Daily Bits

Android turns one: a few interesting statistics

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android-logoAs Google’s Android mobile operating system turns one year old today, here are a few interesting statistics for you.

According to mobile advertising firm AdMob:

  • Android OS now has seven percent global market share. That puts it well behind Symbian, BlackBerry OS and the iPhone OS, but comparable to Windows Mobile.
  • In the UK, 10% of smartphones run Android OS, with the HTC Dream being the second most popular phone for surfing the mobile web after the iPhone.
  • Android’s key markets are North America and Western Europe, with the HTC Magic in the top 10 of smartphones.
  • The HTC Dream is ranked fourth globally.

A survey of 1,000 mobile phone users found that Android users download about nine applications per month, compared with about 10 for iPhone users and over 18 for iPod Touch users.

Though Microsoft is hoping its latest initiatives will push its flavours of Windows Mobile OS forward, I’m sure Android will continue to flourish as more handsets become available in the coming year.

HP Teams Up with Wikia to Offer On-Demand Content Printing, But Why?

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HP has just announced that it has teamed up with Wikia on an on-demand printing service for Wikia online contents. The new service will be made available HP’s cloud service MagCloud.  This puts Wikia’s high-quality content and images created by its more than 50,000 communites available for anyone to print  in glossy magazine format. [Read more…] about HP Teams Up with Wikia to Offer On-Demand Content Printing, But Why?

Can a Nook Kill a Kindle?

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Aside from being a self-confessed iPhone addict, another gadget that fascinates me is e-book reader. Well, I should be. After all, I am a librarian by education although I admit I’m not really fond of book reading. I’ve seen, touch and used the Amazon Kindle and was in fact pretty excited about the Kindle International version. In fact, I’ve been thinking whether I should order one but suddenly that has changed. Thanks to the just announced Barnes and Noble e-Book Reader – the Nook. [Read more…] about Can a Nook Kill a Kindle?

Facebook Groups Finally Gets a Special Treatment

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Facebook has finally noticed that aside from the Fan pages, it still has another facility for Facebook members to work together, collaborate and communicate – the Facebook Groups. For quite sometime now, Facebook groups has been neglected in the sideline as Facebook put more emphasis into promoting Facebook pages. Well, this is understable since it is the mostly used facility for companies to get their brands on Facebook. But now Facebook is finally improving the Groups functionality. [Read more…] about Facebook Groups Finally Gets a Special Treatment

Free laptop with mobile broadband

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The idea of a mobile internet has long been the fantasy of many a geek. With recent advances in technology over the last few years, this fantasy has now become not just a reality, it is fast becoming the norm.
If there are two pieces of tech that has really pushed the concept of surfing the internet ANYWHERE to practically a way of life it will have to be the netbook and mobile broadband.

First, the netbook has made mobile computing truly mobile. These small computers, practically, pocketbook sized laptops are so handy, light and portable you can put a netbook in a small bag. The other important piece in the equation is mobile broadband. WiFi may have untethered us from clumsy Ethernet cables, but it is mobile broadband that has truly freed us and now allows us to roam anywhere while still plugged in to the internet.

The best thing about these technologies is the cost. With netbooks, laptops and mobile broadband falling prices, anyone can have them without any hassle. Now, companies are offering free laptops with mobile broadband to advertise their product or service. Offering free laptops.

16 Calculators and Converter Widgets for Mac OS X

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Here are some of the more useful Mac OS X dashboard widgets for converting and calculating various things. Hopefully you’ll find at least two or three that are useful.

Click on any of the titles to visit the download page on Apple’s web site.

1. Basic Scientific Calculator

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When you need a bit more than a basic calculator but not a full-blown scientific calculator, this is for you.

2. Wave Length Calculator

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A bit specialist, perhaps, but if you’re an audio engineer it could well save your bacon in the recording studio.

3. Binary Watch

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Get a puzzling yet cool binary watch on your Mac’s dashboard.

4. BMI Calculator

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Calculate your Body Mass Index with this handy widget.

5. Calculator 1984

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Get nostalgic with this simple Mac calculator.

6. Countdown Calculator

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Find out how many days it is until… well… anything you like.

7. Hex Color

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Quickly calculate the hex color code. Very useful for web designers.

8. MD5 Hash

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Get the MD5 hash for any string of text you input.

9. Morse Code Translator

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Create morse code from a string of text.

10. Password Maker

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Create more secure but potentially memorable passwords based upon a word or phrase you enter.

11. Percentages

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Easily calculate percentages without the brain ache.

12. Sunset

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Find out sunrise and sunset times for any city.

13. URL Minimizer

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An absolute must for avid Twitter users: shorten that long URL so you can share it with others.

14. Word Counter

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Simply count the number of words in a chunk of text.

15. Unscrambler

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Unscrambles anagrams – great for Scrabble (not that you’d cheat, of course).

16. Unix Time Stamp Converter

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You know there’s always some moment when you need to know official (i.e. Unix) time.

If you have your own favourite calculator/conversion widgets, share in the comments below.