Yeah, so Google Reader isn’t getting any funding love from Google. As we all know by now, the company is shutting it down. But there are other startups to be had and new technology to become obsessed with!
Every few months, Google has been “shutting down” various offerings they feel are under-used, in an effort to regain some focus. Many of these are uncontroversial, though a few have been surprising and freaked some users out. Many, for example, were surprised and upset when Google announced it was phasing out iGoogle. But today’s news that it is shutting down Google Reader took many, many people by surprise. My Twitter feed blew up with people freaking out about it. For those who use it, many really rely on it for their daily information gathering process. I know the feeling, because I used to do that — though a few years ago I shifted to mostly using Twitter via a well-organized Tweetdeck, and found that to be just as (if not more) effective, though a somewhat different overall experience that took some getting used to.
Still, a very large number of folks I know feel like they practically live inside Google Reader — and I know (for example) that Google Reader is a huge driver of traffic to this site, so I get the feeling many of you use Google Reader as well. The thing that seems to have so many folks upset is the fact that there really aren’t any comparable alternatives if you want that same basic experience. In fact, you could argue that Google effectively killed off many of those alternatives. Back in the day there were things like Newsgator and Bloglines, but both were effectively marginalized or pushed into other markets because Google Reader really did become the de facto standard RSS reader that so many used and relied on.
VIA | techdirt.com
HTC has just launched a new flagship model HTC One. The biggest selling point is its camera components, which is named as UltraPixel. Despite the camera’s pixels of only 4 million, it has the sensor element and the amount of light of the unit pixel exceeds beyond the existing smart phones.
However, according to analysts, the sales of HTC One will be affected due to the shortages of the camera component, analysts also said that the camera assembly yields less than 30%, until this year, while during the first half of the year; HTC One will likely have the production of millions of units. To continue walking the fine line, HTC’s ultimate goal is still to make their flagship product accepted by the public, the next thing they need to do is to ensure the stability of the production.
Imagine that you’re a pretty good drummer, you’re in a band, and you’d like to give lessons. You could charge for these lessons, of course, but you’re really into helping out charities. A site called ProBueno is a marketplace, founded by MIT alums, to shop your talents in exchange for charitable donations. When you think about it, all this really is is technology-empowered volunteering.
It’s a brilliant concept and the site has just announced that it has signed up Khan Academy for a pilot program. The goal of ProBueno is to show that sometimes you don’t have to be the one with the deep pockets to do good and contribute to a cause that’s meaningful to you. For more information on how the site works, check out their info page, or hit the link below to sign up.
VIA | Lifehacker.com
On March 11, the Chinese domestic mobile phone brand K-touch officially announced its new product, – Kiss First Love Edition, the new product will be powered by Qualcomm MSM 8225Q quad-core processor speeds up to 1.2GHz. In addition, Kiss First Love Edition comes with a 4GB ROM +1 GB RAM memory portfolio and 4.7-inch QHD capacitive screen resolution of 960 x 540 pixels.
As to the internal system, Kiss First Love supports W + G network dual card dual standby and loads with Android 4.1, 2000mAh capacity battery which also guarantees the version of the phone life. At the present time, Kiss First Love price has been announced, only 999 RMB (US$160.00), orders will be accepted from now and K-touch official website will be officially open to sell on March 25.
On this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC), LG launched a variety of new Android smartphones, which includes the low-end products – LG Optimus L5 II. Now, according to the latest news from the foreign media, LG Optimus L5 II is now officially landing the Brazilian market, and then will be sold in more countries and regions.
In terms of configuration, Running Android 4.1, LG Optimus L5 II adopted 4.0 inches WVGA (480 × 800 pixels) IPS touch screen, is powered by a 1GHz single-core processor, and equipped with a 500-megapixel main camera. Yet we don’t know the price of the phone, but based on its configuration, and LG’s pricing strategy, the price of this phone will be around one thousand RMB (US$160.00) or so.
In addition to Brazil, LG Optimus L5 II will be subsequently landing Central and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. I believe that soon we will see in the domestic market this low-end Android smartphone – LG Optimus L5 II.
Finding great music on the internet is easy, but keeping all of it organized can be tough. You might have videos favorited at YouTube, a playlist at SoundCloud, or maybe artists bookmarked at Bandcamp. Songdrop collects and organizes them all for you.
Songdrop is often referred to as a Delicious for music, and that analogy isn’t too far off. Create a free account (or sign up via Facebook if you choose) and drag the bookmarklet to your browser toolbar. From there, just click the bookmarklet to add any music you find and enjoy at YouTube, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Tumblr, VEVO, or other music blogs right to your Songdrop collection, much like bookmarks.
As always, you can use one of our amazing android tablets or smartphones to access this interesting web based storage for your favorite music.
Read more: techcrunch.com
Modern cameras can make digital photography seem very easy, and even the most basic models will often produce crisp, clear photos. You’ll still have occasional issues with lighting, white balance, red-eye and more, though, so it’s a good idea to keep a photo editor around to help resolve them: but which one?
The extremely demanding (or very wealthy) may still opt for Photoshop, and there’s no doubt it’s a great program. But if your finances won’t stretch that, though, don’t worry, there are some excellent free tools around.
We’ve found 10 of the very best free photo editing apps, and whether you’re looking for comprehensive editing power, ease of use, arty effects or just a quick way to spice up a photo before posting it on Facebook, there’s something for you here.
. Gimp GIMP (the GNU Image Manipulation Program) first appeared way back in 1996, and has been regularly updated ever since, so it's no surprise that the package is the most powerful free photo editor that you'll find anywhere.
There are tools to correct colours, enhance contrast, brightness and more; sharpen or blur an image, fix perspective problems, remove red-eye; add special lighting effects, turn a photo into an oil painting, and create an animation.
The paint tools alone are amazing, there's full layer support and lots of ways to extend the program.
All this power does mean GIMP takes a while to learn, but don't let that put you off - if you've any previous image editing experience then you'll be doing useful work within minutes.
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2. Paint.NET
It may not have anything like the power of GIMP, but there's still plenty to like about Paint.NET. It's strong on image editing basics, with options to resize and rotate your photos, a good range of selection and paint tools, and some excellent special effects.
Support for layers means you can apply your edits to part of an image only, and the program can be extended with plugins.
Best of all, though, Paint.NET's clear and straightforward interface means it's very easy to use, even if you're a complete graphics novice.
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3. PhoXo
PhoXo has been around for almost 10 years now, and it's grown into a very useful editor with something for everyone. Kids can play around with the clipart, customising images with cartoon cats; practical types will enjoy options like the ability to add a custom watermark to an entire folder of images; and everyone else will appreciate the drawing and paint tools, image transformations, effects and more.
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4. Funny Photo Maker
Funny Photo Maker has no layer support, no smart selection tools, no paint or drawing options. But that doesn't matter, because what it does have is an amazing range of effects which you can apply in seconds.
So you can add someone's face to a movie poster, magazine cover or a dollar bill; transform a still image into an animation; add rain or snow to a photo, apply some excellent frames, and turn your photos into a collage, amongst many other options.
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5. Photo Pos Pro
Its tiny toolbars and dated interface mean Photo Pos Pro doesn't look too promising, but begin to explore and you'll soon be impressed.
There are plenty of selection options, a wide range of paint tools, colour corrections and more.
You get reasonable support for layers and masks, lots of effects (all extremely configurable), and a scripting tool which helps you automate many editing tasks.
And the program offers some fun touches, too, like a set of "Magical" effects which help you add fireworks, bubbles, stardust or similar decorations to an image.
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6. PhotoScape
PhotoScape won't appeal to editing experts - there's no layer support, for instance - but if you're just looking to have some quick fun with a photo then it's a very different story.
There are hundreds of clipart images ready to paste into your picture, for instance. You can add custom speech bubbles to an image, apply some great special effects, even create animated GIFs.
Most of these options are surprisingly configurable too. So while other tools might just have a single "turn this photo into an oil painting", for instance, PhotoScape supports 11 artistic styles (Pastel, Pencil, Cartoon, more), each of which can then be customised further.
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7. IrfanView
As its name suggests, IrfanView is mostly about viewing images, but the program also includes more plenty of editing power.
You can rotate and resize an image, for instance; tweak its colours, brightness and contrast; add text captions or watermarks; sharpen your photo, remove red-eye, and apply a range of special effects.
If that's not enough, though, IrfanView can be extended via its support for 8Bf (Photoshop), AltaLux, Filter Factory and Filters Unlimited plugins. And all in a compact free tool which requires less than 2MB of disk space.
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8. PhotoFiltre
While it's more an image retouching tool than a conventional editor (and it's only free for personal use), PhotoFiltre has plenty of editing features and it's capable of some spectacular results.
The PhotoMask tool alone, for instance, applies stylish contour and transparency effects to your image for an impressively artistic effect (check the program website for some great examples).
Elsewhere there are plenty of paint tools, colour corrections and filters, and overall the program is a great choice when you need more artistic editing options.
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9. PixBuilder Studio
PixBuilder Studio is a useful mid-range photo editor with a strong focus on solid, practical features. So instead of cartoon clipart and arty effects you get sensible features like crop, resize and rotate options, plenty of colour correction tools, sharpness and blur filters and some capable print tools.
There's not a lot of fun here, then, but PixBuilder Studio is great it you just want to make your photos a little better (and 8BF filter support means the program can be extended if necessary).
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10. Chasys Draw IES
Look past its odd name and Chasys Draw IES proves to be a very capable photo editor with a stack of essential features: extensive paint and drawing tools, strong layer support, lots of smart special effects, plenty of colour and lighting adjustments, Photoshop plugin support, and more.
These are just some of the program's capabilities, though. You can also use it to create animations, CD or DVD labels, icons and cursors, or even capture videos of desktop activity.
With a RAW file processor, image viewer and converter also included, Chasys Draw IES really is an amazingly versatile package.
