In celebration of the M1's 30th anniversary, BMW quietly introduced a new model at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este last weekend. An aggressive, low-profile sports car, aspects of the design hark back to the original M1.
The wide stance, louvered rear window and pentagonal rims combine an '80s retro look with a contemporary, almost sinister feel for a car that pretty much every boy has wanted since adolescence. The front grille features two intakes for cooling and four hidden headlights. Take a close look at the photos after the jump because that's all you'll get for now as the new M1 is just a concept car. We'll keep our fingers crossed in hopes that it will go into production.
7-Jan-2008 - New Rules to be kept by ICC while visiting Australia
Posted by Karma
PAY ATTENTION TO THE LATEST CRICKET RULES IN AUSTRALIA!!!
(1) Ricky Ponting - (THE TRULY GENUINE CRICKETER OF THE CRICKET ERA
AND WHOSE INTEGRITY SHOULD NOT BE DOUBTED) should be considered as the
FOURTH UMPIRE. As per the new rules, FOURTH UMPIRE decision is final
and will over ride any decisions taken by any other umpires. ON-FIELD
umpires can seek the assistance of RICKY PONTING even if he is not on
the field. This rule is to be made, so that every team should
understand the importance of the FOURTH UMPIRE.
(2) While AUSTRALIAN TEAM is bowling, If the ball flies anywhere close
to the AUSTRALIAN FIELDER(WITHIN 5 metre distance) , the batsman is to
be considered OUT irrelevant of whether the catch was taken cleanly or
grassed. Any decision for further clarification should be seeked from
the FOURTH UMPIRE. This is made to ensure that the cricket is played
with SPORTIVE SPIRIT by all the teams.
(3) While BATTING, AUSTRALIAN players will wait for the ON-FIELD
UMPIRE decisions only (even if the catch goes to the FIFTH SLIP as the
ball might not have touched the bat). Each AUSTRALIAN batsman has to
be out FOUR TIMES (minimum) before he can return to the pavilion. In
case of THE CRICKETER WITH INTEGRITY, this can be higher.
(4) UMPIRES should consider a huge bonus if an AUSTRALIAN player
scores a century. Any wrong decisions can be ignored as they will be
paid huge bonus and will receive the backing of the AUSTRALIAN team
and board.
(5) All AUSTRALIAN players are eligible to keep commenting about all
players on the field and the OPPONENT TEAM should never comment as
they will be spoiling the spirit of the AUSTRALIAN team. Any comments
made in any other language are to be considered as RACIALISM only.
(6) MATCH REFREE decisions will be taken purely on the AUSTRALIAN TEAM
advices only. Player views from the other teams decisions will not be
considered for hearing. MATCH REFREES are to be given huge bonus if
this rule is implemented.
(7) NO VISITING TEAM should plan to win in AUSTRALIA . This is to
ensure that the sportive spirit of CRICKET is maintained.
(8) THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE : If any bowler gets RICKY PONTING - "THE
UNDISPUTED CRICKETER WITH INTEGTIRY IN THE GAME OF CRICKET" more than
twice in a series, he will be banned for the REST OF THE SERIES. This
is to ensure that the best batsman/Captain will be played to break
records and create history in the game of CRICKET.
These rules will be applicable for all the teams VISITING AUSTRALIA.
Please Note: Definitely no "Monkey" business huh..................
13-Dec-2007 - Samsung Launches Midrange Music Mobile: Samsung F250
Posted by Karma
Slider mobile king Samsung, has launched yet another music mobile
directed at the midrange consumer. The Samsung F250 is equipped with a
2-inch TFT display with a resolution of 128 x 160 pixels and 65k
colors.
The
F250 has a 1.3 megapixel camera and direct music access keys. It also
comes with an integrated FM radio and supports Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
compatibility and EDGE. It has only 20MB of internal memory but
supports microSD cards up to 2GB. This slim slider has dimensions of 94
x 46 x 17.5 mm and weighs in at just 96g.
The Samsung F250 should be out sometime next year and will be priced at approximately Rs. 10,410 (180 EUR).
Sony Ericsson has just unveiled its new mid-range non-3G Walkman phone -
W380i. Available in Q1 2008, the new device is designed to bring the
"Walkman experience" to the masses. There's the 176Χ220 262K color TFT
internal and 128Χ36 monochrome STN external screen, 14 MB of phone
memory that is further expandable with microSD cards, 1.3 MP camera,
stereo Bluetooth (A2DP). As for the pre-installed apps, users can
expect Sony Ericsson's standard mobile suite that includes WAP 2.0
XHTML browser, RSS reader, instant messaging client, media player,
sound recorder and other mobile "classics" like alarm clock,
calculator, calendar, etc.
The price is not disclosed. Check out Sony Ericsson's press release
.
LG Mobile has announced the KS20, a full touchscreen
smartphone based on the Windows Mobile 6 Professional. This handset,
features tri-band GSM
(900/1800/1900MHz) and WCDMA (2100MHz) connectivity, with data speeds
up to 3.6Mbps thanks to HSDPA support. The KS20 is also equipped with
WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0 for additional wireless connectivity options.
Internal memory is limited to 128MB, but a microSD card slot is
included that supports cards up to 2GB in size.
The KS20 supports input via the included stylus or a fingertip, and
also features handwriting recognition. Weighing in at 92.5g (3.3oz),
the KS20 fits quite a few features in its small 100mm x 58mm x 12.8mm
(3.9" x 2.3" x 0.5") package. For increased convenience, the LG KS2 will ship with Google Maps, MySpace, and Ebay applications
pre-installed.
The KS20 should be available in shops across Europe starting today, though pricing was not announced.
Stylish and uber cool.. Style statement at its peak......
Laptop modding seems to have become quite the rage. Every day we keep
coming across some mod or the other, ranging from the sublime to the
ridiculous. So it was really no surprise when we came across this
heavily modified Apple Macbook Pro…
This rather interesting modification has been done by a specialist company called Computer Choppers and seems to have been done as a one-time modification as they don't want to risk running into logo infringement problems.
Want one of these? Head over to their website and try your luck. Remember to keep your purse strings loose though.
Samsung and Danish Audio equipment manufacturer, Bang & Olufsen
have joined forces to bring us the Serenata music mobile phone. They
seem to have managed to put together a unique and stylish mobile with
music quality that we can just hope lives up to their brand names. This
phone is going to be all about the music.
"Since
we started our first co-operation with Bang & Olufsen, we have only
been confirmed in our belief that both companies share a passion for
innovation and consumer-focused technology. Serenata is another example
of new ways to think of the mobile phone. I'm proud to say that our
customers can see a true innovation of music player and mobile phone as
we have opened a new era of mobile phones with Serene two years ago",
says Geesung Choi, President of the Telecommunications Network Business
in Samsung Electronics.
"We have high expectations to
Serenata, as it is a result of our joint vision to constantly push the
boundaries, and bring unique and exciting products to our customers",
states Torben Ballegaard Sorensen, CEO of Bang & Olufsen.
The
Serenata is built as a contrast between cool aluminum and a warm soft
touch lacquer that gives an impression of elegance, slimness and
craftsmanship. It uses a scroll wheel system for accessing menus and
options. And in case you're a first time user of the phone, which you
obviously will be, the companies have incorporated a 4 minute
simulation to help you get accustomed to the usage of the phone. The
Serenata has an integrated loudspeaker system and you can also listen
to your tunes via the dedicated stereo EarSet 3. This mobile is capable
of reading formats that include MP3, WMA Lossless 9.1, AMR and AAC. It
uses an application called BeoPlayer that can access and organize all
music files on the PC and transfer them to Serenata. Also through the
Samsung PC studio, the users can synchronize the contacts, calendar and
to-do list from their computer onto Serenata via Microsoft outlook.
Samsung's
Serenata is a GSM handset that is 3.5G enabled with HSDPA connectivity
and has 4GB of internal memory. It weighs in at 136g and has a 2.26
inch TFT-LCD display with a resolution of 240 x 240 pixels and 256k
colors. It is Bluetooth enabled, although we have no confirmation on if
it is A2DP compatible, but judging from the kind of music capabilities
and the manufacturers themselves, I'm quite sure it will be. For PC
connectivity it uses USB v2.0 high speed.
The price and availability of the Serenata is yet to be disclosed.
3-Oct-2007 - HTC Touch Dual Pocket PC, S730, HTC P6500 GPS-Enabled Pocket PC Launched and the HTC Shift
Posted by Karma
HTC Touch Dual
It
runs on Windows Mobile 6.0 OS and even though it's 3G enabled with
HSDPAQ and EDGE, it doesn't have Wi-Fi, which is rather odd. Other
connectivity includes Bluetooth v2.0 and miniUSB. The Touch Dual has a
2.6 inch TFT touch screen display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels
and 65K colors. The slide out keypad is just like the keypad you'll
find on the Blackberry Pearl. Other specs include a 2 megapixel camera
and a second VGA camera for video calls. It uses microSD cards for
external memory. Unfortunately we don't know when it'll be out nor the
price. S730
As
previously stated the S730 is an upgrade to the earlier HTC S710
handset that was launched earlier this year. The HTC S730 adds 3G/HSDPA
and a 400MHz processor for those consumers and business professionals
who want high-speed connectivity. It also has Wi-Fi capabilities,
Bluetooth with A2DP capabilities and miniUSB connectivity. It features
an auto-sliding QWERTY keyboard to access email, messaging and the
internet while on the go. The HTC S730 comes equipped with Windows
Mobile 6 and 256MB Flash memory wrapped in a gunmetal gray casing. It
also has a 2 megapixel camera and a secondary VGA camera for video
calling. Like the Touch Dual this model also supports external memory
using microSD cards. The S730 is going to be available this month but
no price tag has been provided yet.
HTC P6500
The
HTC P6500 is primarily designed for the enterprise market.
Incorporating a 3.5 inch screen, 3 mega pixel camera with auto focus
and barcode, business card and fingerprint scanning capabilities, it
offers the ideal features to be overlaid with programs tailored to meet
the specific needs of each enterprise. The HTC P6500 is equipped with
256MB internal memory with the option to add up to 1GB in addition to
two external SD card slots. This powerful specification set is
supported by 3G/HSDPA connectivity as well as a GPS capabilities. It
even has a Remote Wipe system so you can delete all data without
actually having the phone with you. A security precaution in case of
theft or loss of the phone. The HTC P6500 will be available in
November, but no price has been disclosed.
HTC Shift
In
all honesty I have no idea if this is a phone, a PDA, a Laptop or a
Tablet. What my guess is, it's a mutated hybrid of all of the above.
It's equipped with a 7 inch TFT Touch Screen with 800 x 480 pixels and
16 million colors. It has dual speakers with 1GB of RAM, a 30 GB HDD
and a 1.2 GHz VIA CPU. It's also equipped with a 1.3 megapixel video
call camera. The Shift is a GSM device which is 3G enabled with HSDPA,
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v2.0 and miniUSB connectivity. It runs on a Microsoft
Vista Business OS. The estimated price is expected to be around Rs.
68,000 (1199 Euros) and it should be out by the end of this year.
Monday 1 October 2007 - Internet Gyaan has a new address
Posted by Karma
Now Internet Gyaan will posted at mykarma.in. this blog is now for official purposes only...
Now the Official blog of desiblogz.Not the unofficial one.
29-Sep-2007 - Sony Ericsson V640i, exclusively with Vodafone - your music and more.
Posted by Karma
Sony Ericsson V640i, exclusively with Vodafone - your music and more.
Sony Ericsson today announces the V640i, a stylish music phone with a funky feature set, available exclusively with Vodafone in selected markets.
Real music, real time - Download a full-length track in around 14 seconds
Name that song - Record a song clip on your phone, identify it immediately using TrackID(TM) and download it instantly
Manage your media - Drag and drop music and videos betweenphone and PC
Available in two rich colors or shades - Havana Gold and Quick Black - the Sony Ericsson V640i available exclusively with Vodafone provides a true music and entertainment experience. With support for Memory Stick Micro(TM) (M2(TM) up to 4 gigabytes - that's up to 3600 full-length tracks - and a dedicated music key to help you navigate all of those songs, the V640i really can be your music library on-the-move.
The V640i is designed to appeal to music lovers looking for no-compromise performance. Weighing in at a pocket-sized 97grams, it delivers 3G Broadband (HSDPA) Web browsing on your mobile. It also means that it takes about 14 seconds to download a full-length music track; up to four times faster than average on a 3G phone.
There's no need to worry if you just can't place a song that you hear on the radio. The V640i's in-built TrackID(TM) feature lets you record a 5 second music clip - either by tagging it from the phone's own FM Radio or from a nearby stereo - and then within seconds receive notification back of the song title, the artist and the album name. The TrackID(TM) music recognition software can then provide a direct link to the homepage of Vodafone's Music Store for fast track download. Hear it, identify it and own it.
More than just a music phone, the Sony Ericsson V640i keeps you entertained and fully informed. It will playback video at 15 frames per second and this, coupled with the bright 2.0 inch screen, makes it ideal for checking out the latest music videos when you are on-the-move. The V640i comes complete with pre-loaded Google Maps and eBay clients and also supports RSS Feeds to keep you up-to-date with the latest news, weather and entertainment.
If you prefer to capture the action for yourself, the V640i's 2.0 megapixel camera is always at hand to shoot still pictures or moving images. Share these instantly with friends via MMS, email or postcard; or by uploading them to your own online gallery, or blogsite. Share the Web address to share your latest photos or video clips.
The V640i comes complete with new Media Manager software to let you easily move your favorite music, photos, videos and more between your PC and your phone. Music tracks or video clips will be automatically converted into phone-friendly formats and creating playlists or adding album artwork to your tracks is simple.
"The new V640i is a great all-rounder that is packed with advanced music capabilities," says Peter Marsden, Vice President and Head of the Vodafone customer group at Sony Ericsson. "It's designed to allow users to get the most from Vodafone's music services, such as the Vodafone Music Store, without compromising on the ease-to-use and strong design that they expect from a Sony Ericsson."
Jens Schulte-Bockum, Global Director, Terminals, Vodafone, said: "The new V640i from Sony Ericsson offers our customers a stylish, desirable and fashionable mobile device that does not compromise on music capability or performance. It's a great balance of form and function."
The Sony Ericsson V640i is available exclusively in Vodafone stores from Autumn 2007.
The HTC Touch Slide, previously known as the HTC Nike—is the slide-out version of the HTC Touch we reviewed back in June. On the inside, there's 3G HSDPA, 400MHz processor, 2-megapixel camera, and a microSD expansion slot.
Touch Slide
On the outside, where it's interesting, is a SureType keyboard that allows much, much faster text input than the crappy stylus/screen combo that the HTC Touch had to suffer with before. Not much other detail other than this, but Modaco seems to think the phone is going to be officially launched on Monday.
Although the slide-out keyboard will make this phone usable for normal people who really don't want to dig around a Windows Mobile touchscreen interface to do anything—which believe us, is very painful—it's not quite enough to bring it up to level of usability that say, an iPhone has.
The W580 Walkman phone is one of the few slider form factor devices that Sony Ericsson currently produces. In terms of hardware, this quad-band GSM/EDGE handset and the non-Walkman S500, which was released a month and a half later, are near clones. The W580 gains the advantage of the better music player as well as a built-in pedometer, something we first saw on the W710 last year. With an attractive shape and Sony Ericsson's thoughtful user interface, the W580 appears to have what it takes to be a standout handset in a crowded market.
Physical Aspects
The W580 is a moderately sized phone. It weighs just a hair over 93g (3.7oz) and measures up at 100mm x 47mm x 15mm (3.9" x 1.9" x .6") in size. That's fairly compact. The 2", 262k color TFT display on the front of the device, though small, is pretty bright and is generally readable in all lighting conditions. The phone's gray plastic cover, with its metallic blue highlights, is quite attractive and stays clean looking. A simple chrome volume control is on the left edge of the W580, the power switch and M2 memory card slot are located on the top, and the fast port data/headset connector is located on the right side. The bottom of the device has a bend to it that houses the internal antenna and adds a nice twist to the design.
While the d-pad and surrounding buttons are accessible at all times, the keypad and the camera stay out of view until the W580 is opened up. The d-pad itself has a pretty nice feel to it, but is hampered a bit by the raised rim that surrounds it. That rim is used by the thumb to open and close the slider mechanism, so I understand why it is there. The softkeys, back and C keys, and the dedicated Walkman and shortcuts keys all work well, though the later two are quite small. Small also describes the alphanumeric keys on the keypad. They have a reasonable feel to them, but the overall design of the keypad is somewhat cramped, though very attractive. At least the keys are backlit properly and are very easy to read. The camera sits behind the W580's display, and is surrounded by the same metallic blue material used elsewhere on the phone. It is cool looking, and quite obvious.
Speaking of cool and obvious, the W580 is equipped with what Sony Ericsson calls light effects. These lights are located behind the W580's softkeys and shine out the sides of the device in various shades and patterns. The lights will tell the W580 user when a call or messaging is arriving, and can be configured to be off, on, or on only when the phone is in silent mode. There are 16 different color patterns that users can chose from.
In addition to the gray with blue color scheme of our review unit, a white with orange version of the W580 is also available. We have also been told to expect a black with orange version to become available starting sometime in October.
In terms of day to day phone use, the Sony Ericsson W580 performs very well. Its internal antenna was able to keep a firm grip on very weak GSM signals from both AT&T and T-Mobile's network. Audio quality was very good even in poor signal areas, and the hands-free speakerphone also performed pretty well in general. The only complaint we have is that the battery did not last as long as we had been led to expect. Our W580 ran out of power after almost 5.5 hours of talk time, far short of the up to 9 hours that Sony Ericsson claims it is capable of. I think that it is quite possible that the light effects, which can be disabled, are the cause of the missing talk time battery life.
Sony Ericsson has informed us that it is actually the pedometer function that causes the hit on battery life, not the light effects. It can be disabled.
The W580 also makes the grade when it comes to contacts and profiles. The contacts system supports multi-character searching and sports a slick tabbed interface in the record editor that makes it easy to find what you are looking for. This is important because of the vast number of different pieces of info that can be stored in a record. The W580's 7 profiles provide the user with something for most every occasion. All of them can be edited to suit, and include support for call forwarding/diverting as well as defining a list of contacts that the profile will accept calls from. A separate flight mode is also available. About all that is missing is some sort of timed profile support.
Like the rest of Sony Ericsson's feature phones, the W580 makes use of an old style, voice tag based voice dialing system. It is accurate, but requires that separate voice tags be recorded for each contact in question. Speed dialing is also a bit different on the W580, since long-pressing a keypad button merely jumps to the appropriate section of the contact list instead of dialing. Speed dials are accessed by dialing the number and then hitting the call softkey.
The Sony Ericsson W580 supports SMS, MMS, and email messaging natively. The SMS editor is pretty standard, but the MMS editor uses an intuitive user interface that makes it easy to add things like images, videos, or sounds into a message. The email system on the W580 is nice, and does a good job of formatting messages in an easy to read manner. I tested it with our IMAP server and had no problems. Even the "push" mode worked as expected. Data connections on the W580 are handled by tri-band GSM/EDGE support. It isn't very speedy, but it works. In a pinch, the phone can be used as a USB or Bluetooth wireless modem. Bluetooth can also be used with headsets and stereo headphones.
The key application in any Sony Ericsson Walkman phone is the music player. In this case, the music player is the Walkman 2.0 player. It sports a nice new interface and is a bit easier to use than the older version, which was itself quite fine. Music can be synchronized with a PC using the included Disc2Phone software or with other applications like Microsoft's Windows Media Player. Navigating through your music by artist or album is a snap, and it is a quick press up or down from the play screen that takes the user to the current playlist. The sound quality seems to me to be quite good with both wired headsets (one is included) and Bluetooth wireless headphones. The coolest feature of the music player on the W580 is how it can be controlled to some extent by a shaking motion. When the music is playing, all it takes is pressing the Walkman button and giving the phone a good shake in order to have the player go to a random track in the playlist. It is a great feature for runners, though it doesn't quite make up for the lack of dedicated music controls.
The W580's 2 megapixel fixed-focus camera is capable of taking decent photographs in most situations with good lighting. Its photos are generally sharp as long as the subject is not too close. When the lighting gets bad, however, the camera shows some weakness that even its night mode can't help. The camera can also be used for recording video clips, though only at a low 176x144 pixel resolution.
The W580 also comes equipped with a decent suite of apps. The RSS reader that is located in the Messaging section of the phone (for some reason) is pretty good as far as feature phone readers go. The NetFront browser is at least as capable of rendering mobile sites as Microsoft's Pocket IE is, too. All of the basic organizer applications work well. The calendar, tasks, and notes can all be synchronized with a desktop PC by making use of the same Sony Ericsson PC Suite software that handles contact synchronization.
The W580 ships with the typical array of Sony Ericsson 'DJ' apps. MusicDJ lets user create ringtones, VideoDJ provides some basic video editing capabilities, and PhotoDJ lets user make on-phone corrections to photos. The phone also ships with Sony Ericsson's TrackID music identification software and a pair of games, one of which is The Sims 2. One of the more interesting features of the W580 is its built-in pedometer and fitness tracking applications. The W580 informed me that one trip to New York for a media event had me walking 1.5 miles during the evening. It can be calibrated quite accurately for those that are really into such things.
The Sony Ericsson W580 has about 20MB of internal storage space that users can fill up. The Memory Stick Micro (M2) card slot can be used to add more storage headroom to the phone as well. Our review unit shipped with a 512MB card in the box.
When it comes to usability on a feature phone, nobody does it better than Sony Ericsson. The W580 is a fine example of how a phone should work. The user interface is intuitive, predictable, and still managed to be very pretty. Visually the Sony Ericsson UI is matched by no others. Themes can affect most every part of the system, from animated icons and main menu effects, to even the look of the tabbed interface used in the Settings section. Pop-up information screens are now semi-transparent, and even the look of basic email messages has been spiced up in the recent versions of the software.
One of the few things worthy of a complaint is the lack of separate green and red call and end buttons. While the functionality is still offered through the softkeys and the dedicated back and C keys, many people will still miss the red and green buttons that most every phone on the planet offers. Sony Ericsson can justify this decision based on being able to offer dedicated Walkman and Shortcuts keys in the main control cluster, which is certainly handy. Having separate back and C keys also makes editing tasks easier.
The Shortcuts system in particular is of great use. The Shortcuts tabbed menu can be brought up from most any part of the system. It provides quick access to commonly used features, missed calls and messages, running applications, and internet browser bookmarks. Shortcuts can be defined for almost any command in the system's multi-level menus, exceeding the simple system offered by most other phone platforms.
A vast assortment of UI themes are available for the W580, though I find the pre-loaded Spinnin' theme to be the best. It has great main menu animations and even provides vibration feedback when the d-pad is pushed. The keypad keys can be used for navigating through the main menu and sub-menus both, but they don't quite work the same way in the File Manager, where instead the keys are used to skip to files that start with the same letter as the letters associated with the key (ie. 6 skips ahead to the 'm' files).
The Sony Ericsson UI is pretty, consistent, and efficient. It sets the standard in today's market.
The Sony Ericsson W580 is a great example of what a feature phone can be. Not only does it handle the basics extremely well, but it has a decent camera and a top notch music player application. Bonus features like the pedometer and the Walkman application's 'shake to shuffle' functionality really are just the icing on the cake.
In short, it is a great little handset. I give it a "Highly Recommended" and consider it one of the best feature phones I have used so far in 2007.
The Fujitsu-manufactured F905i is the mobile TV (1Seg) enabled device and among other things comes with the 3.2 MP camera with autofocus, memory expansion slot and full HTML web browser. So what's so special about it? Well, it has a huge 3.2 mp camera swinging screen which can display resolution of up to 480 pixels in 16 million colors. That's WI wide VGA actually it's even more! Eat this iPhone, Nokia and everyone else. Fujitsu. Now, please enter other markets and show the old dogs some new tricks.
Friday 28 September 2007 - Alexa Ranking: Do you need it.
Posted by Karma
What is Alexa Ranking and how Important it is?
All Media planners, Internet marketing guys refer to alexa to get a idea about the traffic a site gets........ but most of them dont know how alexa works... The article below throws some light on it....
Alexa Ranking - A Web Site Monetization Strategy?
All businesses that employ online marketing, strive to improve their conversion rate. Now, there are different ways of attracting targeted traffíc. Some try to achieve a good ranking in the SERPs, while others are satisfied with heavier traffic. Either way, everybody has the goal of achieving financial success.
But, while scoring high with Google may seem to certain business people the only way to make themselves known and thus reach their goal, there are others that think that a good position in the Alexa ranking system might benefit them just as well.
What is Alexa Ranking?
This is a ranking system set by alexa.com (a subsidiary of amazon.com ) that basically audits and makes public the frequency of visits to various Web sites. The algorithm by which Alexa traffíc ranking is calculated, is simple. It is based on the amount of traffic recorded over a period of three months from users that have the Alexa toolbar installed.
This traffíc is based on such parameters as reach and page views. The reach refers to the number of Alexa users who visit a particular site in one day. Page view, as the name indicates, is the number of times a particular page (URL) is viewed by Alexa users. Alexa.com makes it clear though that, if a particular user visits the same URL multiple times on the same day, all those visits will be counted as one.
The first step of the ranking process is calculating the reach and number of page views for all the sites on the Web on a daily basis. Alexa ranking is obtained by performing the geometric mean of reach and page views, averaged over a predefined period of time (three months).
How Alexa Ranking Works
It's quite easy to get started. All you have to do is visit the alexa.com site and download (and install) the Alexa toolbar. This toolbar offers a search function, but it mainly displays the rank (at a global level) of the visited site, as well as the sites that have been visited by Web surfers that are linked in some way to the site being visited.
The Alexa toolbar not only displays information, but it also sends data to the central server. Thus, each time you visit a Web page via a Web browser (be it Internet Explorer or Firefox) that has the toolbar installed, information is sent to the server indicating your IP and the page you are visiting. Such data is gathered from all the Web users who have the Alexa toolbar.
With Alexa, the smaller the numerical ranking, the better. Most people say that if you manage to make it in the top 100,000, it is a sign that your site enjoys quite heavy traffíc.
Is Alexa Ranking Worth Anything?
Benefits
Alexa Traffic can be used as a competitive intelligence tool, but you should take into consideration the fact that the audience sample size is fairly small. Just enter your competitor's site in the "Compare Sites" section and measure the results of your web marketing efforts in comparison with your competitors'.
As opposed to Google's PageRank, the lower your ranking number, the better.
It helps Webmasters and advertisers see the real marketing potential of your Web site. The better your Alexa rank, the higher they may be willing to bid to buy advertising space on your Web site.
Personal pages or blogs are also ranked in the same way as ordinary Web sites. They will even get a distinctive mark (*)
Because Alexa ranking helps you with information about your Web site, it is a good instrument for search engine optimization.
Disadvantages
Not everybody has the Alexa toolbar installed, so there might be millíons of Web sites that, even if they have a lot of traffíc, will not be ranked (or not high enough) by Alexa. It is rather relative.
Many people say that it is inaccurate and that Alexa traffíc can be greatly influenced (or "gamed", as some prefer to call it).
Subdomains are not ranked separately, and neither are subpages within a domain. The overall traffic is calculated for the top-level domain only.
Ways to Improve Your Alexa Ranking
If you want to boost your Alexa traffíc ranking, you just have to follow some quite simple rules, such as:
Download and install the Alexa toolbar and then surf your own site.
Place the Alexa widget on your Web site. It will entice visitors to use it and, you know, each click counts.
Write useful, quality content, mostly webmaster-related. Promote it on webmaster forums and on social networking sites. The idea is to get as many computer and Internet savvy people as possible to visit your site, since the probability that they will have the Alexa toolbar installed is high.
Write blogs and articles about Alexa. You will get links to your pages that will help improve your ranking.
Optimize your site (or relevant pages of it) for Alexa related keywords.
Tell your friends about the Alexa toolbar, have them download and install it on their computers, and then tell them to visit your site.
Use an Alexa redirect. This means placing http://redirect.alexa.com/redirect? in front of your Web site's URL. Alexa will then take into consideration clicks on redirected links even if the visitor does not have the Alexa toolbar.
Apparently, Asian people are huge fans of Alexa. Therefore, many people suggest posting in Asian social networking forums.
Whenever you post on webmaster forums, include your site's URL in your signature. It is very likely that most webmasters have the toolbar installed, and there's a great probability that they'll visit your site.
Conclusion
As we have seen, there are pros and cons to Alexa ranking. The bottom line is that most people consider it valuable only for direct advertising. Given the fact that Alexa ranking for a site is calculated on the basis of how many visitors with the Alexa toolbar installed have visited that particular site, the results can be inaccurate.
Nevertheless, it may prove useful for sites with very good traffíc that attract highly targetëd leads, since Alexa focuses more on the traffic that Web sites receive rather than on links to it. As a Web site monetization strategy, we can safely say that Alexa ranking might be the right solution.
Friday 28 September 2007 - 47 Simple Tips to Build Trust in Your Website or Blog
Posted by Karma
I came across this really good article from sitepronews for webmasters and want to be entrepreneurs... Its about how to create trust on your website.
If your website does not create a sense of trust in your visitors, all your efforts will be in vain. Your online business will never succeed. That's the bad news. The good news is that it is very easy to create and build trust in your online visitors. Below, I have listed all the techniques used by the hundreds of websites I have helped launch. If you have additional techniques, please add them to the list.
As the old saying goes, you have only one chance to make a first impression. Building trust cannot be achieved by one single action. Trust is achieved by hundreds of little things you do throughout your website that, when taken together, give readers a sense of honesty, legitimacy and stability.
The other bit of good news is that few website owners focus on building trust in the minds of their visitors. If you do it well, it can become a real and sustainable competitive advantage.
Here are 47 simple actions you can take to get started.
1. Trust is built by lots of small actions on every page of your website.
2. Your website design is the first impression. Make sure it is professional and relevant to the subject matter.
3. Navigation must be intuitive. If visitors can't find what they are looking for easily, they will question your competence in providing what they want.
4. Make the website personal by giving it its own tone and voice. People buy people.
5. Follow the HEART rule of creating online content. (Reminder: HEART stands for Honest, Exclusive, Accurate, Relevant and Timely.)
6. Use language that is appropriate to the audience. It will build empathy.
7. Regularly add new content to your site. It shows that the business is alive and kicking.
8. Check all links. Doubts will quickly form in your visitors' minds if links don't work or, worse still, take them to error pages.
9. Good grammar and spelling matter. Errors give the impression of sloppiness and carelessness.
10. Never make outrageous and unbelievable claims, like "Read this blog and you'll be a millionaire by the end of the week." People are used to scams, get-rich-quick schemes and rip-offs.
11. Publish REAL testimonials and third-party endorsements. Try to always use real names and link to websites where possible. Some sites show images of letters sent by happy customers.
12. Publish case studies about customers you have helped, who use your product, etc.
13. Don't put down, curse or insult competitors. It's unprofessional. It is better to offer an objective comparison of competitive services or products.
14. Focus on building your long-term reputation, not on making quick sales.
15. Write articles for humans, not search engines.
16. Make your 'About Us' page personal and comprehensive. It plays an important part in making visitors feel comfortable that real people are behind the site.
17. Publish your photo or the photos of the key people involved with the site. Again, this reinforces the fact that there are real people behind the screenshots.
18. Clearly identify who is behind the site. Nothing creates more suspicion than a site that tries to hide the identity of its publishers.
19. On the 'Contact Us' page, provide an email form, telephone number, fax and address of the company. In Europe, it is a legal requirement for sites taking money, but even sites driven by advertising will benefit from openness.
20. Provide a telephone number that people can call and talk to a person.
21. Provide Web addresses linked to the website domain, not addresses from free webmail services such as Hotmail and Gmail.
22. Never lie to make money. The most common way is to write a glowing report about a product or service to earn affiliate revenues. It is very short-sighted to lie to visitors to sell them rubbish. They'll never come back or, worse still, they'll actively condemn your site on forums and blogs.
23. Think carefully about reciprocal links. If your site is about organic food and you have links to Party Poker, people are going to question your integrity.
24. Think carefully about the adverts you display on your site. Ensure that they are relevant to your subject and audience.
25. Be explicit when you are being paid to endorse a product or service. An advertorial is fine as long as it is transparent. Paid-to-post is corrupting the Web and will experience a user backlash. I never read websites that accept payment for posting.
26. Write and publish your privacy policy. Be clear about what you will and will not do with any personal data you collect. State that you adhere to all data protection laws. Make it easy to read and don't use legal gobbledygook.
27. Write and publish a security policy. State what measures you take to ensure that all transactions are secure.
28. Ensure that you have a security and privacy policy which is linked from the footer on every page. Make the link more prominent on all the order pages.
29. Clearly publish your guarantee. I would recommend making it a 100% money-back guarantee if possible.
30. Clearly state your refund and returns policy.
31. Piggyback off reputable brands. If you use PayPal, put the PayPal logo on your site. If you have a merchant services account with a major bank like Citibank or HSBC, put its logo on your site.
32. Use Google search on your site for two reasons. First, it is a great search solution which will help your visitors find what they are looking for. Second, having the Google name on your site instills trust.
33. If there are well-known industry associations for your subject, join up and put their logos on your site.
34. Have a forum on your site and respond quickly to questions. Have the attitude that you are happy to help others without receiving immediate reward. As the old saying goes, 'Givers always gain.'
35. Allow people to comment on articles. Interactivity and an exchange of views build community and a sense of involvement.
36. If people provide constructive criticism or comments in the forum, don't delete them, but respond with your point of view.
37. Put photos on the website of the owners, publishers and/or team. Let visitors know there are real people behind the business.
38. Put images of the credit cards you accept on every page of the order process.
39. Use the words 'secure website' whenever you try to get any information from visitors, including newsletter sign-ups, forum input and payment.
40. On every page, state, "We take your privacy and security very seriously." Link the statement to the security and privacy policy.
41. Remember, reputations take years to build and seconds to destroy.
42. If you are selling a subscription, offer a low-cost, entry-level option. This could be a one-day taster, 'a week before billing starts' or a monthly trial.
43. Use a high level of security when processing credit cards. Make sure you make your clients aware of all the steps you are taking.
44. Never send credit card information or personal details over the Internet unencrypted. Tell your customers that their data will be encrypted.
45. Only ask for information from customers that you really need. For example, for an email newsletter sign-up, the only information you REALLY need is an email address, so that is all you should ask for.
46. If you have pricing on your website, make it transparent. I recently went to buy a book which was advertised for $10. When I checked out, they added tax, post and packaging, and the final bill was $19.50. I didn't buy it as I felt they had deliberately tried to mislead me.
47. Keep your SSL certificate up to date. Let people know you are using SSL encryption and who the provider is.
You can never do too much to build trust. Most of it comes down to common sense and good business practice. To ensure that you are continually improving your trustworthiness, every time you go to a website, ask yourself whether you trust it or not. Then ask yourself why you have formed the opinion you have. Continually try to learn what makes a site trustworthy or untrustworthy and implement the relevant changes to your site.
Check these specifications out: 115.9 x 61.3 x 13.3 mm, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, WiFi B/G, 3.2 megapixel camera, HSDPA, 320Χ240 65k color touch screen, GPS and full QWERTY keyboard running the latest version of Windows Mobile 6 Professional. If that isn't hard core, I don't know what is. Expect this crazy mobile to be announced/launched at 3GSM.
Minor quibble: triband phone (goodbye 850 MHz) and only 2100 MHz 3G.
27-Sep-2007 - Sony Ericsson patents the new phone concept
Posted by Karma
Sony Ericsson patents the new phone concept
Imagine you have a XX inch screen that pops up vertically from a handset, now what happens when you shove the screen back in? Instead of hiding the entire thing only a small window is left open for data to be displayed. It sounds complicated, but this image should make it easy for you and it boggles the mind that something like this can even be patented:
Sony Ericsson has just unveiled its new mid-range non-3G Walkman phone -
W380i. Available in Q1 2008, the new device is designed to bring the
"Walkman experience" to the masses. There's the 176Χ220 262K color TFT
internal and 128Χ36 monochrome STN external screen, 14 MB of phone
memory that is further expandable with microSD cards, 1.3 MP camera,
stereo Bluetooth (A2DP). As for the pre-installed apps, users can
expect Sony Ericsson's standard mobile suite that includes WAP 2.0
XHTML browser, RSS reader, instant messaging client, media player,
sound recorder and other mobile "classics" like alarm clock,
calculator, calendar, etc.
The HTC Touch Slide, previously known as the HTC Nike—is the slide-out version of the HTC Touch we reviewed back in June. On the inside, there's 3G HSDPA, 400MHz processor, 2-megapixel camera, and a microSD expansion slot. 
