Facebook Phone in 2013

There are quite a few reports floating around the web mentioning that Facebook is planning on releasing their own smartphone. I mean after all don’t we have Google phone and Windows phones? Why can’t we have a Facebook phone? I think it is time.

Not too long ago, Facebook purchased Instagram, a company that worked to transform your dull pictures into work of art through numerous filters inside that app, and that was just the beginning. A few days ago, Facebook improved and released its own app for Apple devices, called Facebook Camera. The app helps you to instantly and automatically upload all of the pictures you take with your device to your albums on your Facebook’s profile. I am guessing the next step will be the return of the facial recognition and cataloguing of your friends “those you might know” for future suggestions. This is for the near future, but there is a long run always.

In the long run, Facebook will have to compete with various search engines, returning the results of your queries that your friends and friends of the friends found useful. It would make finding what you are looking for much faster but it will also mean that your results will list “sponsors” of those links. And quite frankly, knowing that Pepsi or Samsung cares I find something faster does not make me any happier, I would recognize their brands in my dreams! But competing with the search engines is easy at this stage. All you do is figure out who is the leader (Googling for the leader of the search engines… oh wait, what? It’s Google?!), then you copy everything that the leader does (like Google phone, Nexus) and then compete! I think Google would lose this fight, since Facebook’s search results will be precisely tailored to your likes and likes of your friends. Google is trying to copy Facebook’s success with its Google +, while it is only natural to expect Facebook sooner or later to mimic Google search.

So there we go, while it is still a rumor that Facebook is planning on releasing its own smartphone, there is no doubt in my head it will certainly do so. I can also predict that it might be running a Windows mobile operating system. It is just a hunch, but with such lucrative market as smartphones we won’t be guessing for too long, a couple more months and the mystery will be solved!

Facebook Vs Google's

Facebook seems to have finally learned one very important thing: learning is good. The offline ads they rolled out on Zynga.com provoked no backlash among privacy-conscious users as would have been the case a couple of years ago. Zuckerberg's team has taken its previous mistakes into account. Now it can start making more space for the general offensive against Google.

The coming of Facebook to Zynga.com is a harbinger of a whole new era in Web advertising. For a regular user like most of us, it is no big deal. A couple of Facebook-styled ads at the right side of your page won't drastically change your Internet experience. At the same time, in the great scheme of things, it is a first sign that the social Web empire has not abandoned its offsite ambitions, and very soon we may witness the birth of a new ad empire, which has all the chances to dismiss Google.

The news about Facebook ads migrating to Zynga.com came two days ago and gave Facebook share prices a 4.3% boost up to USD $33.28. Unlike most other things regarding Facebook, this move of the partner companies was met with relatively little fanfare and media attention. Which is not typical for the news about the second most visited site in the world, when Zuckerberg's each and every move is covered in every detail even in the mainstream media.

Moreover, when it comes to public acceptance of changes on Facebook, things tend to happen in a repetitive pattern. First, privacy guards start making a huge noise expressing their profound concerns about this data beast of Facebook having an eye on what is left of our Web privacy. Then, the media start discussing these profound concerns in more detail, giving a brief account of how Facebook, step by step, got to know more and more about its users. The general media moaning is crowned with a deep woesome sigh and a deplorable bottom line: 'It is so sad... But we can hardly do anything.' What happens next is that in about a month 99.5% of general users forget their privacy is now being abused in a new fancy way, the public outcry fades out somewhere in the tech media headlines and 835 million of jolly Facebook users snatch at what Zuckerberg has to offer them this time.

However, the recent move by the social networking juggernaut was somewhat of a combo breaker, as the regular pattern has not been followed this time. Facebook rolled out an offsite advertising, making extensive use of our personal data, and... nothing happened. No outcry, no privacy guards' big watery eyes, no angry European students suing Mark and Co, nothing. Why?

Because Facebook has finally grasped its usual 'bull-in-a-china-shop' strategy will not always work, that someday it will eventually fail and the company will face dire consequences. Instead, it has adopted a more cautious way of acting, starting the offsite advertising from its closest partner's own website. Most likely, Zynga.com will be followed by several trusted and well-known sites before Facebook finally dares to step out into the seething Web, starting a full-scale war with Google. So, what shall we users do? Well... relax and start buying up popcorn!

Before Buying Student Laptops

With falling prices, buying a student laptop has become a cake walk for many of those who could not afford it before. The present day laptops are smarter, sleeker and sturdier. External">All in all, they have become better equipped to meet the hard wear and tear treatment by the students.

But how would a first time buyer who hasn’t used the laptop before will get the best laptop from his purchase? Here is the list of top 10 things you must consider before buying a student laptop:

First things first, before investing your resources in this ideal machine, you should be clear with some of the basic fundamentals of your requirement, like what are your major requirements as for computer hardware and software? Can your laptop be used in the classroom for taking notes and connecting to the internet? Whatinternet connections are available in your campus and how can you connect to the University's/School's intranet? These are some of the basic questions that need to be answered before you invest into your dream machine.

The next step which follows after making your requirements clear is that what kind of laptop is best suited for your needs. Consider, what attributes it should carry in order to fulfill your basic requirements, without involving much management from your side.

While buying a laptop make sure that you buy it from a vendor who will be able to support your needs. If you purchase it from a shop local to you but far away from the place where it is intended to be used, it makes difficult for the service calls.
Other things to be considered are:

Size: An ideal student laptop must be small, light-weighted and very portable as students peculiarly need the one they can carry easily to places.
Sturdiness: Your laptop should be tough and sturdy enough to bear any kind of treatment given by you.

Software compatibility: Shop for the software section before buying your machine to make sure that in the end you can afford both the machine and the software of your choice.

Convenience: It should be convenient for you to use it anytime.

Connections: Access to internet is a must for any student. So, this facility should be available to you anywhere and anytime.
Besides a proper internet connection there are some of the must checks which you need to make in your laptop-- a printer port, a 56 kbps-modem, at least one USB port for external keyboard/mouse, drive, digital cameras and MP3 players. A VGA port for an external monitor will be an added advantage.

Technical specifications: your laptop should have enough storage space, RAM and the right computing speed to accomplish any kind of job. For example: Your laptop should posses a reasonable battery life which can be of five hours or more.

Price: Last but never the least, there always exist price constraints for students. Therefore your laptop should be reasonably priced. For this matter refurbished laptops may be a good option for those who are on a real strict budget.