Home Quote Of The Day

“Home's where you go when you run out of homes.”
― John le Carré

MTN To Debut Its $50 Branded Android Smartphone In Nigeria

 
One of Nigeria's leading telecommunications operator, MTN is set to debut its first branded Android smartphone – Sm@rt Mini S620 — which runs Android 4.2 OS and powered by a 1Ghz processor,  The dual-SIM device would spot a 3.5-inch screen, 4GB internal memory, 512RAM, microSD expandable up to 32GB and 1,300mAH battery.
The Sm@rt Mini S620 would also come with a front and rear camera, although details on its spec are not yet confirmed. The device also features support for HSPA+/WiFi/Bluetooth/USB functionality with FM Radio support and apps like BBM come pre-installed. It is unclear if MTN would also provide support for WhatsApp and other OTT services. The smartphone is expected to launch this July and would be sold for about N8,000 (about $50).

Home Quote Of The Day

The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. 
― Maya Angelou

Google To Shut Down Failing Social Network

(Stephen Lam/Reuters)

Google will shut down its early social-networking service, Orkut, which was launched 10 years ago but has failed to put Google ahead in what has become one of the Web’s most popular businesses.

Google said it will shut down Orkut, which is widely used in Brazil and India but hasn’t caught on more broadly, on Sept. 30, to focus on its other social networking initiatives.

The company declined to say how many users Orkut has.

“Over the past decade, YouTube, Blogger and Google+ have taken off, with communities springing up in every corner of the world. Because the growth of these communities has outpaced Orkut’s growth, we’ve decided to bid Orkut farewell,” Google said in a post on the Orkut blog Monday.

Orkut was launched early in 2004, the same year that Facebook, now the world’s No. 1 social network with 1.28 billion users, was founded.

The service’s shutdown comes as Google’s social networking plans remain in question. In April, Vic Gundotra, the head of Google’s social networking services, left the company.

Gundotra oversaw the 2011 launch of Google+, a social networking service similar to Facebook. Gundotra said in October that 300 million people visit the Google+ webpage every month.

Google has increasingly sought to position Google+ less as a social networking “stream” that competes with Facebook, and more as a means of establishing a unified “user identity” system to improve Google’s various Web properties. Last year, for example, Google began requiring users of its YouTube site to sign in with their Google+ identities before posting comments about videos.

The company said it would preserve an archive of all Orkut “communities” that will be available from Sept. 30.

“If you don’t want your posts or name to be included in the community archive, you can remove Orkut permanently from your Google account,” Google said.

 by Bernadette Baum.

9 Travel Gears That Will Amaze You

Sometimes travelling could be scary, daring and atimes stressful, thanks to recent innovations that tend to drive away all fears and doubt. here are nice wonderful gadgets that could thrill you and make your travel and tours comfortable;

1. A speaker the size of your thumb: Most travel speakers are so unwieldy that we just conveniently leave them at home and then lament not being able to listen to Billy Ocean while we lounge by the pool. You’ll never complain about this little guy taking up too much space. Put it on your keychain and get up to six hours of playback with easy USB charging.

(Courtesy: Fancy.com)

2. An in-flight entertainment hack: I’m still surprised by the number of planes that haven’t moved into the 21st century when it comes to in-flight entertainment. Quit your whining. This device mounts your tablet/e-reader/smartphone on the back of the seat in front of you for easy viewing and reading. 

(Courtesy: Fancy.com)

3. An iPhone telephoto lens: These days, most of us use our phone as our primary camera — often to our detriment. This handy lens puts your iPhone on steroids to provide sharper photo and video resolution. It is no substitute for the real thing, but it isn’t a bad hack if you don’t want to bring your pricey camera on a jaunt.

(Courtesy: Magellan’s)

4. The perfect travel adaptor: It may not be sexy, but this little bugger will save you both space and frustration. If you’re like me, you have a box somewhere in your house filled with unlabeled travel adaptors from about a dozen different countries. Now you can throw them away and put other things in that box (like orphaned power cords). This lightweight gadget is pretty much the only adaptor you will ever need — unless you are going to the moon.

(Courtesy: Monoprice)

5. A solar backpack: Sure, this bag is handy for backpacking, but it’s also great for bumming around a city. Having a power source on your back means you don’t need to scout for a coffee shop every time one of your devices conks out. Besides charging all your stuff, it has 1,500 cubic inches of storage space, a padded laptop sleeve, and an integrated phone pouch.

(Courtesy: Voltaic Systems)

6. Jawbone wristband: Keep track of how healthy you are on the road with this fitness band that tracks your activity level, nutrition, and sleep to help you make smarter choices while you are on the go. 

(Courtesy: Jawbone)

7. Electronics hammock: I am an outlet stalker. I will plug in anytime, anywhere, whether it is on the floor of the airport or a dirty bathroom in Cusco. My No. 1 concern isn’t that my device will be stolen (I stay close by), but that it will be stepped on. This adorable little German hammock will cuddle your phone and keep it safe.

(Courtesy: Fair-kaeuflich.DE) 

8. Sterilizer pen: In some countries it would behoove you to be wary of even the bottled water. In just seconds the UV light in this pen creates safe drinking water whenever you’re a little iffy about the H2O in a new country.

 (Courtesy: Steri-Pen)

9. Doorstop alarm: How often have you looked at the flimsy lock on a motel/hostel/guest house door and thought, “I am going to be killed in my sleep”? This door wedge alarm will wake you up before an intruder can actually open your door — and odds are it will probably scare him off, too. 

(Courtesy: Magellan’s)

Microsoft; Release Date For Windows Phone 8.1 Announced

Microsoft has finally announced when Windows Phone 8.1 will be available to Windows Phone users. The major operating system update will bring, among other things, the Cortana voice-based, Bing-powered virtual assistant. On its support pages, Microsoft lists June 24 as the release date for the Windows Phone 8.1 update, revealing that it will be supported for three years, until July 11, 2017.

“Microsoft will make updates available for the Operating System, including security updates, for a minimum of 36 months after the lifecycle start date,” Microsoft noted. “These updates will be incremental, with each update built on the update that preceded it. Customers need to install each update in order to remain supported. The distribution of these incremental updates may be controlled by the mobile operator or the phone manufacturer from which you purchased your phone, and installation will require that your phone have any prior updates. Update availability will also vary by country, region, and hardware capabilities.”

Windows Phone 8.1 was officially announced in early April at Microsoft’s Build conference, alongside new Nokia Lumia handsets that will launch with Windows Phone 8.1 on board. These videos highlight all the new features in Windows Phone 8.1, including the Cortana virtual assistant.

Home Quote Of The Day

“Heimat. The word mean home in German, the place where one was born. But the term also conveys a subtler nuance, a certain tenderness. One's Heimat is not merely a matter of geography; it is where one's heart lies. ” 
― Jenna Blum