8 Pakistani chefs are all set to compete their Indian counterparts in an Indian cooking reality show called Foodistan.

It was nearly a month ago when we heard about a mega music reality show “Sur Kshetra” being organized by an Indian TV Channel Sahara One that aims to be a battle between Indian and Pakistani singers.

Now here comes “Foodistan” another Indo-Pak 2012 battle but in the kitchen.

The show Foodistan is unique in its kind featuring 16 professional chefs with balanced representation i.e 8 highly skilled chefs from Pakistan and 8 chefs from India.

The show will comprise of Pakistani chefs showing their real exquisite cuisine supremacy.

The Foodistan is a 26 part series that was shot silently in November 2011, within Guragon a city in Indian state of Haryana to avoid any special attention or on the spot controversy.

Foodistan is ready to experience airplay from January 23rd onwards on a rather infamous Indian channel called NDTV GoodTimes but may be some Pakistani channel telecasts this one in the future. The show is scheduled to telecast three days a week Monday to Wednesday 9.30 pm (Indian Standard Time).

Taking a quick view the show will comprise of a format similar to Masterchef where the Chefs from each country will be awarded a stipulated time to prepare their new dishes and afterwards a panel of judges will gonna taste the dishes to announce who’s going to get eliminated. The show has been completed and winner announced but kept confidential to maintain the suspense and grab viewers attention.

The show is hosted by Aly khan and Ira Dubey while the panel of Judges comprises of

1- Merrilees Parker

Merriless Parker is a popular British Celebrity Chef.

2- Sonya Jehan

A so called Pakistani with French Descent who is the grand daughter of legendary Pakistani singer Noor Jehan.

3- Vir Sanghvi

An Indian Food enthusiast who traveled the world to taste different cuisines.

Well let me be clear not even a single reputed chef from Pakistan has traveled to India for taking part in the show rather infamous chefs who were unable to make a name in Pakistan have opted for this shortcut.

A brief introduction to the eight Pakistani chefs trying their luck out in this reality show are

1- Poppy Agha

Khurshid Amina Agha commonly known as Poppy Agha is a lively and talented chef who hosts “The Taste of Fusion” on Dawn news.

2- Akhtar Rehman

Akhtar Rehman has roots to Mardan, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkuah Province of Pakistan. Working at the famous Pakistani Top Notch Hotel “Mariott Islamabad” was a pleasant experience for him when he had two dishes “Murgh Zandan” and “Gola Kabab” under his label.

3- Amir Iqbal

Amir Iqbal works on Zaiqa TV Pakistan featuring in their mainstream show called “Zaiqeedar”.

4- Muhammad Ikram

Muhammad Ikram is a key team member of chefs working at the Dumpukht Restauraunt based in Pearl Continental Hotel Pakistan owned by the famous Hashoo group.

5- Mohammad Naeem

Muhammad Naeem is an author, blogger, traveler and the executive chef at Park Plaza Lahore.

6- Mehmood Akhtar

Mehmood Akhtar is working as a chef at Avari hotel Lahore.

7- Noor Khan

Noor Khan is a rather experienced but unknown chef. Noor Khan hails from the beautiful Pakistani valley of Hunza.

8- Muhammad Saqib

The youngest contestant of the show Muhammad Saqib is a Pakistani origin chef who is based in New Delhi and was the personal cook for many diplomats.

After listening to their names and evaluating their talent I would say Pakistani Team misses out huge names but still if the contest is kept fair then the victory definitely gonna fall in Pakistan’s favor courtesy delicious taste hidden in Pakistani Food.

It seems Indian media has found a new way to multiply their annual revenue. The Indian media that is famous for propagating fake negativity to defame Pakistan has now learned the art of using Pakistani talent to earn huge profits. Sur Kshetra and Foodistan are an effort to develop friendly relations but in reality they are profit generating machines.

Well hope both the two reality show’s run fair and everybody knows if the game is played fair then victory is for Pakistani team in both Sur Kshetra and Foodistan. Anyways lets hope for the best.

If you are living in Pakistan and use electronic or print media either directly or indirectly then you might be aware of the recent buzz circulating in the media regarding the upcoming music vocal singing reality show called“Sur Ki Baazi” on Geo TV Pakistan or the same“Sur Kshetra” on Sahara One India featuring 10 contestants from each India and Pakistan.

As you might have heard about the show being a battle between Indian and Pakistani singers so now I won’t be wasting your time by filling this post with irrelevant stuff. Just refer to an old story published on my blog last year

Sur
Kshetra Pakistan India Music Reality Show 2012 Auditions in Pakistan

In this detailed post I informed everybody about the upcoming auditions for a big music reality TV show called “Sur Kshetra” which was all set to get airplay on Sahara One an Indian TV Channel. This post was published on 24th December 2011 and we clearly told all interested parties that auditions in Karachi were already held at that time on 23 December 2011 and were due to be conducted in Lahore on Sunday 25th December 2011 at Royal Palm Golf and Country Club. I am not sure but somebody posted on Facebook the auditions in Islamabad were conducted silently on December 16th 2011 but that’s not confirm.

As expected the preliminary auditions were held as scheduled, afterwards a mega audition was done in Lahore comprising contestants from across Pakistan where Atif Aslam was the judge and all work was completed on 28th December 2011.

Another Pakistani website Pakium backs my opinion as this guy was present at the Karachi auditions venue.

If you read my post I speculated about GEO TV to on air this show in Pakistan and things unfolded rightly so.

“Sur Ki Baazi” “Sur Kshetra” Pakistan Auditions controversial aspect

The controversy took tide when I was shocked to see GEO TV airing the promo for the auditions of the show that were poised to be conducted on 17th and 18th January 2012. I thought the auditions had already been conducted and the 10 selected candidates flew to Dubai on 13th January 2012 so kept my lips tightly zipped and did not update my previous post.

Now just see what happened, when the auditions were conducted on 17th and 18th January 2012 the judges were Muhammad Ali from Suroor Band in karachi “Venue Khayaban e Rahat Club DHA” and Shaukat Ali in Lahore “Ali Auditorium Ferozepur Road”.

Much hype was created regarding the show so I even heard about a few potential candidates flying to Pakistan from Middle East countries just to try their luck out for this mega reality show but in vein as the contestants were already finalized and even shot the promos and final auditions in Dubai by that time and final rehearsals for the first episode were done on 18th January 2012 when Geo TV was busy hunting the so called talent.

Now on Facebook, some guys posted about the mismanagement at the auditions venue, they told the singers were not allowed to hum more then a few words, registration through SMS was not mandatory and at the venue all the candidates were given equal chances regardless of whether they registered themselves or not.

Now here comes the real twist, Atif Aslam announced on his Official Facebook Fan Page on Wednesday 18 January 2012

“I wish I was there to select my team at the auditions on 17th and 18th Jan”

When I saw the auditions promo getting airplay on GEO TV I was startled to see Atif Aslam taking the auditions while sitting in the front of Sur Kshetra Banner conducting auditions, when Atif missed Karachi auditions so how come GEO TV shoot such promos in Atif’s Absence. Here is a snapshot of Atif’s Facebook Page on Wednesday 18 January 2012

Refer to my previous posts where I told you guys to keep in touch with Elixir Media and Productions Facebook Page. Had you followed that page on December 23 and December 25 they posted the pictures from auditions that were conducted by Atif Aslam and I am not 100% sure but i think the same auditions have been on aired on GEO TV as promo.

I think the one’s who invented the marketing idea of creating such a hype forgot that we are living in 2012 not 2002 where the penetration of Internet and social media websites beyond geographical barriers have changed the way we communicate.

For all those geeks who still doubt my opinion by saying how could such a reputed channel do such undervalued act then here comes my next evidence

Here is the list of 10 contestants from Pakistan who flew to Dubai on 13 January 2012 and have shot not only their auditions but also the first episode in which a Pakistani singer Faraz Nayyar got eliminated.

The 10 contestants from Pakistan consist of three girls and seven boys their names are as follow

The source of this list is at Sai Baba Official Website

1- Nadeem Abbas:-

Nadeem Abbas hails from Lahore and was runner up in a famous reality singing show called “Khiladi Sur Taal Ke” on ATV Pakistan back in 2006. According to my anticipation he is one of the strongest candidates in Pakistani team and I think he will gonna represent Pakistani side in the finals.

2- Misha Razzaq

3- Ameer Ali

Ameer Ali is not an alien face on the media who gained fame while he won the famous singing show called “Gao Celebrity Ban Jao” season 1 on GEO TV. Ameer Ali is from Karachi.

4- Ashfaq Hussain

5- Daim Gill

A cute young guy from Pakistan.

6- Faiza Rashid
7- Faraz Ali
8- Imran Ali Akhtar
9- Nabeel Shaukat
10- Faraz Nayyar

Faraz Nayyar is an upcoming Pakistani singer who studied at FC College Lahore. Faraz is the first Pakistani contestant to announce his elimination from the show on 19th January 2011 Thursday just one day after GEO TV finished its auditions.

Faraz Nayyar said on his official Facebook Fan Page

“First of all im thankful to God and all of you for your prayers and best wishes. Today was not my day …my journey of sur kshetra ended today my performance was week due to i am having cough infection but im not tense there are some good news for me some new projects hurrah….”

Well as these are the 10 contestants the host of the show is “Ayesha Takia” a famous Indian Movie actress while the judges of the show are Runa Laila from Bangladesh, Asha Bhosle from India and Abida Parween from Pakistan.

Pakistani team coach in the show is Rustam Fateh Ali Khan. The official Facebook Fan page of Sur kshetra itself admit the first episode for the show has been shot, if GEO TV is right in its opinion then how come the contestants move to Dubai so early.

Below are few pictures before the first episode source of the pictures

Here is a snapshot of Pakistani team with their mentor Rustam Fateh Ali Khan

Here is a snapshot of Pakistani and Indian Contestants that feature Sa Re Ga Ma Pa fame Sara Raza khan

Here is a picture of one of the contestants Nadeem Abbas with Ayesha Takia

Important Notice:-

Now when I have provided you this much information this does not mean I am trying to trigger controversies and do not get disappointed as where ever there is a will there is a way may be GEO TV will give the selected contestants entry into the final round of the show as a wild card so if you have the talent don’t get discouraged. Keep up your motivation levels and things will unfold in your favor.

Disclaimer:-

First of all this is a personal article published on a technology focused website just to give you guys a live example of the power of social media and how we have changed the way we communicate courtesy Google, Skype and Facebook. This article persuades you to do some research about anything before running after it blindly so that you may save yourself from any unusual aftermath. This article is written at my sole discretion while I have no personal affiliation or grudges to any of the contestants, management, TV channels or other related parties. All the information in this article is gathered from Internet and has none of my personal contributions. No body has forced us to write such article and this article is unbiased but describes a unilateral opinion from the view of contestants not the organizers. We have no intentions to defame, degrade, disappoint or dissuade anyone and no infringement of copyrights is expected as the only image is taken from Atif Aslam fan page and other one from Sur kshetra Fan Page. The author has no personal affiliation with any of the contestants, management, cast, crew or the TV Channels. If this article hurts anybody sentiments or integrity we highly apoplogize and please forgive us as we never meant it. It is just a personal opinion so no intentions to violate any copyright laws or speak ill of anyone. All claims rejected before they arise.

Unless you have been living under a rock you might already be aware about the buzz in the media regarding the possible enactment of controversial anti piracy laws SOPA and PIPA in the United States of America.

To the delight of many active internet users including me the law has been deferred for an indefinite period following a wave of protests all across the Internet and the prominent Internet Blackout Day on 18th January 2011.

Let me dig down a bit deeper into this issue to bring you guys the reality behind the law.

Why Internet Censorship SOPA/PIPA laws have been postponed?

Actually keeping myself precise I would explain SOPA is an acronym for (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Internet Protocol) are two controversial laws that were proposed in the US Congress by a Senator last year 2011.

As clear from the introductory paragraph these laws address the piracy across Internet by citing US economy suffers almost $100 billion loss due to online piracy. SOPA/PIPA laws will force payment processing companies based in the US like Paypal as well as advertising programs like Google Adsense to curtail their business activities with any of the website infringing copyrights. The Internet Service Providers will be bound to restrict access to such reported websites and the search engines will have to remove all such indexed pages. The user privacy upon social media websites will be halted by the employees of these websites having to remove any copyrighted material posted on the user account. This will surely be the end of an era of Internet and change the way we communicate.

The possible proposal of these laws in the Congress addressed the intense pressure exerted upon US Government by Software Houses and Entertainment Companies who demanded devising a proper mechanism to curb alarming levels of online piracy that causes them to incur substantial losses.

Since these laws have emerged out in the spotlight there has been a wave of debate and some serious concerns raised among both Internet Service Providers as well as Internet users, regarding the integrity of Internet.

As a good news both of these two laws were scheduled to be approved in the Congress on 24 January 2012 but noticing the intense level of anger across the Internet and in the US streets.

In the light of recent events, on Friday 20 January 2012, The US Government has temporarily backed out from these controversial pair of laws placing them on hold indefinitely unless a wider agreement is reached with stakeholders and also casting a doubt upon their future viability.

Although the tide has turned its direction but yet not ended. Still chances exist for the possible enactment of these controversial laws sometime in the future.

Our Stance on SOPA/PIPA:-

Well although we are highly against piracy but curbing piracy by closing the most highly followed websites like YouTube, Twitter, Wikipedia etc is not the right way. If these laws get approved the tech geeks all across the world will lose their jobs for nothing. For the benefits of minority one can not tease a majority.

If these two laws especially SOPA gets approved in the US Parliament then it is the death of Internet as pronounced by expert IT geeks. We are highly against piracy but not in a mood to comment upon SOPA/PIPA although we don’t appreciate it.

What’s your opinion on SOPA/PIPA drop us a comment below.

So all you aspiring singers waiting anxiously for a chance to prove your vocal expertise here is one of the most lucrative opportunity that won’t only provide you with a chance to showcase your singing skills but will also enable you to illuminate the name of your beloved country “Pakistan”.

“Sur Shetra” is an upcoming music reality show where the Titans from Pakistan and India will clash to grab the trophy of Singing Champion.

The show is all set to go on air on Sahara One a famous Indian TV Channel but some Pakistani TV Channel will also be going to telecast the show most probably Geo TV as they are showing the teasers of a new music show.

The show claims itself to be the biggest of its kind and aims the fusion of Indo Pakistani Music into something substantial. The best part about the show “Sur Shetra” is that it will be held at a neutral venue that is Dubai and we have our star Atif Aslam captaining the Pakistani team while his counterpart Himesh Reshamiya will mentor the Indian side.

Auditions in Pakistan for Sur Shetra:-

The Auditions are currently being held in Pakistan and India so here are the details for the auditions in Pakistan.

The auditions for Sur Shetra will be done by Atif Aslam and on his fan page he has clearly indicated he wants those contestants who are ready to do anything for their country’s pride so dress up well and try to prove your vocal training in an efficient way.

Remember the show is all set to go on air so no late auditions will be accepted.

The auditions in Pakistan are organized by Elixir Productions & Events Pakistan so be there on the venue in time.

Karachi Auditions for Sur Shetra

The Auditions for Sur Shetra in karachi are on

Date: 23th December 2011
Time 10am onwards.
Venue: Southern KHYABANE RAHAT Club D. H. A KARACHI

The auditions have been done and contestants finalized so appear in Lahore or Islamabad.

Lahore Auditions for Sur Shetra:-

Auditions are on:
Date: 25th December 2011
Time: 10am onwards.
Venue: Royal Palm Golf and Country Club 52-Canal Bank Road, Lahore-54840.

Important Notice:-

Please note that auditions in Lahore were supposed to be conducted on 14th December 2011 at Ali Auditorium (Ali Institute of Education) Feroze Pur Road Lahore near Gulab Devi Hospital Lahore but were delayed and venue changed but call this number if you want to know the exact details for the show.

Elixir production:
Attu bhatti:03214883055
FAHAD HUSSAIN:03214223324

Islamabad Auditions:-

I don’t think they will be held so singers from Faisalabad, Peshawar, Quetta and other parts of Pakistan can appear in Lahore auditions.

Remember check these official facebook fan pages to know exact progress of the show

Elixir Productions & Events

Atif Aslam Official Fan Page

Sur Shetra Official Facebook page

Although we had the shows of the same format in the past like Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007 and 2009 on Zee TV along with Junoon Kuch Kar Dikhane Ka on NDTV but lets not forget Choote Ustaad on Star Plus all of them produced the same undesirable biased results from India when despite excelling Indian counterparts Pakistani’s had to face blatantly unfair elimination on the grounds of grabbing less votes from Indian viewers.

Although as Pakistani team is led by Atif Aslam so Pakistani team will have an edge over their Indian counterparts who will be led by Himesh Reshamiyya as the soothing voice, adorable personality and stardom of Pakistani star Atif Aslam will wipe off slogans of Himesh Reshamiyya. I expect this show to be a super duper hit courtesy Pakistani talent but let’s not underestimate Indian singers as they might be well prepared for the show.

Well this time around i expect the same cheating as we observed in the past due to the solid reason of Indian management behind the show. The jury and judges for the show along with the host are still undecided but its expected that this time the show will be a mix of Pakistani judges and Indian one’s.

One of the funny things about the show is that Himesh Reshamiyya has demanded the promo of the show to be re-shot as his face appears too plump (bulky/heavy/fat) while Atif looks awesome with his gorgeous looks.

The promo of the Indian singer Himesh reshamiyya is here but the promo for Atif and Pakistani team is not available yet but will roll out soon so keep your fingers crossed.

Well i expect this show to be a mega hit and all my best wishes and prayers to the Pakistani team. Come on Pakistan let’s just show we are the best and victory will be our’s inshallah. Pakistan Zindabaad.

Computers have come a long way since the very first one to become available in the market for the general public. In fact, many of the computers made and sold today do not even resemble the first computers at all, and they certainly have more capabilities. The i-Pad by Apple Inc is a perfect example of the changing face of the modern computer, because not only does it look completely different, but it also comes equipped completely different than the average computer type device. And of course it is highly portable too, as it is designed to be a mobile device similar to both a computer and a smartphone. But the best part about the iPad is that you can use it to do things that regular computers could never do, and it is all made possible by the use of iPad Apps. So, if you have made the decision to switch from a typical laptop or desktop computer to the iPad, there are a few iPad Apps that you should have.

The iPad Apps for Work

The best iPad Apps remain those that help you complete your everyday tasks conveniently, and the good news is there are plenty of them. If you have long been using computers you have probably used programs that assist you with completing such tasks before, but before the arrival of iPad the list of such programs didn’t go much beyond word processing and presentation programs, and calendars. These day, though, as an estimate there are more than 500,000 available apps for the i-Pad, and many of them are designed to make your professional life much simpler, even when you are constantly on the move.

Some of the apps of this type that you must have include the Evernote App, which allows you to take notes on your i-Pad, the Toodledo App, which provides a portable to-do list on the iPad, and the WeatherBug Elite App, which provides the user with area specific weather information so you can always know what to expect when you leave for work in the morning. But the biggest must-have i-Pad app to use for work is the Documents to Go Premium App, which allows you to create, edit, and share important documents.

iPad Apps for Gaming

To be sure, iPad is not all about work but with the powerful processor and display capabilities iPad has a cool gaming experience to offer, which means there are apps designed to enjoy gaming as well. Regardless of what you find fun, entertaining, and amusing you will likely find an iPad app that will allow you to enjoy it while you are on the go throughout the day. As with apps designed for work, there are a few must-haves that are designed for play too. If you like role playing games you can play games such as Dungeon Hunter, EA Sports FIFA 2012, N.O.V.A, and Dragon Hunter 2 with an i-Pad app. Or if fun to you is watching movies and reading books there are a number of apps for that too, including the Netflix App for watching movies, and the Kindle and Zinio Apps for digital books and magazines. There are even apps for the cooking like aficionado, the traveler, and the sports fan that allows individual to take their leisure activities with them anywhere they go.

The traditional computer was great when it first became available but the iPad has definitely taken over the spotlight since. With the right i-Pad apps, users can do almost anything today that they could do on a computer, but they have the added bonus of doing it on the go.

About the Author:

This is a guest post by Sarah Hoekstra. Sarah Hoekstra is a professional guest blogger. She writes for PCKeeper-useful software that also contains disk cleaner, registry cleaner.

Did you know Google Android OS is the fastest growing Mobile OS surpassing Apple iOS?.

Yesterday the internet giant Google unveiled the latest version of their Mobile OS Android 4.0 called Google Ice Cream Sandwich. This is the first universal operating system version of Android that is compatible to execute properly upon both Tablet Devices like Samsung Galaxy Tab as well as the Smart Phones like Samsung Google Nexus.

With the launch of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich it is expected that Google will enjoy market leadership in the Mobile OS industry. At RiseDream we have deliberately decided to provide an exclusive early review about the Google Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0.

First Glimpse:-

With the improved and friendly unified user interface along with some innovative features like easy multitasking, customizable home screen, improved notifications, face recognition etc, I would describe Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich combines the admirable features of preceding versions Android Gingerbread for Smart Phones and Android Honey Comb for Tablets along with some mouth watering new additions.

The first native Android Ice Cream Sandwich powered phone Samsung Google Nexus has no physical buttons rather is the first complete touch screen phone.

Although we can not review the entire Android Ice Cream Sandwich rather we have segregated various channels that provide a concise yet comprehensive review of Ice Cream Sandwich OS.

Channel 1

Display:-

The display capabilities have improved a lot in Google Ice Cream Sandwich when compared to the preceding versions like Android Gingerbread and Honeycomb.

The user interface provides easy navigation through buttons and gestures. The user’s of Google Ice Cream Sandwich on small screen devices can group their favorite apps, shortcuts or folders in the favorites tray visible from the home screen.

The Google Ice Cream Sandwich has focused more on the touch screen interface like the system bar remains visible at the bottom of the screen even if we launch Apps but it could be dimmed if the Apps are to viewed in full screen mode.

Since its launch, Google Ice Cream Sandwich has gained notable accolades through one of its strengths “multitasking”. The user’s can quickly switch to various tasks by tapping the Recent Apps Button in the System Bar and choose the thumbnail from the list of active apps or tasks.

The Home Screen supports the integration of content through fully customizable interactive live widgets that could be re-sized upon the discretion of the user. The possible widgets may be live social streams, live music players or live email inbox etc.

The Android Ice Cream Sandwich provides hassle free logical arrangement of Home Screen Apps and Folders by utilizing the drag and drop mechanism.

Overall the fonts have changed and the new typepad is included which is optimized to work on high resolution display screens. The end result of such tweak is a more polished and clean display that furnishes the user with a modern feel.

Verdict:-

The display features have improved to an extent that has triggered the need to upgrade preceding Android versions to Android 4.0 Google Ice Cream Sandwich. The easy navigation and polished display along with the option for customizing the home screen icons add some extra points in the favor of Ice Cream Sandwich.

Channel 2

Camera

Well no doubt the camera capabilities have improved in the Android Ice Cream Sandwich but still these features might enter into a head to head stiff competition with Apple iOS 5.

The much buzzed single motion panorama mode is existent in the google ice cream sandwich. For the user’s who are alien to panorama mode terminology this technology lets the user take the picture of a wide area by turning on the camera and then rotating it to capture the entire area needed for the image. The Ice Cream Sandwich will assemble the continuous imagery and produce the end result as a single image of the entire wide area.

The features like Photo Gallery Widget that could be placed on the Home Screen to view pictures easily along with the quick sharing of Photo’s via Bluetooth, Message or Wi-Fi add some weight to the OS. The Gallery features a Photo Editor that could crop the image, remove red eyes or add effects to the image.

The user’s could take snapshots of what’s happening on their Android screen and store or share it as desired.

Verdict:-

I am afraid to say apart from Panorama View or Photo editor there is hardly a substantial newly added feature so the user’s have to consider the capacity of the hardware camera installed by their handset manufacturer to judge if it is worthwhile to upgrade.

Channel 3

Cloud Based Experience:-

Just like the predecessor versions the Google Ice Cream Sandwich has substantial support for cloud based services. The user’s can sync their apps, games and content on all their devices in addition to enjoying seamless cloud services.

The email app for Android has been improved to store pre composed messages for shooting an instant reply. The improved auto contact fill option makes it easier to find the desired email ID’s easily.

The web browsing experience has been improved with the presence of the latest version of Google chrome browser for the mobile devices. The user’s can now request the desktop version of websites instead of the dedicated mobile versions and download content for offline reading. The advanced page rendering has improved the surfing speed by the integration of WebKit core and V8 Crankshaft compilation engine.

Verdict:-

The improved page load speed and enhanced web browsing experience really lure me towards Google Ice Cream sandwich.

Channel 4

Handy Features:-

In addition to the features highlighted above the Ice Cream sandwich has something more powerful to offer. The variety of innovative features are listed below

Face Unlock:-

One of the highly anticipated features “Face Unlock” has finally landed in Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream sandwich territory.. The user’s can easily register their faces and then just hold the device in front of their face to automatically unlock it. This resembles the Apple iOS facial recognition feature but may prove to be a delight for Android geeks. Although Face Unlock may not be a feasible option in the early days as some issues might arise after change in facial expressions or face complexion after make up etc. Google Ice cream Sandwich also features a Backup pin option for securing the device.

Powerful Voice Input Engine

Android 4.0 is has a powerful voice input engine that works just like an open microphone allowing the user’s to dictate the text they want to be written in their desired language. The feasibility is offered where the user’s may speak for a prolonged time , take pauses at intervals and that’s not all, the grammatical mistakes will be automatically highlighted with a gray underline for the user to tap and correct them.

Quick response Incoming Calls

The Android 4.0 offers the user to quickly forward an already composed text message to the incoming caller when the incoming call can not be received. The user’s can choose to send a message by choosing options in the incoming call screen.

Control over Network data

For all those geeks who love surfing the internet but are constricted due to the data usage limit or bandwidth limit for their Internet connections.

Google Ice Cream Sandwich helps protect its user’s from running out of their data transfer capacity by allowing the implementation of warning limits after which the user will be warned about the excessive bandwidth consumption. The Settings App will showcase the colored charts showing the amount of data being used by various devices or in house apps. The exciting things remains the ability to control network usage by Apps in the background.

Visual Voicemail

Android Ice Cream Sandwich offers its user’s a visual voice mail inbox that removes the hassle of dialing a specific number according to the cellular carrier settings for listening to voice mail inbox. This newly introduced voice mail manages incoming messages, voice transcriptions and audio files received by the user.

Wi-Fi direct and Bluetooth HDP

The support for Wi-Fi direct lets the user’s to connect with devices in peer without having the need for an internet connectivity. Through third party apps the user’s can connect with compatible devices to take advantage of instant sharing of files, photos, other media, streaming video or audio from another devices or connecting to a printer. The Google Ice Cream Sandwich supports the Bluetooth hands free profile (HFP) 1.6.

Android beam NFC based sharing

The Android Beam is an innovative feature that enables sharing between two NFC enabled devices easily. Android Beam lets the user’s exchange their favorite apps, games, music video’s simply by touching one NFC enabled Phone to another and hitting the send button.

Verdict:-

After taking a look at the handy features being offered by Android i would say it creates a stiff competition of quality as a majority of the OS offer the same features with minute changes in interface.

Android 4.0 Google Ice Cream sandwich proves well with the Face Unlock feature, Android Beam and Wi-Fi direct. I loved to hear about the Data Usage control feature along with visual voice mail. I think the handy features offered by Google add value to the existing user experience so I would give “Well Done” to Google for their Ice cream Sandwich.

Overall verdict:-

If we take an overall overview then we may observe some features being lifted from Android Honeycomb OS and modified slightly to transform into better one’s. I could feel inspiration from the various OS already available in the market like after listening to connectivity with printers I am reminded of the Apple iOS 5 AirPlay feature that offers connectivity of iOS devices to printers.

Well influences are the part of the game at the end what matters is the quality and the way features are arranged. I think that a successful operating system should fulfill the three basic parameters Efficiency. Effectiveness and Economy. Although Google Android OS has proved to be effective and efficient in the past but let’s see what kind of response does Google receive for their beloved Ice Cream Sandwich.

All the features have not been described here so stay tuned to see more of the exciting updates waiting just to come across your curious mind.

Firefox 8 Beta Adds Twitter Search

As a part of the frequent update strategy by Mozilla, it has come up with its brand new beta version of Firefox8 with fewer but more daily use changes. There are a plenty of improvements and some new features in Firefox 8 like searching, handling of the tabs, installation and management of the add-ons etc.

The beta launch of Firefox8 is available for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android Devices.

One of the new features added by Mozilla is the Twitter search.
Firefox 8 menus will have Twitter (Social Network) as the search option. If you select the twitter option, anything typed in the search bar will be searched completely on Twitter. This search engine will allow the users to make a search on twitter using a username and hashtags etc.

Just have a look at the search engine drop down menu options in Firefox 8.

Other interesting features include for example, the ability to control add-ons. Until now when a user upgraded his Firefox web browser then the compatibility of downloaded add-ons with the newer version was checked. This thing has been completely reversed in Firefox 8 where the user’s can select the add-ons which they wanna continue using whilst dropping unnecessary add-ons..

Mozilla is expecting to release the new Firefox version 8 by mid-November. Let’s wait to observe what kind of response will Firefox receive for its version 8.

About the Author: Catherine Jones writes for http://www.markkia.com/.  She enjoys content and writing about the social sphere.

Yesterday night was Tuesday October 4th 2011 in Pakistan when as a curious blogger I was observing various US based websites writing live updates from Apple Let’s Talk event held in Cupertino california.

A lot of user’s were expecting the new generation iPhone 5 to roll out yesterday but to the surprise Apple instead released iPhone 4S that will hit the USA markets on 14th October 2011 with pre orders are beginning from 7th October 2011.

It was speculated that iOS 5 will be released for iPhone 5 but rather Apple Inc. reserved this revised version iOS 5 of their firmware for the iPhone 4S. The final version of iOS 5 is going to roll out as a free of cost upgrade on October 12 2011 via Apple iTunes Store.

Well it’s been less then 24 hours since the release of iPhone 4S but yet I haven’t got my hands on the new iPhone 4S but according to the information I have gathered from various Blogs that were attending Apple Let’s Talk event and my personal analytical views and expectations I have compiled this preliminary review of Apple iPhone 4S exclusively for the audience of Rise Dream.Com Blog.

Let’s just begin with the physical design. There is no change in design from iPhone 4. Although a majority of specifications in the iPhone 4S resemble that in the iPhone 4 but Apple was clever enough to do some substantial hardware upgrades to make iPhone 4S worth purchasing by existing iPhone 4 user’s.

Design:-

The iPhone 4S has not experienced a major design modification from the preceding iPhone 4 model. Infact the iPhone 4 user’s may call it an iPhone 4S with similar design structure as that of iPhone 4. The iPhone 4S comprises of the same sleek and stylish external body that attracts user’s though dashing looks.

Colors:-

The iPhone 4S is available in White and Black casing colors just like the previous model iPhone 4. It seems that Apple is not interested in adding some new colors to their sizzling smart phone.

Camera:-

The rumors that were circulating prior to the release of iPhone 4S proved right and iPhone 4S features an 8 Mega Pixel Camera on its backside along with a front facing VGA camera for Facetime Video chat with a far better picture quality result as compared to 5 Mega Pixel iPhone 4.

Just like the iPhone 4, the camera in iPhone 4S features autofocus that lets the iPhone decide itself the best zoom location to have a high quality pictures, auto white balance to control brightness, tap to focus feature for user’s manual focus adjustment, the LED flash to take pictures in the night or an area where light is dim and the Backside illumination sensor.

In the iPhone 4S five element lens has been installed resulting in better picture quality and improved colors unlike iPhone 4 where only four element lens was installed. In the iPhone 4S auto face detection has been introduced that was absent in the predecessor models.

Facetime Video Chat

Facetime Video chat has been enabled in the iPhone 4S like in the iPhone 4 but only over Wi-Fi connectivity. The user’s still can not make FaceTime video calls over 3G Internet Connectivity unless they Jailbreak their iPhone 4S.

Apple officially introduced the Facetime Video chat service over Wi-Fi Internet connectivity in iOS 4.2 update earlier this year keeping in view the demand for Facetime Video Chat service. Although Jailbroken iPhone user’s were able to utilize Facetime Video chat over 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity prior to its official introduction in the iOS. The front facing VGA camera is expected to produce the same picture quality during Video Chat as the preceding iPhone 4.

Weight and Dimensions

The iPhone 4S is same in size, dimensions and design with the previous model iPhone 4 but small increase in weight is evident. The iPhone 4 weighed 137 grams while iPhone 4S weighs 140 grams that could be attributed to the hardware upgrades in iPhone 4S. The formal dimensions and weight statistics for iPhone 4S is written below

Height: 4.5 inches (115.2 mm)
Width: 2.31 inches (58.6 mm)
Depth: 0.37 inch (9.3 mm)
Weight: 4.9 ounces (140 grams)

Display:-

The display of iPhone 4S has the same specifications as that in the iPhone 4 although better graphics make this iPhone 4S worthwhile trying. The Display capabilities of iPhone 4S are identical to those in iPhone 4 with minor improvements in the graphics display. The formal Display Specifications for the iPhone 4 are

960-by-640 resolution
326 ppi
Multi-Touch

Cellular and Wireless Features

Apple iPhone 4S is cited as a World Phone in which just one model supports both GSM and CDMA Network connectivity. This is something that adds a thumb up to the iPhone 4S which supersedes iPhone 4 where consumers have to choose between two different models out of which one supports GSM and the other supports CDMA Network Connectivity according to the nature of services provided by their cellular carrier.

The iPhone 4S features Bluetooth 4.0 Connectivity which is replaced by Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity of the iPhone 4. This upgrade means that files or data of large sizes can be exchanged over Bluetooth connectivity in less time. The formal Wireless and cellular connectivity features are written below

UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA
GSM/EDGE
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A2
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0

Battery Life:-

iPhone 4S features an improved battery life and Talk Time. Apple iPhone 4S claims talk time of up to 8 hours on 3G connectivity while 14 hours on 2G or GSM connectivity. The Standby Time is up to 200 hours that’s enough for iPhone 4S while the faster A5 processor does not consumer too much of battery life. Although I don’t own an iPhone 4S yet so i can not confirm this claim.

Video Recording:-

The rumors about the 1080 p HD video recording capabilities of the iPhone 5 proved authentic for iPhone 4S. Yes the latest iPhone 4S features 1080 p 30 fps HD Video recording with Tap to Focus feature while recording along with real time video stabilization, real time noise reduction and LED Light for a better video result captured by the 8 Mega Pixel camera.

Processor:-

The latest iPhone 4S features a Dual Core A5 chip fast processor that visibly improves the boot time of iPhone 4S and faster loading of the springboard, the loading and reloading time of memory consuming heavy Apps like Movie Players is improved visibly courtesy the A5 Dual core processor chip.

The interesting part is that iPhone 4S does not consume too much of battery life while running heavy dual core A5 processor. Well we have to wait to see our hands on then iPhone 4S before we can actually confirm the A5 chip Dual core processor installed in iPhone 4S is the same as that in the iPad 2 or is a low intensity one like rumored before.

iPhone 4S Gaming Experience:-

The A5 Dual Core fast processor chip may not only improve load time of Apps but also provide a better gaming experience for all Gaming Geeks out there. iPhone 4S gives a 7x better gaming experience as compared to the iPhone 4.

Airplay Mirroring:-

Air Mirroring is possible with the iPhone 4S. As iPhone 4S features a fast A5 dual core processor chip that gives 7x better gaming experience when compared to the iPhone 4 so the user’s may sync their device to larger screens to have a better gaming experience of PS 3 sort on the iPhone 4S.

Antennas:-

Well in the iPhone 4 there were certain Antenna issues acknowledged by the Apple Inc that led to rapid signal drop and call dropouts if the user holds iPhone at a certain angle. Unlike iPhone 4 the latest iPhone 4S has focused more on the call quality to reduce call dropouts. The facility of switching between the Antennas to enhance call quality will certainly be welcomed by iPhone 4S users craving a high quality calls being made from their iPhone 4S.

Download Speed

Although Apple iPhone 4S does not support the latest/advanced but expensive 4G technology connectivity but yet claims to achieve the 4G LTE Speed for supporting downloading speed of up to 14.4 Mbps per second when compared to almost 7.2 on iPhone 4. This indicates that iPhone 5 will feature 4G connectivity but we have to first confirm the speed claim for iPhone 4S which according to some critics is not true at least for Wi-Fi connectivity.

Siri Voice to Text Translation Service

One of the most innovative and long dreamed feature introduced in the iPhone 4S is the Siri “Voice to Text Service”. This is interactive service only supported for the iOS 5 running on the iPhone 4S but lets see if hackers could enable this service on other iOS 5 supported devices or not.

Siri is the speech to Text Translation service that lets you speak orally and the iPhone 4S will act upon your advice. Through Siri the user’s will actually be talking to their iPhone 4S. for example if i ask for a location in Karachi Pakistan the Siri will display Maps, if i ask for Karachi Stock Exchange 100 Index summary it will display the summary, from weather forecasts to current time in any other country. The iPhone user’s can ask various questions through this service like What is the Independence Day of Pakistan? The Answer is 14th August etc and Siri will search Wikipedia and Google for the possible answer.

Siri also let’s iPhone 4S user’s type long emails by just tapping on the Microphone icon visible next to space button in the keyboard once Siri is activated.

The website Siri.Com was under Apple Inc ownership for another company controlled by Apple Inc but since the announcement of iPhone 4S this website is redirected to Apple Inc Main website.

No ability to make Icons for Folders

As evident in the preceding versions iPhone 4S does not support the ability to customize springboard by adding custom icons for various folders. Although now iOS 5 natively supports making new folders and grouping Apps within the folder. A lot of user’s try to customize the Springboard of Jailbroken iPhone via various Tweaks and Tricks available on Cydia Jailbroken Apps Store.

iPhone 4S Carriers

iPhone 4S is available on Sprint, Verizon Wireless and AT & T in the US while Orange Mobile and Vodafone will offer iPhone 4S in the UK. I wish iPhone 4S releases officially in Pakistan with Ufone GSM Cellular Carrier.

Some General features Missing in iPhone 4S

Just like the predecessor versions iPhone 4S lacks certain tempting features desired by larger audience especially Pakistani’s. iPhone 4S has No AM / FM Radio Integration which is desired by many user’s across Pakistan, Apple wants you to purchase a separate Apple TV 2G so has added no support for the HDTV Tuner, Well this is the most crucial thing that makes HTC Desire S rank ahead of Apple iPhone 4S at least in my views, iPhone 4S has No External Memory Card Slots to increase the memory capacity of the iPhone 4S. A lot of user’s could be wishing to improve the memory capacity of their iPhone 4S but in vein because Apple charges you large amount of money if you want more storage capacity almost $100 for doubling your memory but only if brand new iPhone 4S is to be purchased.

iOS 5

The latest iOS 5 is natively installed and executed on then iPhone 4S. The iOS 5 has exciting features like improved Reminders, improved Notification services, Air Play Mirroring, iMessage and iCloud services integration.

iMessage

The iMessage service offered by iOS 5 is innovative and unique in a sense that this iOS 5 service will let the user’s send and receive unlimited Text Messages for free over Wi-Fi connectivity to a user having iOS 5 powered device.

iCloud

Realizing the importance and popularity of the cloud based services Apple Inc have themselves stepped into the Cloud Service providers Industry. iCloud is the latest cloud based storage service for user data, photo’s, documents, Phonebook contacts, iTunes music etc. Initially Apple iCloud is offering 5 GB of free space to all iOS user’s but $20 is charged for 10GB space, $40 for 20GB space annually. Once activated the iOS 5 wirelessly pushes any new phonebook contact, any new picture or new music song within the iPhone 4S to Apple iCloud Servers which can be accessed modified and restored in the iCloud remote servers.

Pricing:-

This time around Apple Inc has kept low prices for iPhone 4S in the US so that more people could afford it. Apple Inc is selling iPhone 4S 16 GB model for $199, iPhone 4S 32 GB model for $299 and iPhone 4S 64GB model for $399. iPhone 4 16GB model is available for $99 and iPhone 3GS is offered free of cost with a two year contract with a cellular carrier.

Verdict:-

Although iPhone 4S features an external design similar to iPhone 4 with almost same features but Apple was clever enough to pour in some new feature additions like the Siri which is exclusive for the iPhone 4S along with some hardware upgrades like A5 Dual Core Processor, 8 Mega Pixel Camera and 1080 hp HD Video recording to attract consumers towards the latest iPhone 4S. If you are an iPhone 4 user then you can sell your existing iPhone 4 to Apple Inc for $200 in the recycle and reuse program to gain sufficient funds for purchasing iPhone 4S or if you are in a contract with a carrier for the iPhone 4 then you may ask your cellular carrier for upgrade towards iPhone 4S from iPhone 4 although various cellular carriers have their own criteria, terms and conditions for this matter. If you are to purchase a brand new iPhone 4S with a two year contract then i would recommend you to purchase iPhone 4 instead that costs $99 for 16GB model. If you are to buy a factory unlocked brand new iPhone then iPhone 4S is the right choice for you otherwise existing iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS user’s should wait for the arrival to iPhone 5 to upgrade their devices.

Apple have thrown an update to their iPhone page that details the three generation of iPhone available for sale at the iTunes Apps Store. The Page compares the speed to iPhone 4S using A5 Dual Core Processor along with iPhone 4 using A4 Chip processor. The iPhone 3Gs uses only 3 Mega Pixel camera, iPhone 4 has 5 Mega Pixels Camera while iPhone 4S uses 8 Megapixel Camera. The prices are also listed along with size dimensions and prices for various models.

You can see the Apple iPhone comparison page by clicking here

Just see a screenshot of the page and click on the image to enlarge it

Well after the release of iPhone 4S in the Apple Let’s Talk event it seems that Google Android O.S one of the emerging and strongest competitors for Apple iOS will soon release a self signatured long awaited Smartphone “Samsung Google Nexus Prime S”.

From certain signals it seems that Samsung Google Nexus Prime S is all set to be unveiled by Samsung on October 11 2011.

The Samsung Google Nexus Prime S is expected to be the first ever Smart phone to use Google Android latest Ice Cream Sandwich O.S. Earlier this year we reported about Google Inc releasing a universal O.S version for both Tablet Devices as well as the Smartphones called Google Ice Cream Sandwich which will debut along with Samsung Google Nexus Prime S.

Just like iOS 5 one could speculate the new features being offered by Google Ice Cream Sandwich O.S may propel user’s to upgrade their existing Android powered devices to the latest Android Ice Cream Sandwich firmware.

We have been listening to a lot of expectations from the Korean Giant Samsung and USA giant Google partnership for the manufacture of latest Samsung Google Nexus Prime S.

The Samsung Google Nexus Prime S is expected to contain a 4.6-inch Super AMOLED HD screen with a pixel density of 320ppi, a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, and will debut with no hardware buttons. One of the highlights for the Samsung Google Nexus Prime S is that it will be the first ever full touch screen phone that will lack any physical hardware keyboard buttons.

Google has released a brand new video on YouTube that is considered to be a teaser for the upcoming Android powered Samsung Google Nexus Prime S. It is expected that the Samsung Google Nexus Prime S will officially be announced for release on 11th October 2011. Just look at the teaser of the video being uploded on YouTutbe

References TNW

Since Apple Inc have released the new generation of their iPhone called the iPhone 4S a lot of existing iPhone user’s may be craving to upgrade their iPhone 4 to iPhone 4S or purchase a brand new iPhone 4S starting at $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB and $399 for 64GB storage Capacity.

For all those geeks who love the new iPhone 4S but do not find sufficient funds to purchase the latest iPhone 4S may sell their existing 16 GB used iPhone 4 White Casing Model to Apple Inc. for $200 while the 16GB used iPhone 4 Black Model may be sold to Apple Inc for $180. These iPhone 4 models are being purchased by Apple Inc in view of recycle and reuse initiative.

Although the price to be paid by the Apple depends upon the physical and hardware condition of the iPhone 4 being sold.

Verdict:-

From a consumers perspective this is a very good move by Apple to facilitate those user’s who are fond of having the latest model iPhone 4S in their possession but could not find enough sources to accumulate funds needed to purchase the new iPhone 4S. Infact iPhone 4 user’s should utilize this offer to have themselves a brand new iPhone 4S.

Apple have released the latest Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2 beta version for the developers only. The latest 11C73 built version of Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2 is meant to allow developers test Apple iCloud services integration with Mac and iOS 5.

Please note that this is not the final version of Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2 and is only developed with the intention to cater the needs of developers. If you have already installed Mac OS X 10.7.2 Developers version then you need to first revert back to Mac OS X 10.7 before you can actually execute this new Mac OS X 10.7.2 11C73 developers preview.

Download Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2 developed 11C73 With iCloud Integration

Download Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2 developed 11C73 With iCloud Integration