Goodbye Hotmail, Hello Outlook.com

Microsoft announced a preview of new free web-based e-mail service Outlook.com, to be replacing Hotmail. Outlook.com come with Metro user interface (similar with Windows 8), designed to be touch friendly.



Outlook.com comes with unlimited storage. Hotmail users can upgrade to the new service just by logging in to Outlook.com, and keeping Hotmail addresses. Users can also change current email address to Outlook.com. New users can register a new Outlook.com addresses.

Modern: Metro interface and touch friendly, larger messages visible in inbox. Plus no display ads or large search boxes that take up that extra space.

Connected to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, and soon, Skype. Message to friends and post to Walls right from Outlook.com.

Smart. Automatically sorts messages from contacts, newsletters, shipping updates, and social updates. Integrated to free service such as Office Web Apps and SkyDrive.

Hotmail was launched in 1996 and was among the first free web-based e-mail services.  Hotmail is still one of the web-based e-mail services with largest users.

Go to outlook.com

What is New in Office 2013

Microsoft unveiled its brand new Office 2013, with Metro user interface (similar with Windows 8), along with various cloud-based features and more devices support.

Cloud-Based
Documents in Office 2013 are saved online to SkyDrive or SharePoint by default, enabling Office in the cloud for access, online edit, share, and post to social network.

More Devices Support
Office 2013 is optimized for touchscreen, available for Windows Phone 8 handsets as well. Recent files will be sync accoss different devices, Word and PowerPoint will remember where you were with reading a document, and then pick up for resume reading where you left off—even on a different PC or tablet.



Word 2013
-Present Online as you read through the document on your screen, the other party can follow along in their browsers.
-Open and edit PDF in Word, embed web videos into documents








Excel 2013
-Flash Fill learns and recognizes your pattern and auto-completes the remaining data
-Quick Analysis preview variety of ways to represent your data visually and apply

















PowerPoint 2013
- Improved Presenter View, zoom in and zoom out of the presentation
- Navigation Grid, control and switch slides during presentation











Outlook 2013
- Peeks and quick glance at schedule
- Share Your Calendar

Office 2013 will support only Windows 7 and 8 on the desktop, no Office for Mac 2013 planned yet.
Read more here: http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/en

Firefox OS

A HTML5-based mobile OS from Mozilla (previously known as Boot to Gecko) - Firefox OS, is expected to be rolled out in 2013.

By using HTML5 and the new Mozilla-proposed standard APIs:
Web Apps for Mobile
-Firefox OS allows all features on the phone to be run with advanced HTML5, even basic messaging and call functions
-All software running on the phone will be a web app that uses HTML5 techniques and device APIs rather than platform-specific native APIs 
-Unlocks many of the current limitations of web development on mobile, allows web app to access the phone's hardware directly via JavaScript, can taking advantage of smartphone features such as gyroscopes and cameras
-As the user interface is entirely written in HTML5 browser code, a web app can be run on other browsers outside of Firefox OS
Lower Cost
-Developers will no longer need to learn and develop against platform-specific native APIs
-Users no longer need to re-purchase apps for each device from different manufacturers
-Theoretically this should bring down the cost of producing the hardware

Click to enlarge screenshot below

How to Get iOS 6 Features Now with Jailbreak

You do not have to wait to get some of the iOS 6 features. This post show you how to get them now with jailbreak.

FaceTime

FaceTime over cellular networks.
Get it now with "3G Unrestrictor 5". This tweak also let you view YouTube in high quality and download big sized apps 

Facebook

Facebook integration similar with Twitter.

Get it now with "Fusion"

App Store

App Store no longer closed after you download an app, you can download multiple apps at once.

Get it now with "StayOpened"

Safari

Upload photo/video from Safari.
Get it now with "Safari Upload Enabler"

Check out the Top 3 Cydia Repo Sources to get those jailbreak tweaks.

Google I/O - Google Glass / Google Chrome for iOS / Google Drive / Google Now

Here are highlight of some interesting products showcased in Google I/O.

Google Glass

An amazing demo for Google Glass live skydiving involving with a group of skydivers using Google+ hangout, jumped out of a blimp above San Francisco and landed on the roof of San Francisco's Moscone Center, where Google I/O was taking place.

What is Google Glass? Read more here

Google Chrome for iOS

The getting popular browser is now available for iOS. It's using Safari as the core, but surprisingly quicker than the native browser. It has a number of cool navigation features and support sync for settings, tabs, bookmarks etc. Tabs opened on computer can be accessed and continue reading in the Chrome on smartphone.

Read more about Chrome overtakes Internet Explorer as No. 1 browser

Google Chrome on App Store

Google Drive

Google Drive is now available for iOS.  Files on Google drive can also make available offline for viewing in iOS. Offline editing and real-time collaboration is now possible on Google Drive online page. Real-time collaboration allow multiple users editing a document simultaneously from different devices, and have the changes all appear for all users (still remember Google Wave?).

What is Google Drive? Read more here

Google Drive on App Store

Read more about Set up offline access for Google Drive

Google Now

A new product expected to first available for Android, that will attempt to "gets you just the right information at just the right time". Similar with Siri on iOS, but what it does differently is to proactively "push" you every information that you appear to be interested, such as traffic information or restaurant nearby based on your location. It will do even more, when you have an appointment, it checks traffic so you can know how long it'll take to get there and notify when you should leave. 

Read more about Google Now

What is New in iOS 6

Apple had just announced details of its upcoming iOS 6, but the final version will only available to the public later this year. 
Here are the highlighted changes:

Apple Maps

No more Google Maps. 3D and turn-by-turn navigation

Siri

More languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean and more), new iPad support, more 3rd party apps support, car voice control

Facebook

Facebook integration includes Safari, Photos, Maps, Siri, Calendar, Contacts, Notification Center, App Store

Photo Streams

Share photos via iCloud, like photos and make comments

Passbook

New app for boarding passes, movie tickets, retail coupons, loyalty cards, all in one place

FaceTime

FaceTime over cellular networks

Phone

Decline a call and reply with text message or set callback reminder, new Do Not Disturb mode

Safari

Sync pages opened accross iDevices with iCloud Tabs, offline reading with Reading List, upload  photo/video from Safari

Read more from here: http://www.apple.com/ios/ios6/

Google+ Local

Google had been actively introducing new product recently.

Google is rolling out a new Google+ feature to help people find restaurants around them, with recommendations from their friends via Google+ and Zagat.

You can access to Google+ Local from the new "Local" tab on the left-hand side of Google+, search for specific places, and you'll be taken to a local Google+ page, which including reviews from people.

Google+ Local also integrated across other products such as Google Search or Maps, and it will replace existing Google Place pages (the page you used to see when you click on Google Maps), all of the Google Place pages have been automatically converted into Google+ pages.

Explore Google+ Local here: http://plus.google.com/local/

Also, read this intetesting article about Google+:
Google+ is a ghost town, study says, where most of Google+ users are actually not active.
How do you think?

Google Knowledge Graph - Search Things, Not Strings

When you search, you’re not just looking for a webpage by the search string. You’re looking for something, to get answers, concepts and to explore, i.e. you are searching for things but not just a random string of characters.

Google Knowledge Graph makes the search engine to think more like a human, to understand exactly what you mean and give you back exactly what you want, by collect and understand information about real things in the world and their relationships to one another. Knowledge Graph is to understands "things but not strings" and adds relevant details about your query in the sidebar of your search results. The new sidebar offering a quick snapshot of what you're searching for and to answer basic questions, and also let you explore a topic more deeply.

Try those search below at https://www.google.com (click the bottom right link to go to google US if you redirected to google's country site)

Statue of Liberty

Give you location, picture and basic info, it also give you what other people searching for 

Paris

Give you location, picture and basic info, and also points of interest in Paris

Beatles

Give you basic info, as well as songs and albums by Beatles

Leonardo da Vinci

Give you basic info, as well as works by Leonardo da Vinci

The Hunger Games

Give you basic info about the book, what other books people also searching for, and also suggestion on The Hunger Games movie

Avengers

Give you basic info about the movie, list of stars in the movie, as well as other movies people also searching for

You may also try and compare the same search in http://www.wolframalpha.com, an answering engine by computing the answer based on a vast collection of built-in data, algorithms, and methods (which is also used by iPhone's Siri).