Nokia expelled from top five smartphones run

Nokia has been Driven out from the top five smartphones by Research In Motion (RIM) according to the latest quarterly monitoring by International Data Corporation (IDC). The Finnish company had inhabit in the top five of IDC table since its onset in 2004. Nokia has been underperforming in a growing market, "the world of smartphone market vendors shipped 179.7 million units in 3Q12 compared to 123.7 million units sold out in 3Q11," revealed the last IDC figures. It is a market of more than 45 percent higher sales than an year earlier.

Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst, IDC stated that "Nokia's share losses have given impetus to rivals." He added that there are still plenty of opportunities in the market for Nokia (and others) to do well "The company's transition away from Symbian-powered smartphones to those supplied with Windows Phone has left ample opportunity for competitors to steal share away from Nokia during the past 18 months. However, the smartphone market is still relatively embryo, which means there is room for all manufacturers and operating systems to flourish, including Nokia."

Top Five Smartphone Vendors, Shipments and Market Share, 2012 Q3 - 2011 Q3

	3Q'12 Unit Shipments	3Q'12 Market Share	3Q'11 Unit Shipments	3Q'11 Market Share	Year-over- year Change
Samsung	56.3	31.3%	28.1	22.7%	100.4%
Apple	26.9	15.0%	17.1	13.8%	57.3%
RIM	7.7	4.3%	11.8	9.6%	-34.7%
ZTE	7.5	4.2%	4.1	3.3%	82.9%
HTC	7.3	4.0%	12.7	10.3%	-42.5%
Others	74.0	41.2%	49.9	40.3%	48.3%
Total	179.7	100.0%	123.7	100.0%	45.3%
Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, October 25, 2012 (Units in Millions)

Looking through the numbers, you can say the year was particularly good for Samsung, it managed to ship more than double the amount of smartphones last year. ZTE has also benefited from a fantastic 83 percent uplift in sales, its smartphones are doing well in emerging markets, says IDC.

On the other hand, we have worse performance than previous year's from HTC and RIM. RIM is currently relying on older models of smartphones and hoping its BB10 OS and new smartphones will revitalize its economy. HTC held the fifth player in place thanks to the HTC One X and EVO 4G success. Like Nokia, HTC is looking forward to Windows Phone 8 gaining ground and becoming popular.

Facebook - A Tool to weigh addiction

Are you a social media enthusiast or simply a Facebook addict? Researchers from Norway have developed a new tool to measure this phenomenon -- the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS). In January 2011, 227 women and 196 men participated in BFAS tests. The scale can facilitate clinical assessment and can be used for the estimation of Facebook addiction prevalence in the general population worldwide.

"We are dealing with a subdivision of internet addiction connected to social media," says Cecilie Schou Andreassen from the University of Bergen, who led the first of its kind study anywhere, reports the journal Psychological Reports.

Andreassen's study shows that the symptoms of Facebook addiction resemble those of drug addiction, alcohol addiction and chemical substance addiction, according to Bergen statement. She said,"Facebook dependency occurs more regularly among younger than older users. People who are anxious and socially insecure were also found to use Facebook more frequently, probably because they find it easier to communicate via social media than face-to-face"

"Our research also indicates that women are more at risk of developing Facebook addiction, probably due to the social nature of Facebook", says Andreassen. Andreassen's study shows that scoring "often" or "always" on at least four of the seven items on Bergen scale may suggest that you are addicted to Facebook.

So, how would you rate yourself? Facebook Junkie? A social network devotee? Let us know...

‘Password’ tops list of most common passwords

Want to guess someone's password? Try ‘password’, researchers have claimed.

    According to an annual study of the most commonly used passwords researchers have found that ‘password’, ‘123456’, ‘qwerty’ and ‘12345678’ are still the most widely used - despite years of security experts urging people to change them to secure options, reported the Daily Mail. The latest list comes following 12 months of high profile hacks that have revealed user passwords. The bad old choice is the culprit that Yahoo, LinkedIn, eHarmony, and Last.fm have suffered major breaches.

     Just in time for Halloween comes something that might scare anyone who spends a lot of time online - SplashData's annual list of the most common passwords used on the Internet and posted by hackers. Researchers said, “Users of any of these passwords are the most likely to be victims in future breaches.”

    However, some people have updated their passwords, and the research found new entries to this year's list include different, but not really creative alternatives like ‘welcome’, ‘jesus’, ‘mustang’ and ‘password1’. SplashData’s top 25 list was compiled from files containing millions of stolen passwords posted online by hackers.

    If you found the above montioned password(s)' a key to unlock your online world, then it's high time you migrate to a new gate pass. This post from Teqknow might help you save the Day.

Samsung Unveils the ATIV S: First Windows 8 Smartphone

Make way for the ATIV S, which raced to be the first officially announced smartphone powered by Windows Phone 8. Samsung became the first handset maker to announce a smartphone using Microsoft's latest mobile software after announcing the Samsung ATIV S at IFA event in Berlin. This comes out to be an astounding news for many, as Nokia was expected to lead the way (Sorry Nokia, consider your Strike stolen).  ATIV marks the family of Samsung's new line of products powered by Windows 8 OS.

Besides running on Windows Phone 8, the phone has typical smartphone specifications. It features a thin 8.7 mm brushed aluminium chassis and looks quite elegant. The manufacturer says it's designed for "work and entertainment" with native inbuilt support for the very popular Microsoft Office suite. Samsung ATIV S flaunts a 4.8” HD Super AMOLED display backed by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 1 GB of RAM. It also features HSPA＋42 connectivity, but nothing's being said about LTE connectivity as of now. The ATIV S sports an 8 Megapixel Auto Focus Camera with LED Flash on the back and a secondary 1.9 Megapixel VT Camera in front for Video Communication. 

It looks like Samsung considered the Connectivity options way too seriously. The ATIV S is packed with Bluetooth® 3.0, USB 2.0 connectivity and NFC(near-field communication) along with GPS n' Glonass. For Hassle free Wireless Internet access Samsung has encompassed Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity as well. Also you'll discover the same connecting ability that Samsung incorporated in Samsung Galaxy Note II; yes we're talking about the "tap to share" feature. Coming to storage capacity, It'll be available in two segments - 32 & 64 GB. The manufacturers didn't raise the curtain over the price and availability of ATIV S, but will have to be after the release of Windows 8 - October 26th.

Specifications:

Dimensions	137.2 x 70.5 x 8.7 mm, 135g
Display	4.8 inch (121.9mm ) HD Super AMOLED
OS	Windows Phone 8
Processor	1.5 GHz dual-core processor
Camera	Rear: 8 Megapixel Auto Focus Camera with LED Flash
	Front: 1.9 Megapixel VT Camera
Video	Codec: H.263, H.264, WMV, MP4, M4V, MOV
	Full HD(1080p) Playback & Recording
Audio	Codec: MP3, WMA, MP4, M4A, AAC
	3.5mm Jack
Sharing Features	Tap to Share (File sharing with NFC and BT/Wi-Fi)
	Samsung Family Story
Content Features	Samsung ChatOn mobile communication service
& Services	Samsung Hub
	Music Hub
	Media Hub (US only)
	Samsung Zone (Windows Phone Marketplace)
	Photo Editor
	Mini Diary
	Now (Daily Briefing)
Network	HSPA+ 42Mbps 850/900/1900/2100MHz
	EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900MHz
GPS	A-GPS
	Glonass
Connectivity	Bluetooth® 3.0
	USB 2.0
	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Channel Bonding
	NFC(Near-field Communication)
	3.5mm jack
Sensor	Proximity, Accelerometer, Geomagnetic, Ambient Light, Gyroscope
Memory	16/32GB Storage
	1 GB RAM
	microSD (SDXC support)
Battery	Standard Li-ion battery,2300mAh

Essential Password Safety Tips

Your password is the first line of defense against cyber attacks. With phishing, identity theft and other Internet crimes becoming more frequent everyday, it is important to choose a password that cannot be easily guessed or deduced by others. An ideal password is one that is easy to remember, hard to forget, and harder to crack. You can create a good password by following the Teqknow tips offered below

• Create unique paswords

When you use the same password on multiple websites you are at risk of having hijackers figure out and steal your password from a less secured website and use it to access other important online accounts. Use unique passwords for your accounts, especially the more important ones like those for e-mail and online banking.

• Change password often

Even if you are using a hard-to-guess password, it is not impossible for a hacker to crack the password, it will just take him more time. A hacker can keep accessing your account or network as long as the password is valid. Updating your password regularly, will significantly limit the utility of that password to the hacker. This is why you should change your passwords periodically.

• Combine letters, numbers, and symbols

By combining numbers, symbols and both lower and upper case letters in your password you make it a lot more difficult for others to guess or crack your password. This might blow your mind but, Did you know that an 8-character password with numbers, symbols, and mixed-case letters has more than 6,000,000,000,000,000 possible variations? :O

• Keep it in a secret place

Never leave your password written on notes at your computer or desk. Anyone walking by can easily steal and use it to access your accounts. If you want to save your passwords in a file on your computer, make sure to use a unique name for that file that does not reveal what type of information is contained in the file. You must avoid obvious names such as "My Passwords" when naming a file. Another solution is to use a password manager, a software that helps a user organize passwords and PIN codes. There are many of these available as a desktop software, portable applications, or web based service. Spend some time researching them, checking their reputation, and reading reviews. The time and effort you invest in researching them will help you select the one that best suits your password-security needs.

• Use a phrase acronym

You can create an acronym with the first letters of the words in a phrase or sentence and use it in a password. For example, from the sentence "Johnny, Johnny, Yes, Papa, Eating sugar? No, Papa", you would get "jjypesnp". Using an acronym makes the password easy to remember but difficult to guess.

• Keep recovery options updated and secure

Keep any e-mail address you use for recovering and resetting your password updated. The same goes for any phone number that you use to receive password reset codes by text message. There are also many websites that let you choose a question to verify your identity if you ever forget your password. Make sure to create a question-answer combo that only you know and can't be guessed from information already posted online. You can also make your answer unique by typing it in an unusual way so others won't be able to enter the answer properly.

• Make it hard for others to guess

Always create a password that is unrelated to your personal information. Don't use simple words like "password" or "letmein,"or keyboard patterns such as "qwerty", or sequential patterns such as "abcd1234", which would make your password easier to guess. Choose a random word or phrase, and insert letters, numbers, and symbols into the beginning, middle, and end to make it much more difficult to guess.

• Add extra measures of security

Another way you can add an extra layer of security is by enabling a 2-step verification process. Although, not all Internet accounts provide this option, some like Google do. The 2-step verification process requires you to have access to your phone, your username and password to sign in. If someone else steals your password, they can't sign in to your account because they don't have your phone. You are now protected with something that only you know and something that only you have, your pasword and your phone.

• Never ever share your password with anyone

You know this, right? ;)

We hope the information in this article helps you protect your password and online accounts.

Top 15 Free Online URL Scanners

URL Scanners are the tools available over Internet to check the safety of link or web pages by scanning it for threats, drive-by downloads and web exploits. URL Scanners can be used to investigate content of a web-site with multiple reputation engines & domain blacklists, to verify whether specified web site is safe to browse.

Below we name 15 Free Online URL Scanners, to help Internet users looking for tools that check the safety of websites to simply browse or download content.

Norton Safe Web

McAfee SiteAdvisor

VirusTotal

Site Inspector Online Scan

F-Secure Browsing Protection Portal

Wepawet

Online Link Scan

AVG Threat Labs Site Reports

Trend Micro Site Safety Center

Dr. Web - Scan a link

urlQuery

vURL Online

Sucuri SiteCheck

Browser Defender

WOT (Web of Trust) - Safe Browsing Tool

Safe Browsing Happy Browsing :)

Break and Make Files using FFSJ

Worried about freeing up huge swaths of space on a storage medium?
Giving up on emailing an attachment just because it’s just too big?
With FFSJ (The Fastest File Splitter & Joiner), you’ll never have to...

What is FFSJ

FFSJ is a small utility tool which consists of a Splitter and a Joiner, thus letting you split files into multiple smaller parts, then join them up again just like the whole Original. You may use FFSJ to split any file into as many parts as you need to, then continue doing what you usually do! It works on any type of file, whether you’re working with documents, text files, spreadsheets, presentations, audio, video or even executables! And the best part of the story, FFSJ is only a single .EXE file which does not need to be installed, you can directly run FFSJ by double-clicking FFSJ.exe

Features

Very fast: FFSJ can optimize disk-cache and memory usage, this makes FFSJ 3-5 times faster than HJ-Split, WinSplit, MasterSplitter in both splitting and joining tasks. Of course, it is much faster than any compression program.

Simple: FFSJ works well on all Windows platforms. It doesn't need any requirement of installations or complicated DLLs.

Small: FFSJ is small enough to fit on a floppy disk.

Easy to use: FFSJ has a friendly user-interface, it can be used to split any file.

Easy to be integrated: Since v3.0, FFSJ published its command-line interface. End-users can split/join multiple files using a .BAT file. Developers can write their own interface (in any language) to perform splitting/joining tasks from their applications.

Secure: FFSJ uses an advanced encryption algorithm to make your data much more secure from unauthorized access. Since v2.9, MD5 checksum algorithm has also been integrated to verify data integrity.

Compatible: FFSJ can join parts produced by HJ-Split.

How to use FFSJ

How to split a file?

1. Open FFSJ.exe and switch to the "Splitting" tab.

2. Select the source file.

3. Change output directory, number of split parts, part limit and set the other parameters as

    per your need.

     (Just mark the "Encrypt data" checkbox while setting your preferences to apply password to the split parts.)

4. Click the "Split" button, enter your password and click "OK" (if chosen) and wait till the 

    File Splitter completes the job.

5. You will see the message

You are DONE with Splitting of file....

How to join split parts together?

1. Open FFSJ.exe and switch to the "Joining" tab.

2. Select the first split part (.001 or .__a file). 

    (All split parts must have the same name, except for their extensions - .001, .002, .__a, .__b, etc.)

3. Check the list of split parts from drop-down list.

4. Change output file, specify if your split parts are in different locations, choose if you want   

    to delete the split files after joining is done through specified parameters.

5. Click "Join" button, enter the password if required and wait till the File Joiner completes 

    the job.

6. You will now see the message

Voila!!! You have the original whole piece of file with you...

Google "Zerg Rush" and gear up to protect your Browser

In a move that’s sure to annihilate the efficiency of a million offices round the globe, Google have programmed a mini-game into their search engine. Head over to Google and type in the words “zerg rush” to find out what happens.

I won't Spill the beans, but it involves a lot of clicky-clacky task, and will grant you a hi-score at the end of game that you can share with the world on Google+.

 Let the Fun begin!!!

Security risks in Cloud Computing

This is an era of mobile broadband, smart phones, and users who run multiple computers and devices. Therefore it makes sense to move e-mail, photos, documents, calendar, notes, finance, and contacts to impressive web applications like Gmail, Evernote, Flickr, Google Docs, mint, etc. But the transferring of data to hosted web applications has its potential pitfalls and risks that are lost in all the hype around Cloud-centric systems.

Cloud Computing is one of the biggest changes in IT, with computing functions as a service with promising innovations that we can not yet imagine. Customers are both excited and nervous about the prospects of cloud computing. They are excited by the possibilities of reducing capital costs and the ability to strip them of infrastructure management, and focus on core competencies. What excites them most is the agility offered by the demand supply of computing and the ability to align information technology along business strategies.

At the same time, customers are also very concerned about the security risks of cloud computing and the loss of direct control over the systems they are responsible. Whether a company uses Software as a Service (SaaS) version of customer relationship management (CRM), creating offsite backups of company data, or setting up a page of social media marketing, it is trusting a third-party organization with business information.

While cloud computing can provide significant business cost reducing benefits, the service does come with some security risks. As per Gartner, a leading analyst firm, cloud computing is loaded with security risks. Customers must demand transparency, avoiding vendors that refuse to provide detailed information on security programs. It is very important to understand the qualifications of policy makers, architects, programmers and operators; risk control processes and technical mechanisms and the level of testing been done to verify that the service and control processes work as expected, and that vendors can identify unanticipated vulnerabilities.

• Secure data transfer - All of the traffic in a network through clouds of the Internet, must be on a secure channel.
• Secure software interfaces - Companies must be aware of software interfaces, or APIs, which are used to interact with cloud services, otherwise risk of being exposed to a variety of security issues related to confidentiality, integrity, availability and accountability arises.
• Secure the data stored - Data should be securely encrypted when it is on the provider's servers and while it is being used by cloud service. According to Forrester, another analyst firm, some cloud providers ensure the protection of data used in the application or for disposal of your data.
• User Access Control - Data stored on the server of a cloud provider can potentially be accessed by an employee of this service. Companies should ask suppliers for details on the people who manage their data and the level of access they have to it.

• Separation of data - Each cloud-based service shares space on the provider's servers and other parts of the provider's infrastructure. Dangerous Subdivision Techniques, such as poor data encryption, may give other customers of the service an easy access inside your virtual container.
• Lower Privacy Protection by Law - To search for a home or office, the authorities need a search warrant. But they do not need any warrants to obtain information stored on third-party's Web servers. Moreover, such research can also occur without the knowledge of the company.
• Unavailability of the Server and Account Lockout - A great advantage of storing data on a server cloud is that the firm does not need to take backups anymore. But what would happen if the servers go down, and employees are dependent on the cloud for e-mail or to access the PowerPoint slideshow for an important presentation?

In conclusion, although a company must meet these safety issues with the cloud provider before entrusting their data to its servers, these risks should not be a stumbling block. Cloud computing also offers companies many benefits, so that instead of rejecting cloud computing, companies should establish strictcontrols and security measures in place.

Green Computing/Green IT: Need of the Hour

The exponential growth of the IT industry has brought with it new inventions and infrastructure needs, which resulted in inappropriate use of resources and production of environmentally unfriendly products. It is as if the whole IT / ITES community ignored the impact on the environment, while they were busy ideating and creating new versions of the same gadgets and use of resources such as paper, water, plastic and electricity,
without giving much thought to the environment.
When Al Gore started waking powers to the injury, which took place on the environment on a global scale, many stood up and noticed. Not only did folks started being environmentally friendly, companies began to "care" for the environment. Soon, with the celebs jumping on the bandwagon and showing the error of our ways, large companies joined the initiative to "go green", thus leading the way for other companies. Finally, the IT industry to realized that they too can do its bit and began to contribute towards the environment. The Outcome? Green Computing - or Green IT to some - is touted as one of the major trends in the recent years.

What is Green IT anyway? We all are doing our bit for the environment, right? Well, Green IT is an organization's way to go green. There are many definitions / explanations that can be found over the Internet.
Here is the exact one found on Wikipedia: The study and practice of design, manufacture, use, and disposal of computers, servers, and associated subsystems—such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and networking and communications systems—efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment (Source: Wikipedia.org). Green IT also aims to achieve profitability and improve system performance and utilization, while maintaining our social and ethical responsibilities. So, Green IT includes dimensions of environmental sustainable development, economics of energy efficiency and total cost of ownership, which includes the cost of disposal and recycling. It is the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently.
Too much information? Simply put, it is the practice of using computing resources more efficiently, while maintaining or increasing overall productivity. The aim is to reduce consumption of hazardous materials, maximize energy efficiency and promoting recycling or biodegradation of non-existent products and factory waste.Easier said than done, for the company to go green overnight. Instead of looking at the company's position as a single unit, companies will have to take a step back and see the Green IT in the big picture. For example, when building the infrastructure owners will have to think about building a 'Green Campus': where you have one side of the building consisting of glass, rather than bricks and mortar, or building where there is natural ventilation and lighting. Usage of resources such as electricity, paper and water should be significantly reduced. Buying "green computers" will save energy and causes less damage to the environment, virtualization reduces the consumption of paper documents, buying new services: hardware and software that improve performance saves time and money by finding areas that take up a lot of electricity and addressing those areas also reduce costs.

We, as responsible citizens can always do our bit, too. Here are some ways (which I found across various websites):

1. Switch the computer off if you do not use it, especially at night, and if the whole day.
2. Print wisely - only print when you really need to have a hard copy and resist the temptation to print "All pages" when all you need is/are some particular page(s).
3. Use Google alternatives, such as the Smallest Google, which saves energy, time and bandwidth.
4. Buy a laptop. Laptops consume less energy than a desktop.
5. Choose a wired keyboard and mouse over the wireless.
6. Advanced users can get rid of unnecessary fans and drives. If you have a spare CD-ROM, use it once in a while and then unplug it.
But wait, green computing is not cheap. Did you know that these energy-saving software and hardware upgrades cost a bomb? Many companies, especially small and medium-sized companies have to think twice as they try to balance their desire to go green, and their financial resources. But again, looking at it from another perspective, by resorting to green computing, these companies are saving money and  the environment as well. Big companies also use a lot of manpower and energy. To reduce energy consumption will lead to lower efficiency. But analysts predict that the advantages of going green will encourage companies to look at technology and energy models that will use less energy and saving energy. I think it is a big plus.
Being a tree hugger myself, I hope that Green IT is here to stay and start now in any way possible. We also need to educate people around us about green computing, if they are not already aware of. And remember that in everything you do, Go Green!!!

The Descending Future of Technology

For years now there have been some principles that drive the technology forward. It is not a justification, continuous or material standard, but more to do with emotion and passion. This is called the WOW Factor and it describes the emotional state that you specify when you see a new category of technology that's completely and totally breathtaking. The first time you saw an ultra-portable, super slim notebook, the initial euphoria of using a digital camera for the first time, the pure bliss of wire free surfing on Wi-Fi computer, the initial shock of seeing the clarity of a High Definition Plasma Display, the pure sensory experience of hearing a perfectly tuned 5.1 Home theater - that Ladies and Gentlemen is called WOW Factor, and unfortunately it may be time for us to bid farewell to this amazing experience.

Face it, when was the last time you really felt the earth has moved when you had either heard or seen anything new in the consumer technology arena. Innovations and inventions in this area have been few and far between for quite sometime now. Things have moved to an evolutionary phase, and adds features that always comes to mind. The iPod is in its fifth generation, and still looks pretty much the same, plasma screens have entered their eighth generation and still suffer from burn in, the CD has been around forever and still gets scratched, cell phones still crash, cameras continue to generate red-eye, laptop batteries exploding all over the world and all it takes is 3 wrong keystrokes to bring your computer to a grinding halt.

About the biggest thing that we all have been waiting for the past few years has been High Definition Displays. While it has been slow to come, today most companies deliver some groundbreaking products.They are rock solid, crystal clear, larger than ever, has great color depth and incredible resolution. But what now? These screens are already as clear as the human eye can perceive. Going any clearer or increase the resolution further will be a zero sum game with very few benefits. They cannot make them bigger that even the 110 inches weighs about 400 pounds and need 8 people to carry them. The fact that the house doors and maybe a few walls must be demolished to carry the TV - can be another dampener.

Consider the other holy grail of Technology. We all want it lighter, thinner and more elegant. Today we have hybrid cars, video cameras so small they barely fit in our hands, MP3 players the size of the nail, our notebooks so slender that they look like they may snap into two and phones that are clean Featherweight. While these Micromachines are radical units - the small ergonomics and form factor may have affected the law of diminishing returns. Have these products been so diminutive that they are now effectively useless? Our fingers are already too big and clumsy to press the buttons on our gadgets, our eyes can hardly make their small screens and most of us can not grasp or control such tiny gadgets properly. It's just not possible for us to make them any sleek or tiny without sacrificing ease of use altogether. Technology will still continue to enthrall us - but only to a small surge. It may be time for us to embrace the fact that from here on technology will only move forward in small incremental steps. It's light out for WOW technology, and the sooner we all realize it - the lower the chances of being disappointed.

Peep in the world of Cloud Computing

My idea of cloud computing was always that it would be beneficial, but that it would actually save so much time was unthinkable.
In these times of increased workload and costs of production and the explosion of data, companies need a database that they can draw resources from, while reducing costs at the same time. Cloud computing has filled this need and has helped the business to act quickly. Not only reducing the amount of time it takes to complete a task by about 90%, but it also reduces the costs borne by the company drastically.

Previously, companies required bandwidth, servers, offices, developers, testers of various programs and other resources that costs a great sum. With cloud computing, all that these companies need is a computer that is connected to a cloud (a term for the Internet)! Open source software set the trend and what we have now is this huge cloud that hosts resources as programs, software, licenses, storage, servers, Web services, infrastructure (to run programs) and a variety tools in an accessible form.
All one need do is log in, search for the service in accordance with the need of the hour, adapt the service / program or ask for help, and start using it. The applications are not just based on IT anymore. You can find services related to HR, accounting and other such services, in addition to customized services. Large companies like Amazon.com and IBM offer storage space on demand. Purpose-built applications can be up and running in 2 days thanks to the development and testing done by millions of users. Services can be measured and selected. Cloud computing is a platform used by some common trading companies to interact with each other.

Perhaps the most comforting features of cloud computing is that it allows the company to pay for what it uses and nothing more, reducing the investment in hardware, software or services, making it similar to other utilities such as electricity. Users can have as little or as much of a service at a given time for as little or as long as they want. Companies also have the opportunity to subscribe to the cloud, or some vendors in a monthly basis and can stop whenever they want. It also offers complete restoration, share models, supports different languages and is easy to use. Also, users have several advantages such as security, new features and performance.

Cloud computing is a revolutionary change that is transforming the face of the business. Not only does it offer the true value to the costs that are pleasing, but it also allows management to focus on areas that may lead to more innovations. Cloud computing breaks the monotony of a rigid infrastructure by taking advantage of options that are flexible, economically viable and cut corners without cutting the bottom line of organizations.

The Future of Social Networking

The social networking is now integrated not for marketing and PR can be a complete denial. From every child in school to major organizations and celebrities, a major number of folks now have their presence in any available Social Forum, the popular ones being Facebook and Twitter. Social media has changed daily routines to get people to whatever forum is always there to use that they are hooked to. This year and the decade that follows, will see how social media will maintain its place in the marketing arena, and the time and the talent of millions of people.

What are the implications of social media on traditional marketing? Will we never be alone again? How much profit can one reap with this new tool? What's next? With more than two billion (and that number is rising as I type) people connected to the Internet and redesigned structure of the compound (usage: Mobile also, available: on the whole time, access: many things that were not accessible before), the Internet is all set to revolutionize, thanks to social networking.
Here's what I think is the future of social networking (and as I write this, I see a few changes happening around).
First, It has a large increase in sales of mobile phones and, above all smartphones. The phone is now another tool, especially for those who call on the move and have no access to social networking sites at work. Since there are an enormous amount of information available on the net now, for the entertainment channels and opportunities remain to be in contact, many prefer their phones to a PC. In addition, companies have now recognized the potential of smartphones, and develop applications for users such as Yammer and Scheduling applications.
Second, Social networking has taken its toll on e-mails. Those so-called "forward" messages have been reduced, with links that are written in social forums around. But companies still continue to use e-mail. The flow of projects, however, can check the progress of different applications, so e-mails. The rise of tools like Google wave will see innovative forms of communication.
Third, Devices such as Apple iPad - also known as the third device - opens a world of possibilities, with the merging of phone and PC and it will give rise to new forms of social networking.
Fourth, Not many people know that they leave their tracks when they use social networking forums like Facebook. This will make things easy to align for the big players on social networking addicts with their products and information. Since there is now a shift towards content comes with a price, and the user being away from traditional search engines to find, integrating the content of specific locations with their own information, it will be now easy for the companies with the data which targets people who need their data.
Fifth, Social and Intranet platforms will be combined in order to give rise to social intranets. Many companies now have their own social networks already!
Sixth, Another "big thing" is to integrate the different login IDs and passwords. The next five years will have access to multiple platforms with a single ID.
Seventh, To generate the use of video content to such training, or with solutions to problems, has increased. In the recent past year, this trend shifted to social networking as well.
Wake up with social media giant slowly to see the profitability of their creations, we are sure to witness a bright future that benefits both individuals and organizations.