad dari Apple
Rumor yang beredar, adalah Apple akan membuat dua versi dari iPad, yaitu. Tapi beerapa pendapatApakah Apple akan membsubjektif dan rumor membuat sebagian orang masih binggung akan kehadiran ipad. Apple memang pandai menyimpan kejuta demi kejutan untuk produknya. iPad generasi berikutnya dikabarkan akan menggunakan resolusi layar yang lebih tinggi.
3. Macbook dari Apple
Apple dikabarkan akan merefresh tampilan dari MacBooknya. Terutama soal perangjat kerasnya. Baik itu untuk MacBook pro dan MacBook Air. Selain prosesor dan kartu grafis yang baru, teknologi MacBook akan dibuat sefleksibel mungkin. Kabar menyebutkan bahwa teknologi yang ada di perangkat iPad, dan iPhone juga akan hadir di MacBook.
4. Ultrabook
Jika Apple merefresh tampilan baru MacBooknya, maka para vendor lain tak mau kalah. Produk Non Apple, seperti Samsung, Acer, Asus, bahkan Dell, sudah menyiapkan konsep laptop terbaru yang lebih tipis, bertenaga, dan tak kalah dengan MacBook.
5. Asus Transformer
Jika Apple sudah menyiapkan iPad 3, maka Asus, sudah menyiapkan Asus Transformers. Sebuah tablet yang diperkirakan akan menganggu keberadaan Apple. Sudah banyak muncul bocoran tentang keberadaan tablet ini. Hadir dengan Android 4.0, prosesor yang lebih bertenaga, membuat Asus Transformers akan menjadi pemain yang mampu mengejutkan di pasar tablet tahun ini.
6. Samsung Galaxy SIII
Menejelang akhir tahun, muncul sebuah bocoran akan kehadiran Samsung Galaxu SIII di tahun 2012 ini. Kabarnya dengan prosesor baru, dan bisa berjalan dengan OS yaitu Android dan Bada. Rumor akan keberadaan Samsung Galaxy S III terus menguat hingga sekarang.
7. Iphone 5
Next generation dari iPhone, lebih sering disebut dengan iPhone 5 dalam berbagai editorial teknologi. Dengan desain baru yang diubah, kekuatan yang lebih powerfull, dan diyakini, iphone 5 akan menggunakan teknologi 4G membuat iPhone generasi berikutnya ini akan dinanti. Tapi tidak semua orang meramalkan smartphoneini akan bernama iPhone 5. Lantas apa?. Iktui perkembangannya di jeruknipis.com
8. Windows Phone dari Nokia
Perlahan kualitas Windows Phone mulai membaik, sering bekerjasamanya Microsoft dengan Nokia. Hasilnya terlihat di Nokia Lumia 800. Rumor menarik tentang keberadaan Nokia dan Microsoft berikutnya adalah kehadiran Nokia Lumia 900 yang saat ini tengah diuji coba.
9. Next Android
Android memang hngga saat ini berhhenti di Android 4.0 atau Ice Cream Sandwich. Tapi mengikuti perkembangan zaman, mungkin saja, aka nada Android berikutnya. Apa namanya?. Sepertinya teka-teki ini belum terjawab hingga sekarang. Ada atau tidak ada generasi Android berikutnya, memang belum terjawab. Tapi perkembangan teknologi yang cepat, bisa-bisa “memaksa” Google akan mengeluarkan jurus terbarunya.
10. Next Blackberry
BBX (Untuk OS dengan nama ini, RIM sedang menghadapi gugatan dari sebuah perusahaan dengan nama yang sama), BB 10, dan entah apa lagi perubahan yang akan dibuat oleh RIM tentang kehadiran generasi berikut dari BlackBerrynya. Hanya saja rencana ini mungkin masih terus dikembangkan oleh para pekerja di RIM. Teknologi masa depan seperti apa yang akan mereka buat nantinya.
11. Windows 8
Windows 8 yang akan segera hadir. Saat ini memang masih hadir dalam versi Beta. Tapi klaim Microsoft yang membuat Windows 8 lebih baik dari pendahulunya memang patut ditunggu. Tidak perlu upgrade hardware, tampilan UI Metro yang hadir pada smartphone dan Xbox 360 ke PC dan tablet, update yang lebih cepat, dan berbagai fitur unggulan lainnya diyakini membuat Microsoft akan menjadi alternative yang menarik. Tak tanggung-tanggung, kabarnya akan hadir pula tablet dengan menggunakan Windows 8.
12. Kindle Fire
Tablet besutan Amazon ini memang mampu mengusik kehadiran iPad, bahkan tablet Android lainnya. Kindle Fire diperkirakan akan membuat dua varian terbaru dari produknya ini. Jika menjelang akhir tahun 2011, Kindle Fire bisa langsung melejit, bagaimana dengan tahun 2012 ini dengan rumor akan kehadiran Kindle Fire 2?.
Demikian berbagai rumor yang mungkin terjadi di dunia gadget tahun 2012, sebagai konsumen kita tentu saja mengharapkan gadget yang berkemampuan canggih, berpenampilan keren dengan harga bersahabat. :D. Mungkin tidak semua yang kita bahas disini akan jadi kenyataan, tetapi tidak salahnya berharap. Salam.
Source : Klik Disini
Hari ini tanggal 26 Desember Tujuh tahun lalu, Aceh di dera bencana Maha dasyat, gempa bumi yang disusul dengan gelombang Tsunami. Bencana yang menelan ratusan ribu jiwa tersebut hari ini kembali di peringati di beberapa tempat di Provinsi Aceh.
Aceh Utara : Mengenang 7 Tahun Tsunami, Digelar Doa dan Tausiah
Mengenang tujuh tahun bencana alam gempa dan tsunami Seni (26/12) besok, pemerintah Aceh Utara menyiapkan tempat pelaksanaan di Desa Ulee Rubek Kecamatan Seunuddon , sekitar 74 Km sebelah timur dari kota Lhokseumawe.Sementara di Lhokseumawe, mengenang kembali bencana tsunami dipusatkan di Masjid Islamic centre yang diprakarsai Badan Eksekutif Mahasiswa (BEM) dengan aktivitas sehari penuh.
Pemeerintah Kabupat en Aceh Utara, mengambil lokasi di Ule Rubek disebabkan daerah tersebut sangat terparah dan banyak korban tatkala terjadi bencana alam gempa dan tsunami.
Selain beberapa desa di pantai timur Aceh utara, juga desa Kuala Keureutoe, Tanah Pasir, Lapang, Bayu dan Blang Nibong Kec Samudera, namun tahun ini digelar lokasi mengenang 7 tahun bencana alam itu di Ulee Rubek.
Bahkan Jumlah Korban Tsunami Seunuddon mencapai 708 orang dari 10 desa, yang mengakibatkan 174 anak jadi yatim. Desa terparah adalah masing masing Desa Teupin Kuyuen 51 orang tewas, Desa Bantaian 15 tewas, Ulee Rubek Timur 61 tewas, Ulee rubek Barat 65 tewas. Selain itu di desa Lhok Puuek 268 tewas, Meunasah Sagoe 111 tewas, Matang Puntong 105 tewas, Matang Panyang 11 tewas, Matang Lada 1 tewas, Ulee Matang 1 tewas.
Aceh Barat : Dzikir 7 Tahun Tsunami
Ratusan warga dari kelompok zikir di Kecamatan Meureubo, Aceh Barat, Minggu (25/12/2011) mengelar zikir akbar guna mengirim doa bagi saudara mereka yang meninggal syahid pada musibah gempa bumi dan gelombang melanda Aceh pada 26 Desember 2004 lalu.
Zikir akbar dipadukan dengan ceramah agama dipusatkan di Masjid Besar Alhidayat, Desa Meureubo dan terlihat ratusan jemaah dzikir meneteskan air mata. Selain ratusan kaum ibu-ibu juga dihadiri juga Wakil Bupati Aceh Barat, Fuadri SSi MSi, peserta zikir laut dalam doa serta meneteskan air mata dengan mengenang kembali saudara-saudara mereka yang meninggal saat musibah dasyat melanda tujuh tahun lalu.
Banda Aceh dan Aceh Besar : Doa Bersama 7 Tahun Tsunami
Banda Aceh dan Aceh Besar menggelar doa bersama mengenang 7 Tahun Tsunami, Kegiatan ini dipusatkan di Lapangan Golf Lhoknga - Aceh Besar. Kegiatan doa bersama ini juga rencananya akan dilanjutkan dengan Khanduri Rakyat.
Selain tempat-tempat yang disebutkan diatas, kegiatan mengenang 7 tahun Tsunami juga diadakan di mesjid-mesjid yang terdapat di seluruh provinsi Aceh. Masyarakat Aceh setiap tahunnya memperingati bencana yang pernah membuat Aceh luluh lantak.
The popularity of smartphones is on the rise, and as people learn more about them and continue to buy them, they are demanding and expecting their handsets to have the latest technology, including software. The good news is nowadays software updates allow you to get the latest version of a mobile operating system even if you don't have the newest phone model. However, that's not always guaranteed for every device, and as some smartphone owners probably know, particularly Android users, the update process isn't always swift or smooth.
Issues like slow or delayed releases and bricked phones are frustrating to be sure, but the business of software updates isn't as simple as one might think. In fact, it's pretty complex and time-consuming. It's not just a matter of an OS provider handing off the update to the handset manufacturer or carrier to push out to smartphones; there are multiple phases and a lot of testing involved to ensure that once the software is rolled out, everything works properly. Even then, there might be some problems.
To get a better understanding of how updates work and to clear up some misconceptions, I talked to several OS providers, OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), and carriers and asked them to explain how the process works on their end. The purpose isn't to let them off the hook (I think there's plenty of room for improvement, starting with better communication), but hopefully, the information below will provide you with a clearer picture of the process and clear up some questions you might have about updates.
OEM testing
The entire process starts with a planning stage. As an OS provider, such as Google or Microsoft, is adding and testing the new and improved features to its platform, it also meets with the OEMs and carriers, and in some cases the chipset makers, to identify the content of the update and discuss a target schedule. Once there's near-final code from the OS provider, the handset manufacturers are the next group to start its testing process, so it can build the firmware to make the update happen.
The HTC Evo 4G received its Froyo update 60 days after its release, which is on the quicker side of things.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
The OEMs take a look at the software even before it's final to see how it behaves with its software and the carrier software. In HTC's case, Martin Fichter, vice president of product management for HTC America, says the company will do a quick port to see how well it works with its Sense user interface and any carrier customization.
From there, a suite of tests consisting of several thousand steps is performed to checks for everything, from making sure a menu is where it should be to looking for bigger performance issues.
For example, if Google changes something to navigation and the carrier has its own navigation program, the OEM needs to make certain the two work together, so there is a lot of regression testing to ensure all aspects of the device work seamlessly. Performance testing is more labor intensive and involves checking to see how the new functionality ties in with the old functionality, watching for any unpredictable behavior, and again, seeing how everything works with overlays and carrier customization.
Fichter said it's hard to quantify how many tests are run, but if everything is perfect, then it should be able to get the update through the lab in three weeks. That said, the company will approve the software for the next round only when it's passed all tests. At that point, the firmware is passed onto the carrier, but the manufacturers continue to provide support throughout carrier testing process.
Carrier testing
The carrier certification process involves several phases, including lab testing and field user testing. As Keith Lampron, associate director for device marketing at Verizon, explains it, testing software updates is, at its highest level, much like testing a new product--a sentiment shared by Fared Adib, vice president of product development for Sprint, who said that it's a very "rigid process."
This means phones are being assessed again for network connectivity, voice quality, battery life, and durability. All the while, analysis is being done to look at the quality of the software, checking to see that the new features are working correctly and making sure that previous functionality is preserved through the update. Once it's gone through the lab, the update moves onto beta testing with field users before rolling out to all customers. If there are any issues or problems during any phase of the testing, the carriers report back to the OEMs so they can go back and fix the bugs.
Once the software comes back and gets approval from all three parties (the OS provider also needs to recheck and make sure its own services and apps are working properly), the update is ready for distribution, either via side loading or over the air (OTA). If delivered OTA, the carrier releases the OS update in batches and not all at once, since the update can be quite large and bog down the network. Doing it smaller groups ensures that customers don't have issues downloading the software.
There's nothing sweeter than getting a notification that your software update is ready.
(Credit: Jaxov.com)
Adib says, depending on how major the update, the best-case scenario for rolling out the software update is 10 weeks and worst case is 15 weeks. "There are ways to do it faster, but the omissions would sacrifice the best user experience," Adib said.
Lampron added, "We actually do push hard to get OS updates out as soon as possible, but at the same token, we're adamant that if there are issues that we expect customers to see, we're not going to let it through. In every case, that's the only reason it's not being pushed out there. It's a quality issue and we're just saying it's not ready."
Even so, there are problems that occur once an update is deployed, such as bricked phones or slower performance--an issue that hasn't escaped anyone.
"While it is hard to believe that with all the testing that happens, there can still be problems," said Greg Sullivan, senior product manager for Microsoft. "We've been making and delivering software updates long enough to know that the laboratory can simulate but never quite equal the experience of delivering software to thousands of real phones in the wild. Each device is loaded with its own unique set of apps, pictures, songs, and other stuff. When we find an issue, we study and fix it."
Both Sprint and Verizon says it monitors different channels, such as customer e-mails and calls, blogs, forums, and so forth, to see if there is an issue. If the problem is big enough, they may decide to pull the update before it reaches other users, so they can investigate it, find the root cause, and re-issue the software.
Do custom UIs complicate things?
Through all of this, a question remains: do customer user interfaces, such as TouchWiz, Motoblur, and Sense, complicate things and slow down the update process? It's an issue that most notably affects Android users where custom UIs are common and so is fragmentation, whereas other OSes, such as WebOS, iOS, and Windows Phone, provide a standard UI across its devices and arguably makes the updating process easier.
"Consistency of the user experience is important, as is having a consistent platform for software developers to write great applications," said Microsoft's Sullivan. "Having a consistent platform has many benefits including preventing the fragmentation you see on some platforms."
For the OEMs and carrier's part, they admit that it adds extra work but doesn't really see it as a problem. "Any customization will add to the timeline," said Adib. "We're as much to blame as anyone else, but more is made of this issue than needs to be. Even if we were working with a stock Android experience, we'd still have to run all those tests on the device."
Do custom UIs, like TouchWiz, slow down the update process?
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)
Lampron offers another take on custom UIs. "In certain cases, it leads to innovation. For example, HTC Sense has gained some strong, positive feedback. In cases like that, where the manufacturer is doing something different and innovative, it's worth the extra complexity."
Meanwhile, HTC says it has to deal with carrier customization anyway, so while it adds some extra steps of work, it's not a complication for them. However, one complication it can't always overcome is hardware limitations. Some smartphones simply won't be able to handle the OS updates due to older hardware, whether it's a matter of not enough memory, processor power, or the like.
"I know it leads to people getting frustrated, but some of the old hardware simply can't handle the new software. The experience isn't going to be good," said Fichter. "We're trying to do our best but there's a limit to what we can do."
"It'll get better"
Obviously, the software update process has not been perfect. The long waits, the broken promises, and post-update problems has made people weary and angry.
Fichter admits that perhaps there were some mistakes in the beginning, during the days of Donut to Eclair, but HTC has learned from the experience. Adib also believes things will improve.
"These devices are complex," said Adib. "Most people take for granted that they're mobile computers with millions of lines of code in them. We, as an industry, are doing a pretty good job of spitting these out to multiple SKUs without breaking many things. It'll get better over time."
However, all the companies agree that they're not willing to speed through testing if it means sacrificing quality.
"We understand people want these updates ASAP," said Fichter, "but at the end of the day, it's about making sure we're doing it right and giving our customers the best user experience."
Source: http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-20076142-85/smartphones-unlocked-a-closer-look-at-software-updates/#ixzz1ficEDdhu
What can you use the app for?
KoolIM is an online instant messaging application. Through their website you can connect to various messaging platforms.
What is the history and popularity of the app?
KoolIM launched in July of 2006, a bit late to the party that already started with eBuddy and Meebo. According to their website it is run by three people, a founder, server guy and an investor.
KoolIM says they connect to 20 instant messaging platforms. Many of these are popular in South America or Asia. We didn't find 20 platforms but they do support Gadu-Gaud, XFire and SameTime which we haven't seen on many other applications.
How does the web app look and feel to use?
KoolIM's website looks more like an email than a website, lots of text (ads) and few graphics. But the functionality is good and the interaction is responsive. We couldn't get the pop-up version to work but the embedded version is nice enough.
How does the registration process work?
You can log in to any single platform without registration. Registration can be done right on the front page, it requires a valid email address and a CAPCTCHA test. After confirming the email you can add your account details.
What does it cost to use the application?
KoolIM is advertising supported. The ads are not very intrusive.
Who would you recommend the application to?
We recommend KoolIM if you need some of the more exotic networks supported such as Gadu-Gadu.
KoolIM Features
AIM, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, ICal, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, SameTime, XFire, Yahoo!
Firefox sidebar
Can select to have pop-up or embedded client