Skype introduces 10 way video calling for Windows

The second beta of Skype 5.0 brings a number of changes both outside and in – most importantly, you can now make group video calls with up to 10 people. It also welcomes in a fresh new look, as well as increased stability and better quality when making group video calls.

Make group video calls with up to 10 people

You can now use Skype to make group video calls* with up to 10 people – letting you bring even more of your family, friends or business together, even if you’re cities or continents apart.

Note that everyone in a group video call now needs to be running this version, so if your friends, family or colleagues are using Beta 1, they’ll have to upgrade before you can include them in group video calls.

A refreshed user interface

You’ll notice that the new-look Skype is sleeker, neater and crisper than before, and they’re proud of the work our interface designers have done to refine and mature the interface for this version. They have also added Skype Home, where you can follow your contacts’ mood messages, set your profile picture and mood message, receive account notifications and learn more about using Skype.

Better stability and quality

They have made improvements to call quality when making group video calls, as well as fixed a number of bugs affecting stability, so your calling experience should be smoother than before. This version also includes automatic call recovery, which should help automatically reconnect Skype calls that are interrupted due to network problems. They have also made a number of other housekeeping fixes since the first beta – but please bear in mind that this is still a beta version, and so there may be the odd bug remaining.

* Group video calling is currently available as a free trial. For group video calls, everyone in the group video call will need Skype 5.0 Beta 2 for Windows.

(from skype official blog)

First serious iPad competitor: Samsung Galaxy Tab

We have read and seen tons of promised for Android based tablets, all with all the features lacking in the iPad such as cameras, USB ports, you name it.

Well none of them are in the market, except for the Samsung Galaxy Tab that can be seen on sale on Germany for nearly 1000 usd.

There was also a lot of talk about wepad, also in Germany but I don’t think it is there yet. What it is sure is that this is about to boom. The Samsung android tablet runs froyo 2.2, has 16 or 32Gb and cameras. And it is much samller than the iPad.

Take a look at the comercial. It looks very good:

New iPods and Apple TV

Steve Jobs announced a lot of updates and new products in its yesterday keynote:

• iOS 4.1 now and iO4 4.2 by November (free updates) also for iPad (so multitasking by November). It will include wireless printing from iPhones, iPods touch and iPads, and AirPlay, to stream your music videos and photos over wifi.
• New iPod touch: very flat, with retina display and HD video recording (2 cameras). Like an iPhone 4 (with facetime) but without the phone and very light and slim.
• New iPod Nano, running iOS… just a squared screen, small but awesome.
• New iPod Shuffle (back to the origins).
• New Apple TV. 1/4 of the size of the current one for $99. Running sort of iOS but no app store. No internal storage. A4 chip and connected to Netflix, YouTube, Flickr and mobileMe. You can buy  rent HD movies for $4.99 and shows for $0.99. Amazon has already responded with the same prices but for buying the stuff instead of renting it.
• iTunes 10. New logo (with no CD in it) and Ping, a sort of social thing for music. I don’t know if they want to kill MySpace… You can update you iTunes to 10 if you have jailbroken iPhone. No problem.

  

  

  
  

  

  

  
  

  

  
  

My morning run

Future of Touch Screens?

Complicated Mechanisms Explained in simple animations

Radial Engines

Radial engines are used in aircrafts having propeller connected to the shaft delivering power in order to produce thrust its basic mechanism is as follows

Steam engine Principle

Steam engine once used in locomotives was based on the reciprocating principle as shown below

Sewing Machine

Maltese Cross Mechanism

this type of mechanism is used in clocks to power the second hand movement.

Manual Transmission Mechanism

The mechanism also called as “stick shift” is used in cars to change gears mannually

Constant Velocity Joint

This mechanism is used in the front wheel drive cars

Torpedo-Boat destroyer System

This system is used to destroy fleet in naval military operations.

Rotary Engine

Also called as Wankel engine is a type of internal combustion engine has a unique design that converts pressure into rotating motion instead of reciprocating pistons

(from world of technology)

The Seatle apartment

Chelsea brought this article and this fantastic little apartment to my attention. I am guilty of not covering apartments very often but I love the use of space in this one and you must see it.

The article written by The Seattle Times Rebecca Teagarden is titled “Tiny apartment shows the value of a good fit” and talks about Steve Sauer’s 182-square-foot Seattle condo which shows the value of a good fit, from the soaking tub built into the entry floor to the “video lounge” tucked beneath the “cafe area.” Sauer shopped Ikea for many of his home’s furnishings, such as a little table, and used tabletops to fashion cabinet fronts.

Photos by Benjamin Benschneider of the Seattle Times

Steve Sauer watches television in the video lounge, which has seating for two. The horizontal band around the condo, accenting the powder-blue walls, is coated with blackboard paint.

Saurer’s says, “What I really wanted was one place with exactly what I needed and wanted. Quality is more important than quantity for me, and extra space only a problem,” he has written, describing his nearby too-big-for-him, one-bedroom condo.

Sauer relaxes in the cafe area of his 182-square-foot condo. “I was worried as I filled in all the upper spaces that it would feel cramped, but it didn’t,” he says. The window is at street level. The little table is Ikea. It has a glass top that swivels open, providing storage.

“I wanted to compress my home to squirt me back out to the community,” he says, taking inspiration from dwellings in Scandinavia and Japan, places where space is dear. “That was one of the philosophical reasons. I want to be able to shop daily, not store a lot and eat really well.”

Sauer checks his messages at the dining table, which includes a leaf to expand for company. The undercounter refrigerator is Frigidaire, from Lowe’s.

When Sauer couldn’t find the things he needed, he designed them and built them: The stainless-steel shower caddy, towel bar. For other pieces, “Ikea came through again.” Lighting, cabinet pulls, and butcher block for shelves, the table top and cabinet fronts. The rich flooring, Brazilian walnut, was installed by Matt Messenger. A bureau from West Elm fit to 1/8 of an inch, and so it was ordered.

Sauer designed the tiny condo for two. Just inside the door is the bathroom to the left, and a soaking tub inserted into the floor and covered with a 3form Chroma panel.

“My dream is to put 300 of these in a building and not have it be a tenement.”

Read the Seattle Times article here.

One bike is tethered to the ceiling for storage. Steam heat comes from the building’s system. The ventilation chimney runs across Sauer’s ceiling, and was easy to pipe into. “It was passing through here anyway.”

The bathroom wall is covered in 1-inch tiles from Tiles for Less. Light filters into the room through a 3form Chroma panel, shared with the kitchen. The ceiling is tempered glass meant for a table top from Ikea. The toilet is Philippe Stark for Duravit. Sauer designed and manufactured the stainless-steel shower caddy and towel bar.

The video lounge is tucked beneath the cafe area and next to the dining table. “All along the way this project’s had good chi, so that’s good,” Sauer says. The bureau is from West Elm. “It fit to within 1/8 inch. It was a nice find. I didn’t want to build another piece of furniture.” The floor is Brazilian walnut.

(from tinyhouseblog)

Gmail Priority Inbox to sort your messy inbox by priorities

Google is rolling out Priority Inbox for Gmail. For Google apps user it will be rolled out next week.

The idea is to handle messy inboxes, by applying rules. Take a look at the video:

Monday, let laugh a bit…

Mac tip: Save PDF to Web Receipt folder

This is a small tip that can be helpful for those buying stuff via internet.

When you are done with the transaction and you have the receipt on the screen, what do you normally do? Well in most cases you print it out, then you don’t know if the printer is on, if there is paper… then you don’t know where did you put it once it is printed… or in some cases you just ignore the scree because they will probably send you an email confirmation with the receipt or bill, so you can always go to

your email and look for it… and if you are lucky you find it.

Well, if you are on a mac when you are in the receipt page, you just click command+P, like when printing, and in the PDF button on the bottom left corner you will find an option called: Save PDF to Web Receipt Folder.

If you do click that a PDF will be created with the current screen (not just what you see, all of it!) with the title of the page. This in a Web Receipt folder in your Documents folder. Very very handy.

It is not something I use. I choose Save PDF to Evernote, where it is saved into my Evernote, where it is OCR so it becomes searcheble and it is also stored on the web, but if you don’t use evernote the Save to Web Receipt foder is a very good option.

Youtube now opens a film section with more then 400 free titles

You are not going to find blockbusters but it is quite a move for youtube: YouTube Movies

Browse movies, from great documentaries such as home to films nobody knows because probably they don’t have any rights, or they are so old that they have expired.

Anyway, take if there is nothing on TV, it is good to take a look. You might enjoy an old Jacky Chan movie ;-)

What the f**k is…

Looking for social media strategies in twitter I bumped into a couple of funny sites that I would like to share with you:

WHAT THE FUCK IS MY SOCIAL MEDIA “STRATEGY”?

It is like the bullshitr generator that I have mentioned earlier but with “social media” terms.

It is inspired on:

WHAT THE FUCK SHOULD I MAKE FOR DINNER?

Mophie and Intuit partner to create Complete Card Solution for iPhone, try to make Square look square

Who knew that credit card processing would be the new hotness for smartphones? The Square mobile payment system has been making waves by letting small businesses receive credit card payment directly on their smartphones. Now, mophie and Intuit are looking to get in on the same action with their Complete Card Solution for iPhone. It’s a $179 package that includes both mophie’s card-swiping phone case and the 3.0 version of Intuit’s GoPayment app. After a quick application users are said to be approved (or, erm, declined) within 15 minutes and can immediately start accepting payments. Full details, including just how much users will be forking over in fees, after the break.

Initial targeted clients were people like plumbers and electricians, but we can definitely see tech-minded farmers at the market relying on this sort of system, along with craftmeisters who shun Etsy and prefer to sell face-to-face. A single account can also cover up to 50 users, meaning an entire sales team could be equipped with these devices. Intuit’s site provides lots of data on transactions and the like, but for the full ability to reconcile to invoices and track payments you’ll need to use Intuit’s QuickBooks suite, either on the PC or Mac.

The big question is, of course, what it’ll cost you to use the thing. $179 up-front is hardly a small commitment, and a further $12.95 per month makes the minimum cost quite a bit higher than Square, which offers free hardware and no monthly fees. Likewise, per-transaction fees here are between $.30 and $.34, double the $.15 fee of the Square. However, Intuit and mophie will take a smaller chunk of the overall payment: 1.7 percent usually, though that could climb as high as 3.7 percent depending on the type of card being used. That compares favorably to Square’s 2.75 to 3.5 percent.

Whether this is a value proposition for your business depends largely on the size and frequency of transactions you plan to receive. But, there is one definite advantage Square has over this system: compatibility. This case, which encrypts every credit card number before it gets to the phone, will only work with the iPhone 3G/S. We’re told an iPhone 4-compatible version is in the works, but it’s anyone’s guess when that will show up. We do, however, know that this current version is available now in Apple retail stores and will be hitting Apple’s online site in the very near future. So, go on now. Get paid.

(from engadget)

Now Google Voice in your Gmail: Call US and Canada for free

Google is adding google voice into your gmail. Not in google apps, sure. If you have a gmail account, and you are in the US, then you can call for free to the US and Canada directly from your Gmail page.

Google voice is not available outside the US so it is not usefull for me. Instead, using your phone you can use Fring out, which is cheaper than Google voice.

Anyway, is Skype sleeping?

Check out the video from Google:

Cute Stickers For Apple Portable Devices

Hello all Apple fanciers, you may get something new and interesting for your portable devices! Each sticker here features a perfect combination with the same element- apple, therefore you’ll find all them perfectly suit your iPod and iPhone. Yups, it’s time to pay more attention to the back of your “Apple”!

Selling Price: $3.90-$13.90

Buy it here

(from inewidea)