Calls for compensation came from many disgruntled users and RIM has finally decided on what form this will take; free applications from the BlackBerry App World service.

Around £63 worth of free apps will be dished out to all BlackBerry users who choose to download them from the 19th of October.

The apps range in individual price and types, from games including The Sims 3 to photo editing apps and translation tools. RIM is clearly hoping that there will be a broad enough range to satisfy its varied audience of users, although there will doubtlessly be those who consider a few free apps irrelevant after the inconvenience caused by the outage.

What makes RIM particularly susceptible to criticism following any problems is the fact that it has become the go-to brand for anyone in business who wants to communicate with colleague, do deals, send emails and access the web.

When many of these core functions were taken away by system failures in October social networking sites like Twitter were quickly ablaze with angry comments, not only from average users but also from celebrities and luminaries of the business world.

Such a high-profile catastrophe as compounded because many perceived RIM as having failed to communicate with customers during the recovery process, which means some free applications might not be enough to stop thousands of people ditching their BlackBerry and turning to a rival manufacturer such as Apple.

Of course three days is a relatively brief period for intermittent service to occur and it was not a complete blackout, with many corporate BlackBerry users remaining unaffected. Many will stick with their BlackBerry smartphone because they love the physical full QWERTY keyboards on models like the Torch and Bold, which cannot be found on alternatives like the iPhone. Typing precision is a key selling point, particularly if the user is a heavy email user.

If you want to download the free apps for your BlackBerry then you will have until the end of 2011 to do so.

RIM head Mike Lazarides spoke out about the problems which occurred and the compensation being offered. He said that the company had spent over a decade creating a trusting relationship with its millions of customers and that he wanted to assure them that they could rely on RIM to deliver quality products and services well into the future.

For some the apologies will be too little and too late, but the BlackBerry phone range still has some of the best high-end handsets around, with email functionality and text input excellence that is difficult to match on pure touch phones. Indeed RIM is embracing the future with new models like the Curve Touch and Bellagio, so if you want a combination of physical keypads and tactile interfaces a BlackBerry can still be a viable option.

Watch it here!

For those that used the previous add-on version, you’ll find little different. Aesthetically, you’ll notice that the actual video will be cut down (removing the play count and video information) so to make presentation easier, and the videos will appear on the map as a thumbnail instead of a small red dot.

Google Map: You Tube Integration Screenshot

I, for one, can’t wait to see what people start filming because of this. Sure, there might be boring videos here and there of people checking out barren stretches of highway that no one will ever see (which I actually think is kind of neat), but this does provide an opportunity to make the world seem a little bit smaller.

Photo credit: Google / Source: maximumpc.com

Windows 7 is more than what Vista should have been, it’s where Microsoft needed to go. How much damage Vista did and whether Windows 7 is enough for people to finally abandon Windows XP are questions that nobody has the answers to right now.

Read review and take CNET Quick Poll and see what others say.

According to Microsoft 2.0:

“There’s a seemingly related (related to Singularity) project under development at Microsoft which has been hush-hush. That project, codenamed ‘Midori,’ is a new Microsoft operating-system platform that supposedly supersedes Windows. Midori is in incubation, which means it is a little closer to market than most Microsoft Research projects, but not yet close enough to be available in any kind of early preview form.

“What’s also interesting about Midori is who is running the project. One-time Gates heir-apparent Eric Rudder is heading up the effort. Midori is being incubated under Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie’s wing. ‘Everyone under him (under Rudder on Midori) is a multi-year vet, has a super fancy title, and is going back to their roots and writing code like they probably did in the old days,’ one Microsoft tipster told me.

“When and how Microsoft will roll out Midori is still a mystery. But it sounds like the company thinks the project is serious enough to dedicate a considerable amount of time/people/resources to it.”

So it won’t be in Windows 7, but from the sounds of it, Midori might be far enough along to make it to Windows 8. Will they still keep calling it Windows to hold onto the brand, or will they call it something different to illustrate how dramatically separate it is from what we’re currently using? [ZDNet]

Dedicated servers have a number of features that distinguish it from shared hosting. As the names indicate, dedicated servers are acquired for the exclusive use of the client while the shared hosting solution offers shared space on a server that is pre-designed and mostly limited. Dedicated servers also tend to have immense hard disk space usually in the terabyte range. This is quite different from shared hosting where a server is partitioned into numerous units and sold as site hosting packages. Dedicated servers are expensive compared to shared hosting due to the exclusive use the client has of the server while site hosting tends to be at the very cheap side of the market and is mostly used for the most basic web requirements.

A VPS server or VPS hosting on the other hand has more similarities with a dedicated server than does shared hosting. VPS is an acronym that stands for Virtual Private Server and this immediately alludes to some form of exclusive use of a server. This is true but only to a certain point. VPS employs virtualization technology which is able to clone or duplicate a virtual server within a physical server. In this case, many miniature virtual servers exist within one server. This provides the client with all the benefits of a dedicated server but with a few added benefits. The main benefit is the cost. VPS server packages are cheaper than dedicated server packages due to the shared resources involved.

Dedicated servers are mostly used by big companies or large websites that require vast amounts of resources and also need the flexibility to configure and scale their servers as they would wish. Shared hosting is best used for basic websites that do not require much resource and which require the cost benefit conferred by this option. VPS on the other hand is for the middle user. This user has web-resource needs that cannot be accommodated by a shared hosting package but does not have the financial resources to take up a dedicated server. This is especially ideal for Forex traders and online gamers who require the best of all three options.

CAYIN will exhibit various products including: zone-type (SMP-PRO series) and web-based (SMP-WEB series) media players, content management servers, management software – SuperMonitor 2 and SuperReporter, and content-editing software for vertical markets – xPost. In addition, four main themes of a hotel reception, a museum, a restaurant, and an interactive area will present visitors with live demonstration of simulation of digital signage applications. SMP-WEBDUO, CAYIN’s web-based digital signage player supporting dual screens and 1080p Full HD video playback, will be officially introduced the first time in China at InfoComm China 2009. To demonstrate its capability to manage two displays simultaneously, SMP-WEBDUO is scheduled to show exclusive contents of digital menu board with both static price list and dynamic promotions playing in separate screens. In addition, vivid advertising will be shown together with SMP-WEBDUO’s most fantastic function, supporting extended multimedia contents from one screen to another which makes dazzling animation-like effects.

CAYIN’s most advanced zone-type digital signage player, SMP-PROPLUS, will showcase the museum application in portrait display. Through flash animation together with artworks’ brief introduction of origin, visitors will be deeply engaged in the atmosphere of an ancient art museum. SMP-PROPLUS can present up to seven zones for two stored/live videos, two image slide shows, a ticker, a clock, and a theme background. It can also perform as an in-store music player simultaneously.

Interactive digital signage application is also one highlight this year. Through CAYIN’s touch-enabled web-based digital signage player SMP-WEBPLUS-T, visitors can click on a product tab appears on the touch screen and view the corresponding dynamic product introduction on the other screen promptly.

In the hotel reception, CAYIN will present SMP-WEB3, the enhanced web-based media player collocated with xPost, the specially designed application software for hotels and convention centers. In addition to live demonstrations through SMP-WEB3, xPost will be introduced with its three modules: lobbyPost, wayfinderPost and meetingPost. Informative messages such as weather information, direction guiding information, meeting schedule, promotional messages, room rates, and advertising will be conveyed corresponding to the real hotel applications.
SuperMonitor 2, the advanced monitoring software designated for CAYIN’s digital signage network, helps administrators to keep track of the live status of multiple digital signage projects and thus improves efficiency of management and lowers personnel costs. SuperReporter helps users in a way to generate playback and system status and billing reports of multiple players.

“InfoComm China is the largest-scale professional AV exhibition held in China which is considered to be a great platform to root in the Chinese Market. CAYIN Technology has continuously joined this show for years because we value the Asian market and we don’t stop cultivating it,” said Michael Wu, vice president of Greater China Department at CAYIN Technology. “We will keep communicating with customers and partners in China face to face via all suitable channels and share CAYIN’s worldwide experience. We welcome all people who are interested in joining the digital signage industry to contact us.”

InfoComm China 2009 in brief InfoComm China 2009, hosted by InfoCommAsia Pte Ltd, will be taken place in National Agricultural Exhibition Center in Beijing, from November 9th-11st. It has provided efficient trade and communication platform for numbers of exhibitors and market players from Audio and Video industry. 8,525 professionals were attracted to join InfoComm China 2007 and 90% of them were system integrators, distributors, contractors, and suppliers. More visitors from markets including digital signage, home entertainment, retailing, projecting systems, video conferencing etc. are expected to participate in InfoComm China this year and it is regarded as a great opportunity to expand business in Chinese market.

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In essence, VPS hosting bridges the gap between shared and dedicated hosting. Like a shared server, a VPS has common assets such as sharing CPU and of course the same physical unit as others. But the main difference is the virtual separation of these servers, which allows them to have an independent operating system, software, and resources such as RAM and disk space, as if it were a dedicated server. And for those in need of more platform and security control over their website(s), VPS hosting allows for root access where you have complete control over your account, which can range from configurations to software installations; and with security, you have control over the firewall and can customize it to fit your needs, as well as the ability to choose what services are accessible by what IP addresses.

Moreover, those looking to expand their website(s), whether with the addition of more sites, e-commerce with large databases, or dynamic content, VPS hosting can handle the heavy load with its scalability. In other words, you can start small and continue to grow without needing to upgrade machines. And if your goal is to gain traffic to your site as well, a VPS has the ability of “burstable memory” (reserved resources available when needed) for times of unexpected traffic spikes.

So whether you have a website for a small to mid-sized business or you run a popular blog, VPS webhosting has the necessary tools to keep your site up and running for a small investment.

Thankfully the current generation of smartphones like the Apple iPhone, the Nokia N97 and the HTC Hero all aim to do all this and more. Photography is also a big part of the smartphone standard features list, though to be honest some smartphones have underwhelming photographic capabilities at first glance. Though the iPhone 3Gs has an improved 3.2 megpixel camera, it lags behind the competition in terms of image quality and versatility. But when the iPhone and its contemporaries are coupled with decent photography applications, their functionalities and photographic potentials can be extended far beyond the original intentions of their manufacturers.

Pano App
Though some camera phones have built-in panoramic capture software, the iPhone does not. This application rectifies that by allowing you to take multiple pictures of a scene and then sit back as the app does all the work and stitches them together into a seamless panorama. Some truly breathtaking results can be achieved.

Photogene
If you are looking for a powerful image editing app for your iPhone then this is the one to pick. It is like having Photoshop in your pocket and you can tweak and manipulate virtually anything you can imagine after you have captured a picture. You can let your creative side get to work.

SplashPhoto
This application is compatible with various smartphone, including Nokia handset using the Symbian operating system. If you have got tons of photos stored on your phone but are not pleased with the way in which the basic software allows you to view and organise said photos, this is the app for you. What is more, SplashPhoto can load your pictures up to 80% faster than the basic software of your smartphone, which is a big benefit if your phone takes high-resolution images that can take a while to load.

SnapMyLife
This is one of the best mobile applications that lets you share your photos instantly via social networking and blogging sites. It is compatible with BlackBerry smartphones amongst others and it also allows you to view pictures your friends and family have taken on your own phone.

When you are searching for photography applications, or indeed applications of all kinds, you will want to do so at high speed. You could use the 3G connection on your smartphone, but this may cost you money. If you have a broadband connection in your home and a wireless router you could connect your smartphone using the built-in Wi-Fi for some free surfing and app downloading. This is undoubtedly the cheapest broadband option when you are looking for applications and is usually faster than 3G.