Make Siri Curse Like a Sailor
Many tech enthusiasts have become bored with Siri and they want to try out new things as finding out what the weather is, asking questions, and setting reminders is getting old. But one thing that never gets old is hearing a robot voice swear. Most teenagers will find it interesting when they hear Siri curse like “motherfucking sailor”. Well, we would like to make it clear that this is not for people who get easily offended by “salty language”.
Of course, Siri wont reply with an f-bomb if your curse at her but she will call you whatever you tell her to call you. So, when you will replace your name with Mr. Dickfuck Shitlicker Damntbitch Asshole, she will call you just that. The easiest and least confusing way to do it is to ask Siri for your name pre-expletive change and then tap the white address card. Type in your bad words.
One of the widely used features of Siri is its ability to read text messages out loud for you. So, if you want some fun just take a friend’s phone and try to fit as many curse words you can in 160 words.
Obsessed with Siri?
Apple Inc. launched fifth-generation iPhone 4S with a voice-activated personal assistant Siri. The voice-assistant has seen phenomenal success. The assistant sometimes says silly things and sometimes causes controversies. In short span of time, the virtual-assistant has become a celebrity. Siri knows a lot, Apple has made tremendous efforts to make it successful. No stone has been left unturned; Siri provides comprehensive answers whenever asked. Apple has done some clever programming and intense processing. Ask Siri a question and she will seldom disappoint you. Just ask it for the nearest coffee shop or Al Roker’s middle name, she will give the answer. Siri also has an attitude, ask Siri if she love and she will respond “oh, stop” and never bother proposing marriage to Siri as she will break your heart faster than you can break the screen of your iPhone.
Siri had humble beginnings; it started as an app developed by a company which spun off from SRI Internet national. She was acquired by Apple last year and it gave her a complete makeover that we during the launch of iPhone 4S in previous October. Though, Siri has been winning hearts around the globe, but she only Speaks English, French, and German. Support for Japanese language is expected in the next update of iOS.
Ciccarese Design Unveils Teardrop-Shaped iPhone 5 Concept
Last year, some folks at Ciccarese Design created mockups of the rumored iPhone 5 based on the purported case design and the iPhone Air. They have now created a teardrop-shaped iPhone 5 concept. It appears to be inspired by Apple’s Magic mouse. We have seen many rumors about the sixth generation iPhone’s design, but this is the most unusual design. Many have found this design to be appealing, so we will have to wait till Apple’s unveils its next-generation iPhone this year or perhaps next year.
Megaupload and Affiliated Sites Shut Down by US Authorities
The U.S. Justice Department and FBI has shut down the popular Internet locker Service Megaupload and affiliated sites like Megavideo on Thursday after announcing indictments against seven people on charges related to online piracy, including racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement and conspiring to commit. Four of the seven suspects have been taken into custody, including Kim Schmitz aka Kim DotCom, who was arrested in New Zealand. Kim is being held without bail till Monday when a court hearing is scheduled to address extraditing Kim to the United States to face trial.
Federal officials have accused Kim and his fellow conspirators of pocketing millions of dollars in illegal profits and costing the film industry more than US $600 million in damages. The defendants may face up to 20 years in prison if convicted in the United States. The shutdowns and arrests has caused a hacker group Anonymous to launch “denial-of-service” attacks on number of film and music industry sites as well as the website of the US Justice Department.
Kim Schmitz, a former illegal street racer, hacker, and convicted felon, reportedly live in a $30 million mansion in New Zealand. 18 vehicles including a vintage pink Cadillac, a Lamborghini, a 2010 Maserati, And 2008 Rolls Royce Phantom with a personalized license plate that reads “God” has been seized by the New Zealand police.
In Hong Kong, custom officials have frozen $42 million in assets held by the beleaguered file-swapping site during raids on offices, homes and even hotel suites. The raid, which was done by 100 officers, yielded a large amount of digital evidence and $43 million in suspected criminal proceeds, according to the statement issued by the Customs agency. In hotel rooms, high-speed servers believed to be connected the cases were also found.”The assets have been frozen in accordance with related ordinances. The operation is ongoing,” the agency said in a statement.
Meizu MX- The New iPhone 3GS
It was Meizu’s M8 which was the first device to gain real buzz for mimicking the iPhone’s style. Now, the company has come up with the Meizu MX, which went on sale in Asia on January 1. It is equipped with a dual-core 1.4 GHz Cortex A9 CPU with 16 GB of internal memory. The phone runs on Google’s Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread), but according to Meizu, the Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) update on the way.
Meizu MX has a 4-inch screen with a sharp 960 x 640 pixel resolution. It has qHD beat (960 x 540 pixels), which is in fact the same resolution as the iPhone’s Retina Display. For snapshots, MX has an 8-megapixel camera with LED flash, and the camcorder that captures video in full 1080 p HD.
The main trait of the Meizu MX lies in its design and interface. At first glance, it looks like an iPhone 3GS but a thin one. It has rounded corners and familiar black front façade, perhaps this the reason that it sold in Chinese markets only as it would face instant lawsuits from Apple. Unlike Apple’s playbook the MX has white plastic backing, instead of the iconic chrome. The MX weighs 4.9 ounces and measures 4.8 inches tall by 2.5-inchs deep and just 0.4-inch thick, this makes MX very pocket able too.
The other interesting features of this phone are the two white capacitive buttons that consists of grouped LED dots. This arrangement helps on surfing on the screen. Like, the left button becomes a left arrow when inside an app or menu. The phone runs on Flyme OS, a skin on top Android. The whole UI has a distinctive iOS look. It has three-side scrolling home screens and Apple-like app icons.
Laptop Catches Fires in Virginia
In American state Virginia, a forest woman’s laptop burst into flames when she turned it on. In the past year, more than eight people have been burned, one person treated for smoke inhalation and 36 computers have been damaged in the United States. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission the batteries in some HP and Compaq computers can actually catch fire. Over 160,000 lithium-ion battery used in HP and Compaq laptops have been recalled since 208 because they overheat, rupture and catch fire.
The laptop made a popping noise and when into to fames before she could turn around and see, recalls Lauren Campbell as she lost her HP Pavilion laptop. She threw the laptop on her driver way, and later realized that she had second-degree burns on her foot due to battery acid.
A similar incident took place in Bedford County when a Toshiba computer sparked a house fire that killed a Moneta man in last November. The Toshiba computer found in the home was too badly burned to find serial or model number.
John Jennings, Bedford County’s Fire Marshal, has urged all laptop users to unplug their netbooks when not in use. According to him, they should be kept away from beds and carpets while serial numbers should be registered on the manufacturer’s website.
Following is the News Release from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission:
| Notebook Model Number | Battery Bar Codes (^ in the code can be any letter or number) |
|
| HP Pavilion | dv2000, dv2500, dv2700, dv6000, dv6500, dv6700,dx6000, dx6500, dx6700 |
62940^^AXV^^^^, 65035^^B7U^^^^, 65035^^B7V^^^^, 65035^^BGU^^^^, 65035^^BGV^^^^ |
| dv9000, dv9500, dv9700 | 65033^^B7U^^^^, 65033^^B7V^^^^, 65033^^BGU^^^^, 65033^^BGV^^^^ | |
| Compaq Presario | A900 C700 F500, F700 V3000, V3500, V3700, V6000, V6500, V6700 |
62940^^AXV^^^^, 65035^^B7U^^^^, 65035^^B7V^^^^, 65035^^BGU^^^^, 65035^^BGV^^^^ |
| HP | G6000, G7000 | 62940^^AXV^^^^, 65035^^B7U^^^^, 65035^^B7V^^^^, 65035^^BGU^^^^, 65035^^BGV^^^^ |
| HP Compaq | 6510b, 6515b, 6710b, 6710s, 6715b, 6715s | 65000^^B5V^^^^ |
| 6520s | 67150^^AXU^^^^, 67150^^AXV^^^^ | |
| 6720s | 67059^^V8U^^^^, 67059^^V8V^^^^ | |
Fake iPad 2s Sold at Canadian Stores
The winter holidays were a boom time for sales of consumer electronics devices like iPad tablets. But a group of scammers in Canada managed to fool a number of consumers in the holidays when they opened their iPad 2 packaging to find nothing but a bag of clay, and in some cases even the tablet charger had replaced with a bag of clay.
The scammers had managed to purchase iPad 2s for cash, removed tablet and placed a bag of clay having same size and shape as of an iPad tablet. The thieves had all the necessary tools and materials to reseal the iPad 2 box professionally so it looks as if it had been never been opened by anyone. The retail stores received and accepted the tablets back as returns without further checks because they were sealed. The tablets were then proceeded to resell them to other willing customers.
The retailers in Metro Vancouver who have been affected by this included Best Buy, Future Shop, Walmart and London Drugs. There are some reports suggest that the same thing happened in Victoria. In total, some 10 to 20 iPads have been replaced with clay bags and successfully returned to retailers. This scam has forced the retailers to alter their “returns policy”. Now, if you return a sealed iPad 2 to one these retail stores, don’t be surprised if the sales assistant breaks the seals and checks the contents. It is, after all, the only possible way to make sure that iPad 2 is still inside.
The stores will now check the security camera footage to identify the individuals involved in this purchases and returns. The local police will also help in tracking down these scammers before they start this scam at another location.
Smartphone Camera Accessories at CES 2012
With the passage of time and advancement in technology, smartphone cameras have been getting better. Now, a variety of lens options are available for devices which intensifies the competition in the market. Many of the lens attachment makers displayed their products at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas from January 8 to January 13.
When Apple launched the latest model of the iPhone, the 4S in October, they were singing praise of its cameras a, calling it the “you-can’t-believe-it’s-on-a-phone camera”. According to the California-based company this 8-megapixel is the best camera phone ever on a phone.
Elodie Macquet, head of market for Xshot, a California-based company that makes tripods for the Apple’s iPhone said the new smartphone cameras have served as a death blow for the compact cameras that have low quality result. “Now that I have a 4S, I hardly ever use my little camera anymore,” said Macquet.
All these latest smartphones like iPhone have there limitations too, and because of that companies are now stepping up to provide suitable support. Kogeto, a New York firm, developed an iPhone lens attachment known as “Dot” that turns video shot by the smartphone into panoramic footage. The Dot looks like a shot glass or a magnifying loupe such as those employed by jewelers or photographers. It is clipped on to an iPhone, aligning itself with the lens of the camera, and transforms the video into a 360-degree panoramic image. The shipping of the Dot began in last October. The Dot is currently available for $679 for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. The Android-powered Samsung Galaxy Nexus will have the Dot by mid of this year.
At the CES 2012, Olloclip, a California company offered a $70 3-in1 lens solutions for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. The company provides fisheye, wide-angle and macro lenses. The lens helping in providing a field of view double in a normal iPhone.
Fujitsu Rolls-Out “Only for Girls” Phones
In 2011, we saw a new trend of gender-based personalized products. Companies LEGO started a new line of girl LEGO products and it has an expansive line of products now as it released 545 products in 2011. Now, companies in Japan are also coming with similar plans of launching special ‘girly’ products.
On Friday, Japan-based Company Fujitsu announced two new phones “only for girls” which caters the popular demand of gender-based products. One of the Android based device is called Fujitsu F-03D Girls that has been developed with the help of popular teenage fashion magazine called Popteen.
The F-03D Girls runs on an MSm8255 1.4 GHz processor with 512 RAM & 1 GB ROM. Its features a 3.7-inch LCD with 480 x 800 resolution. It also features 8-megapixel CMOS camera, Wi-Fi IEEE802.11b/g/n, TV tuner 2.1+EDR Bluetooth, e-wallet function, and a microSDHC card slot. It is powered by Google’s Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).The phone has special lights at the bottom and around the camera and it comes with waterproof body, pre-installed photoframes, preinstalled apps that are created specifically for a female user base.
The other “Only for Girls” smartphone is called F-06D Girls. It is one of the very few new feature phones that going to hit the markets in Japan. Fujitsu has designed this handset with the cooperation of nicola (another popular teenage fashion magazine). Just like its Android counterpart, the F-06D Girls is also waterproof. The buyers will get an original tote bag and a stylus pen to use it on the 3.3-inch touch display. It features an 8-megapixel camera, 39 different photoframes, and plenty of Nicola wallpapers. It has 3,010 pre-installed emoji for cuter emails.
Japanese mobile carrier service NTT Docomo will offer these “Only for Girls” Fujitsu phones by January 20.
Frenzy Crowds Halts iPhone 4S Sales in China
Stories about excited and uncontrollable shippers in China fighting over newly released Apple products are now becoming a regular feature in the country. But, in the latest run-up to the release of the iPhone 4S on January 13 in Beijing, things got so out of control that Apple had to temporarily suspend sales of the device. This is the first time Apple has stopped the sale of a new product in a continent where its products are “too popular”.
Apple has been excepting such high demand for the device in the region as its CEO Tim Cook said, “Customer response to our products in China has been off the charts. With the launch in China next week, iPhone 4S will be available in over 90 countries making this our fastest iPhone rollout ever.” But after the frenzied crowds at Apple’s Beijing store and several violent protests, the California company decided to suspend the planned China launch of iPhone 4S.“We were unable to open our store at Sanlitun [Apple's flagship store in Beijing] due to the large crowd, and to ensure the safety of our customers and employees, iPhone will not be available in our retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai for the time being,” said Carolyn Wu, Apple’s spokeswoman. According to Apple, Chinese shoppers can still buy the iPhone 4S online, but if we visit the Apple’s Chinese online store we find that the device is not available.
In the massive crowds, there are some professional scalpers who want to buy the coveted device for resale on the grey market at high prices. For discouraging this type of grey-marketing, Apple store only allow buyers to purchase two iPhones per customer. But, this policy has some side effects too as the number of professional resellers waiting on line quickly grows into the hundreds creating problems of law and order. Every Apple fan in China wants to get his hands on the latest iPhone and the result are Chinese news channels showing fights, and even eggs being throw at the Apple store.