Mark Zuckerberg — Not Julian Assange? — Is Time’s Person of the Year

Mark Zuckerberg has been named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. He edged out Julian Assange, the overwhelming reader favorite who — unlike the billionaire CEO of Facebook — really could have used whatever street cred still comes with this honor, as he cools his heels in a British prison cell.

It’s been a big year for the 26-year-old, who dreamed up Facebook before dropping out of Harvard a mere six years ago. The social network cracked 500 million members, “The Social Network” just garnered six Golden Globe nominations, and Zuckerberg himself has been the story for much of the year over Facebook’s fealty to the privacy of its members.

But if the editors of Time were entirely serious about the sentiments expressed in their letter — “There is an erosion of trust in authority, a decentralizing of power and at the same time, perhaps, a greater faith in one another” — the more obvious, though exponentially more controversial choice, would have been Assange, the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Wikileaks, who embodies anti-authoritarianism and who also happened to top a reader’s poll in which Zuckerberg came in 10th.

Still, the fact that both have a strong background as programmers — let’s not call them hackers — illustrates how central technology, and more specifically, the internet, has become to our lives.

Zuckerberg joins a very short list of technologists who have won the award, including Andy Grove, the former Chairman and CEO of microchip pioneer Intel, and Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, the internet commerce giant. And of course, “you” won in 2006, in a nod to the rise of the internet and the user-generated content revolution that has made YouTube and, well, Facebook, into cultural touchstones.

“The computer” won the the award for “Machine of the Year” in 1982. It might as well have been given jointly to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who shared the distinction in 2005 with his wife, Melinda, and Bono as “The Good Samaritans.”

Will anyone remember this in a few years? Probably not. Winners of such things are often tied to events that seem like a much bigger deal at the time. Does anyone recall why Vladimir Putin won three years ago?

In Zuckerberg’s case, the trophies he has yet to collect will likely be much more significant.

Twitter Now Worth $3.7 Billion after $200 Million Raise

Twitter, the micro-blogging startup turned internet phenomenon, has just closed a huge investment round, which values the company at an eye-popping $3.7 billion, according to multiple reports.

Twitter has received a $200 million infusion led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, one of the premier venture capital firms in the world, and a key early-stage investor in a little company called Google.

Kara Swisher at AllThingsD broke the news (again).

The new investment round reinforces Twitter is one of the most important communications companies in the world, often mentioned in the same breath as Facebook, the 800-pound social media gorilla which has about 10 times the valuation. On paper Twitter is now theoretically worth more than even The New York Times, whose parent company is publicly traded.

In the last year Twitter users sent 25 billion tweets and the company added 100 million new accounts. Twitter now employs over 350 people, up from 130 a year ago.

In a blog post, Twitter said that Tellme founder Mike McCue is joining its board along with David Rosenblatt, the former CEO of Google’s DoubleClick ad unit, who left the search giant last year. Tellme, a voice recognition company, was bought by Microsoft for $800 million in 2007. DoubleClick was bought by Google for $3.1 billion in 2008.

“The experience these new directors bring to Twitter, along with this renewed investment, will help us continue to grow as a company and business,” Twitter said in the post.

A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment beyond the posting.

The company had previously raised $160 million, which means that its total venture capital raise is nearing $400 million.

AxisRemit is fastest and easiest money remittance service

Axis Bank provides online money transfer facility from foreign geographies to India under the name AxisRemit Online. Remittance can be sent from 8 geographies viz. US, UK, Euro-Zone, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and UAE to India in the form of account credit or a DD in the name of the Indian beneficiary.
An individual willing to send money to India through an online channel may choose to register on AxisRemit Online by providing necessary personal details and choosing a unique user-id and password. Once registered, customer may transfer money to any beneficiary account in India by any one of the following means:
ACH Facility (online mode of transfer for USA customers) – This is an efficient online fund transfer facility for US remitters where the remitter allows Axis Bank to pull funds from his local bank for the amount instructed.
Online Transfer (for geographies other than USA) – It is a completely online mode of fund transfer where the remitter books a transaction on Axis Remit and subsequently transfers funds through the net banking facility of his/her local bank.
Smart Wire – This is the usual Wire Transfer facility with additional advantage of online fund tracking. The remitter can book a remittance transaction online and instruct his local bank to transfer funds. This facility is available for all geographies mentioned earlier.
Using Axis Remit has unparalleled advantages over offline methods. A few of them are:
Competitive Foreign Exchange Rates
Online Money Transfer Facility from the convenience of the remitter's home
Tracking Status of Transfer at any time through transaction reference number
Facility to send money to over 53,000 branches of nearly 100 banks in India
Reliable & Prompt customer support through telephone and e-mail
Global security standards adopted to ensure safety in online transfer
The remitter has to simply register on Axis Remit Online by providing basic details on the form and choosing a loginID and password. He can further immediately remit money by providing his/her beneficiary details in India and funding the transaction under any one of the transfer facility. Axis Bank will then take care of the rest for him.
In addition to the online mode of money transfer, Axis Bank also provides others means of inward remittance viz. through Wire Transfer, Foreign currency cheques and tie ups with various correspondent banks and exchange houses.

Play the Ultimate game online- Be a TT Champion

New IE9 Preview Arrives, Now With More JavaScript Power

Microsoft pushed out another preview release of Internet Explorer 9. This is not a new beta — we’re still months away from the official arrival of Internet Explorer 9 — but we’re definitely approaching the finish line.

Wednesday’s release, dubbed Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview 7 (whew) includes a big performance boost with a newly revamped JavaScript engine inside of it.

The last preview release of IE9, which only arrived a few weeks ago, saw increased support for web standards. But Microsoft made it clear to us during a phone briefing that Wednesday’s release is all about speed and performance.

To that point, PP7 contains an updated version of the Chakra JavaScript engine. This new engine for IE9 was first introduced at Microsoft’s PDC developer event in November 2009. During the last year, the company has been improving Chakra to the point where it’s now scoring more than 300 percent higher on the WebKit SunSpider benchmark than it was at launch.

Microsoft’s Ryan Gavin from the IE team says the new release scores 234.6 ms on SunSpider’s JavaScript execution performance test. Read more about the testing stuff on the IE Blog.

While some browsers are certainly faster than others, the major browser vendors continue to tweak their internal workings and make speed improvements. JavaScript performance is particularly important, since modern web applications like Gmail, Facebook and Twitter rely heavily on scripted actions. A faster browser means a snappier web app. Just last week, Mozilla released a new beta of Firefox 4 that included revamped code for its JägerMonkey and TraceMonkey JavaScript engines.

You can download this early version of the next IE browser directly from Microsoft. It’s available for PCs running Windows 7 and Vista. Also, this platform preview can be installed alongside IE9 Beta or IE8 with no problems.

Facebook Profiles Get a Facelift

A large percentage of net users’ online identities will be getting a facelift in the coming weeks as Facebook is rolling out a new profile page with more visual elements and, you guessed it, more pictures of faces.
The new design is currently opt-in, but Facebook says it will roll it out to the world by early 2011. Those who want it immediately can go to the new profile explainer, which will walk you through the new pages and let you adopt it now. But be cautioned, there’s no undoing the choice.
The top of the page will now include a basic intro to a user, such as location, job, school, partner, etc. And directly underneath that is a bar of photos that you have been “tagged” in, increasing the number of pictures of the person’s face you see on the page. In fact, the photo algorithm doesn’t just show the photos you are tagged in, but zooms in on your face to make it fill the small square.
Here’s hoping you are ready for your close-up. You can choose to remove photos by clicking on them, and the option remains to “untag” yourself from any photo, no matter who took it.
Nearly everything on the page gets the same, more visual treatment.

Date.com Review

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Date.com, "the new way to date," was launched on Valentine's Day, 1997. The site has more than two million male and female members worldwide who actively use the site because it offers a convenient and safe way for singles to meet. The site is adding new members at a rate of between 120,000 and 200,000 per month. Thus far, thousands of couples have begun successful relationships through Date.com, with at least 50 marriages taking place during the past year.
Once inside Date.com, you can search their database of millions of singles. Search by location, age, interests, and over one hundred other personal preferences. Show interest in other members by just clicking a button. All of this is free.
When you decide that you are ready for more personal contact, you can upgrade to a gold membership and communicate with millions of members via IM, email, or chat. Gold membership fees range in price but can get as low as 25 cents a day.
You might wonder why someone would choose to pay a fee to communicate with other singles on the net when there are so many chat rooms online where you can talk for free. It's because of the quality of their members. Singles who subscribe to Date.com are professional, educated, and are serious about finding a healthy, happy relationship.
Awards

Current

Date.com

Positive Features

• Their custom toolbar allows instant access to the site, even while you are surfing other sites on the internet
• Date.info is their online magazine that contains very good information on how to write profiles, relationship advice, etc. –it’s not the normal fluff you usually see
• Current advertising targets singles from large cities. If you live in one of these cites, chances are you will find lots of singles. See below for a list of the cities in both USA and Canada
• Date Mobile is a unique feature that allows you to search for profiles, receive mail and communicate with other members via SMS over your cell phone
• Geared toward the serious dater that is looking for a long term relationship

Negative Features

• While the interface may not be as fresh as other dating sites, it is easy to navigate

At a Glance
Dating Site: Date.com Members: 5,000,000 Cost per Month: From $9.99 / month Membership Types: Free - Basic Paid

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Free Membership	Yes (unlimited) Included: Create a profile My name, age and relationship type Location information Relationship information Include distance willing to travel, age range and relationship type you are looking for What makes you unique Appearance (hair, weight, body type, etc.), ethnicity, education, occupation, income, faith, smoking, drinking, relationship status and family Date Mobile information: This service allows you to browse profiles, manage your account, send SMS messages and chat with singles with your mobile phone. Enter your mobile information and Date.com will let you know via SMS when the service is available. Your number will be kept private What should others know about you Headline and personal essay Add a photo Searching (basic and advanced) Save a search Flirt by showing interest Favorites Not Included: Communicating with members via email Activating an away message Audio/video messaging Highest ranking in search Access to chat rooms Computerized auto-match capability
Costs	Comparable to other dating sites. Prices last updated September 22, 2010. Please check Date.com for most current pricing Membership includes: Sending emails and instant messages Audio and video messaging Highest ranking in search results Access to chat rooms Costs in US funds: One month for $29.95 Three months for $59.95 ($19.98 per month) Six months for $89.95 ($14.99 per month) 12 months for $119.95 ($9.99 per month) Can pay by credit card, PayPal or check Accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, JCB and American Express Secure and encrypted transactions
Relationship Types	Straight Gay Lesibian
Relationship Status	Single Divorced Widowed
Looking For	Dating Friends Long-Term Marriage
Regions	United States International
Languages	English Dutch Portuguese Spanish
Viewing & Communication Tools	Photos Profiles Anonymous emails Chat sessions Instant messaging (text, audio and video)
Search By	Quick searches - new, today's birthday, who's on IM, and online members Basic search Relationship type and age Location Distance Keyword Photo Advance search Any part of profile
Other Info	BBBOnLine Reliability Participation confirmed for Date.com Demographics The 20-30, 31-40 and 41-50 age brackets each represent approximately 30% of the site’s member base. The remaining 10% are 50+. Approximately 55% of members are male; 45% female Get answers to your relationship questions from their leading experts Date Mobile - this service will allow you to browse profiles, manage your account, send SMS messages and chat with singles with your mobile phone. Enter your mobile information and Date.com will let you know via SMS when the service is available. Your number will be kept private Seen in Cosmopolitan, CNN, WIRED and the Wall Street Journal Easy to use and navigate the help system Date.Info, the webzine of Date.com offers: They will help you create a great profile Hundreds of relationship articles by top experts Interact with exclusive dating advisors Learn the psychology of online dating Find out what our members think about dating Get advice on how to meet someone online and go from your first email to your first date

Click button to become a member for Free!
CLICK HERE

Samsung Focus Windows Phone 7

Windows Phone 7, Microsoft’s complete do-over of its mobile operating system, is off to a promising start with the Samsung Focus. Despite a few imperfections with usability and web browsing, the big M has polished a gem with this OS, and it truly shines through this iPhone lookalike’s beautiful display.
The Focus feels slick and smooth the first time you pick it up. It’s a teensy bit longer, wider and thicker than the iPhone 4 (4.84 x 2.56 x 0.39 inches compared with the iPhone 4’s 4.5 x 2.31 x 0.37 inches). And the Focus is lighter at 4.07 ounces, versus the iPhone 4’s 4.8 ounces. Holding it in your hand, you can tell the Samsung phone’s plastic parts are a bit cheaper than Apple’s luxury glass-and-metal components.
That’s not to say the Focus isn’t a sweet device, though: The vivid Super AMOLED display makes Windows Phone 7’s colorful tile-based interface a visual treat. Selecting a tile brings you into a “hub” containing integrated experiences for different features. For example, the Marketplace hub displays the four different software stores where you can purchase media: third-party apps, games, music and Samsung Zone, a separate app store serving software made by Samsung.
You can move tiles around on the home screen to suit your preferences just by holding your finger over them and dragging.

For a general download on the Windows Phone 7 interface, see our previous recap of the OS in Gadget Lab.

The tile interface is plenty intuitive, so you probably won’t need an instruction manual when you’re setting up the phone. The People tile is pretty fun: It blends your contacts list with your Facebook account. When you dial a friend’s number, his or her Facebook mug appears next to the call. Selecting a contact brings up the person’s phone number, e-mail address and Facebook profile all in one screen. Pretty neat.
The Mail hub is especially impressive. You select your service (Hotmail, Google Mail, Yahoo! and others), enter your login info and boom — the inbox is a tile on your home screen. The e-mail app in general looks great: Facebook integration comes into play here, too, so when you load an e-mail it’s accompanied with the sender’s Facebook portrait as well. To me, this visual experience makes e-mail far less boring.
For transferring music, photos and video you can sync media from your computer to the Focus with a USB cable. I tested syncing on a Mac. The official syncing program for Mac users isn’t available yet, but I had a chance to try the beta version, and it was surprisingly smooth at syncing music from my iTunes library and photos and video from iPhoto.
(Don’t get your hopes up, though: This is a feature that Apple is most likely going to break with future iTunes updates, just like it did with the Palm Pre’s iTunes sync feature.)

As for snapping photos, there’s a dedicated shutter button on the right side of the phone to load the camera app and to take a picture. In the Photo hub, you can also enable pictures to automatically sync to a free SkyDrive folder stored online in your Hotmail account, sparing you the need to manually upload them.
Overall, this entire camera experience is a lot snappier than photo features on the iPhone and Android devices. However, the pictures shot with the Focus’s 5-megapixel camera are only passable, and are a little blurry even in good lighting conditions.
With all that said, there were a few minor gripes that drove me a bit crazy. To wake up the phone, you have to press the physical power button on the right side. It feels unnatural to have to grip the phone and push a button on the side whenever you want to quickly check an e-mail or send a text message. I wish you could power on the device just by pressing the main menu button, which is centered under the screen — similar to how you can press the iPhone’s Home button to turn it on.
And then there’s the mobile version of Internet Explorer. It’s not as bad as Microsoft’s desktop browser, but it’s not much better. The mobile browser doesn’t seem to load text properly on some websites, such as Reddit and Digg. Small text doesn’t render smoothly, which is evident even when loading Wired.com. Also, photos on some websites appear over-sharpened, making rough pixels become visible. Long story short, two thumbs down for Internet Explorer.
Oh, yeah—and just like the iPhone, there’s no support for Adobe Flash on Windows Phone 7 (yet), so Hulu junkies won’t be thrilled.
The phone seemed more reliable at holding a call than the iPhone 4, but it wasn’t any better at pulling in a signal in areas where AT&T’s coverage is weak (like San Francisco’s Mission District). My testing was hardly scientific, though.
Texting is surprisingly fast on the Focus. Hitting Send shoots out a text almost instantly. There’s no progress bar or anything. Why can’t the iPhone do that?
Overall, the Samsung Focus is a solid all-around device, and the pros heavily outweigh the cons. Most of the listed problems will probably be fixed in software updates. And with Windows Phone 7, Microsoft has largely redeemed itself after putting that bloated carcass known as Windows Mobile to rest. Rest in peace — and good riddance — WinMo.
Hub Ups-Gorgeous tile-based UI laced with large, smooth text doesn’t rip off the iPhone’s app interface. Provides a rich dose of social savvy thanks to tight Facebook integration. Physical camera shutter button is a nice shortcut for shooting quick photos.
Hub Downs- Internet Explorer lives up to its super-lame reputation. Camera shots too blurry to be taken seriously.

Dell Launches Windows Phone 7-Powered Venue Pro (in US)

Dell on Wednesday announced its first handset running Microsoft’s new mobile operating system Windows Phone 7, the Venue Pro.
Available for T-Mobile subscribers, the Venue Pro features a 4.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen, a 5-megapixel camera and a vertical slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
Inside, the Venue Pro includes a Snapdragon processor, 512 MB of RAM, 1 GB of flash storage, 802.11 b/g wireless, a capacitive touchscreen and five sensors (A-GPS, accelerometer, compass, proximity and light).
Computer-maker Dell entered the smartphone business in 2009 with the Mini 3, which has since been renamed the Aero.
Though today marks the Venue Pro’s official launch day, Dell already began shipping small handfuls of this device to some Microsoft stores last month. That head start didn’t work so well, as some customers who bought the device reported Wi-Fi bugs and mislabeled batteries. Dell confirmed these early issues and said they were addressed.
The phone starts at $100 with an 8-GB data contract. It begins shipping Dec. 9 in US.

Levitation Station Charges Phone as it Floats

Charging cables, and even charging pads, are so last year. What you really want is a way to make your phone float while it re-juices its batteries, and that’s exactly what In-Oh Yoo and Sun-woong Oh want to give you. Their (concept) combo phone and charging-station use magnets to keep the phone floating, and use magic (or some other unspecified tech) to fill the battery.
So far, so boring – it’s not much more than a Sky Mall executive toy, right? Things get interesting when the phone rings (or an alarm goes off):the handset starts to spin, and the after-image effect creates a 3D illusion showing the caller ID.
Annoyingly, the designers saw fit to make the charger glow at night, a “feature” that serves only to annoy you as you try to get to sleep. But otherwise this is pretty damn cool. If you’re going to have a charging station, why not have one which levitates your phone?

 

 

For more Read HERE