All Things Technology

Facebook has again broke into and made away with
larges sum of ''trending topics''. The social networking giant is
reportedly testing trending topics(AKA what's hot) at the top,
right-hand side of your newsfeed, but for a limited number of US
users; since it is still in early stage.

Just like Twitter trending topics based on ''hashtag'', Facebook own
won't be different either.

The news came just 2 months after Facebook rolled out the ''hashtag''
feature, an idea stolen from Twitter.

Hashtag is a popular feature used by networks like Google+, YouTube,
Quora and owner Twitter to keep users in the know of the latest
happenings around them.

Remember when Google was planning to enter the mobile phon market in
2005? what did it do? well, Google did acquired Android Inc as a
platform to help power mobile phones for handset makers and carriers.
Again Google is reemploying that same technique; this time, on a
different scale as it enters the next multi-billion dollar market,
smart watch.

The Mountain view company has finally confirmed to buying smartwatch
maker WIMN, after the latter went out of business last year.

As part of the acquisition, both Google and WIMN employees will work
hand-in-hand on the new project. By this, we could see a Google
smartwatch(no name given for now) sooner than the web giant wearable
computer glass made by X Lab.

daughter and father

the damaged charger

Just a month after a Chinese air stewardnes was killed while answering a call on her iPhone 5 as it charge, another tragedy struck. But, thank Goodness,no death was recorded.
A 34 year-old father got the shock of his life when he tried to pull his 8 year-old daughter iPad Mini from the socket, only for the charger to explode in his hand; sending him flying through the room, on Saturday morning.

Had it been

Although it is yet to be confirmed, rumours has it that Nokia is working on a big Lumia smartphone ''the Bandit''(said to be bigger than the recently released Nokia Lumia 1020), and leaked pictures from Windows Phone Central suggest that it could be the Nokia Lumia 1520---a 6-inch Windows phone.

The guys over there are certain it is the Lumia 1520, and from what I read, it seems the device is said to be powered by a QualComn Snapdragon quad-core processor, 20-megapixel rear-facing camera and to be built with a polycarbonate body.b Remember my words? any 6-inch smartphone is a ''phablet''.

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that the Surface Pro
tablet prices would be made available with a $100 discount
(along with the 256GB SKU.) The 64GB Microsoft Surface Pro
price came down to $799, while the 128GB version was sold for $899.

The promotion was supposed to end on 30 August but the Redmond giant
confirms that the $100 price cut is permanent and the Surface Pro will
be available at the above mentioned price in all the markets where
Surface and Surface accessories are sold.

Microsoft sent a note to Neowin confirming the price cuts for
Surface tablets and its accessories. According to the note, the price
of the Touch Covers will be reduced by $40 with the price starting
from $79 while the limited editions covers will start from $89. On the
other hand, the Surface RT bundles will also see a $50 price cut as
rumored, the Surface RT bundles will be available for sale starting
from $399. However, there will be no discount on the Type Cover and
its price will stay intact at $129.99.

Samsung has yet to reveal the Galaxy Note 3 ''phablet'' and rumours
about the device screen and accessories have already surfaced online;
a couple of Note 3 accessories are already listed on Amazon, the world
largest online retailer. Can you imagine?

Samsung, do us a favour and put a stop to this ridiculous act at once.

Facebook, the world largest social networking site, changed it privacy
policy on Thursday; and surprisingly enough, it added facial
recognition technology---a biometric identification by scanning a
person pictures and matching it against a library of known faces.

By this, anyone on the social network could easily tag your profile
picture in uploaded photos in order to identify you. In other words,
the technology uses facial recognition to enable users of the network
to easily tag photos, which means those who have never been tagged in
a photo can be easily recognized. Paving way for third parties to
access your personal information.

LG G2

Ahead of it global launch, LG has sent its latest flagship smartphone, the LG G2 into space to test its camera performance, ruggedness and to promote the smartphone.

In order to convince us, LG dropped the smartphone from an aircraft flying thousands of feet above the earth. the smartphone was placed inside a box to protect it, and also attached to a balloon to keep it from falling. Watch the success video below.
LG, why not promote this rugged smartphone here?

Are you a fashion designer, entrepreneur, internet lover or an innovator and has an inspiring story to share with Google of how the internet has transformed your life since you became part of it? then enter Google's competition ''Africa connected'' and share that wonderful story of yours with the world and $25,000 when you win.

The ''Africa connected'' is an initiative launched by web giant Google in order to hear success stories from we(Africans) of how the web has changed our lives. Google launched the initiative in Nairobi, Kenya on August 27.
Five winners of the competition will each receive $25000 and also an opportunity to work with the web giant. The deadline for submissions is Oct. 11.

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Airtel Nigeria and Infinity mobility have teamed up to provide free internet access to Nigerian when they buy the newly introduced Race Bolt Q and Race Max Q smartphones.  The two smartphones are fully package with 500MB of free internet access for six months  from Airtel Nigeria.

l believe the Reddit team are not aware of this loophole. Some
Redditors are pretty smart and knows how to immediately push their
posts to the front page just few minutes after they submitted them.

l know for sure, some questions are running through minds like 'how
did he found out?'. Well, truth be told, l'm a Redditor; but l
haven't shared my contents there yet.

A friend of mine, who also happens to be a Blogger and a Redditor,
discovered it. A certain Redditor submitted a post(username withheld)
and within minutes the post jumped to the frontpage. He was like ' how
come?. l know when you submit quality contents that people enjoy, they
will up-vote that post no doubt, but in this case, my friend decided to
checked out those running commentary. And to his surprise, out of 40,
25 just joined a few minutes ago...and all having each contents of
that particular website.

My main concern now is people should not abuse Reddit. It is a place
where l always love to make comments, and also a website for the
latest news around the globe. Reddit should allow registration with
email address(not optional) compulsory or let them sign up or login
with their Facebook or Twitter accounts.

Let me know your thoughts in the comment.

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Reports has it that world biggest smartphone maker Samsung will host
her first ever Global Developer conference in San Franciscowill,
California , and has started accepting registrant. The conference will
hold at the prestigious Westin ST Francis Hotel on October 27 to the
29. Ticket per registrant, be it developer, general attendees or
student starts at $299.

At the event, participants will colaborate and learn more about new
Samsung tools, as well as how to create, advertise and monetize apps
with other fellow developers. There will also be 40 sessions to be
covered at the conference.

It is the news making rounds on the internet. Microsoft CEO Steve
Ballmer has finally called it a quit from the company, after heading
that position for 12 ''horrible'' years, thus Making way for a new
leadership and new ideas. Though, the big man will still be around for
the meantime until a new boss is appointed.

Ever Since Bill Gates retired from Microsoft, the company has been
struggling to find it feet in the technology industry[ l welcome your
opinion].

So many have been written already, so l wouldn't want to ponder on
that for now. Without much ado, permit to ask these questions to you
guys who are familiar with the matter: Do you think Microsoft can
still come back and be the leader in technology as it once were? could
you tell me some of the challenges the 'new CEO would face?

Let us get the conversation started in the comment.

Well, that didn't last long. Facebook is officially dropping physical
goods from its Facebook Gifts program. Which is to say, Facebook is
still keeping Gifts, it's just switching over
to gift cards and digital codes instead of flowers,
stuffed animals, and cupcakes.

The reason for the switch is pretty simple. According to Facebook
representatives, the social network
noticed that a majority of those using Gifts – right around 80 percent
– were purchasing gift cards via the service. Presumably to eliminate
the overhead (and logistical headaches) associated with retail
purchasing, Facebook has decided to abandon physical goods in favor of
"adding more digital codes and making the Facebook Card redeemable at
more merchants," said a spokesman in an interview with
CNET's Jennifer Van Grove .


"We're really making the decision based on use feedback," said Lee
Linden, head of Facebook's Gifts program, in an interview with
AllThingsD's Mike Isaac. "The physical stuff is interesting for sure,
but our goal is to build stuff that's really great for the majority of
people who are using it."


Facebook's also giving its Gifts store a bit of a redesign, and a
subset of users should already be able to tap into the refresh right
now as an early
preview. The company plans to officially launch the
new site next week for all Facebook users. Tweaks that users will see
include the inclusion of new merchants offering up gift cards for
purchase, as well as the introduction of gift cards that can be
purchased in any amount users want between two set thresholds.


As for the Facebook Card, the service still remains a little
complicated. When a user elects to gift a gift to a friend using the
Facebook Card, the person – if they don't have one already – receives
a physical,
Facebook-blue card in the mail with the gift balance
built in. A balance, we note, that's locked to the intended retailer.
A person can't just load up a Facebook Card with a set amount of cash
and spend it at any retailer that accepts the card. And, yes, one card
can hold multiple, varying gift balances for different retailers.


Confused? On the plus side, at least one can check the various
balances on one's Facebook Card via Facebook itself. Facebook
officially launched Gifts in September of last year with the hope that
the service would be able to combine easy revenue with social appeal –
giving users a way to contribute a little bit to
Facebook's bottom line while simultaneously tapping
into the strength of the online social network to promote Gifts to
others (as well as the retailer associated with individual gift
purchases). It hasn't seemingly quite made that much of an overall
impact on Facebook's revenues, however.

Facebook announced in January of this year that $5
million of the $256 million it made from Facebook- related payments
came from non-game sources,including Gifts and promoted posts – the
latter taking the lion's share of that figure. Facebook began
expanding Gifts to international users in April of this year.

Twitters be on the alert and revoke any third party apps tied to your accounts, that is the warning given after a Mauritania hacker got and posted more than 15000 credentials of users of the microblogging platform online,he  also said more are coming, claiming no user is safe. Though Twitter officials disclosed that no user information was compromised.
How to revoke access
To do this, point your browser to . There, you'll find a list of all applications -- web and iOS -- attached to your account. 

Remember the Palestinian security analyst who posted on the Official Mark Zuckerberg profile on Facebook about a bug he discovered, but was denied compensation? if you don't, click

The Palestinian security analyst will receive $11,000 as a reward for helping the internet company, but that money is not coming from Facebook. Instead, it is will come from a GoFundMe campaign.

In just 24 hours, the campaign raised more than it initial goal of $10,000. Before the announcement, about 199 donors had contributed to the campaign totaling $11,000.
  Chief Technology Officer of Beyondtrust who started the campaign gave a vote of thanks " 

I hope this has raised awareness of the importance of independent researchers

I hope this has raised awareness of the importance of independent researchers," he wrote. "I equally hope it has reminded other researchers that while working with technology companies can sometimes be frustrating, we can never forget the greater goal; to help the Internet community at large, just as that community has helped donate over ten thousand dollars to Khalil within a day."

Marissa Mayer is doing well for Yahoo since she became President and CEO of the company. For the first time since 2011, Yahoo received more US visitors than Google, which has always dominated.

The figures were released by ComScore, a global leader in measuring the digital world and the preferred source of business analytic, saw Yahoo received 400,000 visitors more than Google.

Mind you, these figures do not include visitors from Tumblr.

Vine  achieved these numbers  thanks to popular Google mobile platform Android.Before making  its debut to Google  mobile  platform, the Twiiter-owned video app had 13 million  users.

Despite huge competition from Facebook , after it launched  video on Instagram that allows users to record  15 seconds  video, compared to vine which  only allowed 6seconds. Vine has seen a massive huge growth  in just seven months.

 Twitter broke the  news earlier  today  that Vine now has 40 million registered users,but haven't yet revealed the numbers of active users.

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Can somebody tell what is going on? is this latest in technology now? tech giants shutting down, leaving millions of consumers to bear the consequences. First was Microsoft, then came Google and Amazon.

Amazon web portal(amazon.com) shut down for 20 minutes or so, due to circumstances beyond their control as at that time. US and Canada visitors who logged on to Amazon.com were greeted with a message ''oops! we are very sorry'' and then a ''500 services unavailable error'' according to reports.

Unlike Google shut down which killed 40% of world internet traffic in 5 minutes,  in Amazon's case, ''the thumb came pointing back''.Reports proved that the world largest online retailer lost nearly $5 million in sales, during that period. That's huge!

I'm not a fan of Samsung(not Apple either), but I must admit, Samsung products are simply the best. And wait a minute, this smartphone is far more bigger than the S4; it's a phablet!
Samsung on Monday introduced the new Galaxy Mega, a 6.3-inch smartphone, which, in my opinion, could be compared to a tablet computer because of it screen size. Making it owner enjoy features which a tablet computer offers such as: watching movies in multi windows and has a Watch-on, which allows users to control a TV with the device.
Features
The Samsung Galaxy Mega has 1.5GB of RAM, an 8 mega-pixel camera, a 3200 mAh battery, that could last all though the day on single charge and runs Android 4.2.2(jelly bean) Take note, the device doesn't come with the usual pen style.

Watch this ''comedy'' video of a little American family, way back 1997, learning how to surf the newly born internet on a Compaq Pentium Pro 200 computer.

Google shut down only  for five minutes, but  within that short period, it caused much damage to web traffic.
According to web analytic firm GoSquared, the five minutes blacked out on Friday kills 40% internet traffic.That's huge right? even those who took to Bing, revealed that they couldn't use it for search as at that time.

Seriously, I also found the same bug when I updated my Facebook profile picture. Someone commented on my pic, so I decided to see who that person was. But to my surprise, she was not a friend of mine on Facebook. I didn't take it too seriously because I never knew it was a bug, this incident happened around.....late July. Reading this guy story, I now realized it was a bug.

From what I read,  a Palestinian security analyst named Khalil( reporters call him hacker, which I don't understand) discovered a bug on Facebook, like I said earlier, allows any Facebook user to post anything on your wall. He contacted Facebook security team about the bug he found, but was told ''this is not a bug''. If you are not aware, Facebook offers $500 per bug report. Khalil even created and posted a video about the bug to the Facebook security team, but still, they failed to acknowledge it.

After he tried, he posted the bug on Mark Zuckerberg official Facebook profile, a few minute later, he was axe. His account was shut down and he wasasked to show details about the bug.
They later found all that he reported was true, but hinted he won't received compensation because he violated the social network While hat security feedback program. It is not known which he violated for now.

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Why should you hold an umbrella with your hands in order not to be drenched by the rain when you have this. The $39 back pack umbrella is worn on the back preventing you from rain and sun while keeping your hands free.

I love that car, I know you will.

A few minutes after I published this , Google servers immediately went down. I could not pictured it, but I saw on my screen ''error 501, server down. That's what we know for now''.
After five minutes, I tried to access my blogger account, this time, I successfully login; Google is back online now.

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Well!, well !!, well !!!, Samsung is getting there first before Apple this time.
 There has  been rumours and speculations that Samsung is planning to unveil its smartwatch, dubbed ''Galaxy Gear'' on September 4, prior to the IFA Consumers Electronic Show in Berlin( hoping to attend) Germany.
The Android powered device would be able to perform functions of smartphones: make calls, send short emails and surf the internet.
If Samsung successfully launches its Galaxy Gear into the market, I foresee ''doom'' for Apple iwatch( in my opinion)

Microsoft owns Skype and can do whatever it desire. The tech giant announced that Skype will come pre-installed in Windows 8.1. The voip and chat service will come as native app.
Whether you use it or not, when Skype is pre-installed in Windows 8.1, you would find it so difficult to get rid of it.

German automaker, Audi has announced that its first 4G-enabled ride(or world frist 4G car), the S3 Sportback will be coming to Lots in the UK on Thursday(today) , but US lots will have to wait until next spring to get an LTE option, but it will be on the A3 sedan
The S3 is the world first car that comes with Long Term Evolution(marketed as 4G LTE) embedded in the dashboard.
Read PRESS RELEASE below

Nokia may be recording low sales in terms of sale of its smartphones, but that doesn't stop the Finnish phone maker app store from hitting 2 billion downloads in India alone.
According to a statement released by Nokia, in just one month, 168 Indian developers beat the one million download mark each,  while three developer hit 100 million downloads for their apps, with over 80 million Indian subscribers.
As at the time of reporting, Nokia App store  has hit more than 10 billion downloads worldwide.
Furthermore, half of the apps are downloaded on S40 and the Asha platform.

Going on a shopping is fun no doubt, but how do you try on those clothes in an instant? one word, technology.
With this magic mirror, you can try on a number of garment without you ever putting them on. This amazing technology is brought to us by Osaka Digital Fashion Co.
Stand in front of the magic mirror and you can see the outfit looks. Even more interesting, you can interact with the mirror by picking which outfit to try on. Watch the video below.

I know for sure most of us will like to see what the TARDIS really look like inside. One thing we know for now is that, it is smaller on the outside, and much bigger on the inside. But a newly discovered trick let you inside the TARDIS.
So here we go:
Follow this
To make it

Report from All Things Digital has it that Facebook is planning on a mobile payment service that would allow its users to shop on mobile eCommerce apps and pay for products with just their Facebook account.
According to All Things Digital, users who have their credit cards information stored on Facebook file, can simply pay for products with their Facebook account details, which means, Facebook mobile payment service will take over the transaction.
The test will begin next month or so, and the social networking website will first try it out with male-shopping platform JackThreads.

If you are a BMW driver out there, chances are, you are a jerk.Hey, those words doesn't come from me, but science. It went on,you are the type who is likely to stop for a pedestrian who have entered the crosswalk. Watch the video above and let me know your thoughts in the comment.

A smart window covering that can be used  to block heats and light passing through windows in homes, cars and even aircraft to make them cooler or warmer as weather changes has been created by a team of US scientists.  The nanocrystal glass unlike a normal pane of glass, is a energy saver, It reduces the cost of electricity bills of those living in the US, or hotter regions so to speak.
Potentially, the smart glass is transparent, but when a charge is sent, it becomes dark, thereby blocking the heat or light that enters a building.

What have you done by accident? I know most us have different answers to this question. But do you know that an accident has led to the finding of the ''impossible material'', the Upsalite?
A team of Swedish researchers have solved a century old chemistry problem by accidentally producing the material after they left it running for over a weekend. They came back only to find that a new material, which Scientist have been trying to find for more than 100 years, had been formed. The Upsalite is an anhydrous form of Magnesium

Finnish phone maker Nokia yesterday teamed up with one of Nigeria biggest telecom operator, Airtel and launched the Nokia 501 and 210 in Lagos, Nigeria.

The event was stage at Airtel's office in Banana island Ikoyi and was attended by the creams of both Nokia and Airtel and Journalists from different media houses.
At the event, Vice President, central Africa of Nokia, Nick Imudia and Airtel operator account manager, Beatrice Olumesi described the new phones as right option for the Nigerian market. Because the consumer has access to different apps and also choice of colour to buy.

Meanwhile, two Journalists, Abiola Folarin of  Worldstage newsonline and Jonah of Vanguard both won a Nokia Asha 501 each, in a riffle draw conducted at the event.

Angelina Jolie

To celebrities, they find it so difficult keeping up with their fans on social media, knowing those guys who likes their posst and so much other stuff. But not anymore, Facebook is creating a tool meant just for celebrities to keep their fans up-to-date from their mobile devices.

The ''VIP'' tool as Facebook calls it, will allow celebrities to know what people are saying, and interact with their fans. Facebook is currently testing the new tool with some group of ''small'' partners.

Over the past  months, Facebook has been copying some Twitter features, like in May, Facebook announced its own verified pages and profiles of celebrities.

Have you seen a tablet with double screens and runs on both Android 4.2.2.2 jelly bean and Windows 8 applications before? if not, then you need to see the Samsung ATIV Q. This hybrid tablet can be bend and fold into many positions.
The Samsung ATIV Q is a hybrid tablet that has a 13.3-inch multi touch display with 3200X1800. It is powered with Intel Core 5 processor, comes with a 128GB SSD(Solid State Drive), 9 hours of battery life and includes a 4GB RAM. There is a USB 3.0 as well as USB 2.0 for data transfer and HDMI out for Video output. The on-board webcam is capable of 720p videos and high resolution photos

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Hyundai has officially launched the redesigned 2014 Elentra Avante in South Korea,  which come in more styling and improved gadgetry.

Blackberry has launched the Blackberry 9720, a new smartphone that comes with a Qwerty keyboard and,  runs on BB 7.1 operating system(OS). Though am not a fan of Blackberry, in my own opinion, I think the BB 9720 will be welcomed by entry-level consumers who want a smartphone to fit in their wallets.
The Blackberry 9720 has

After it was introduced  at the Geneva Motor Show in early march this year, and recently launched in the UK, the Roll Royce Wrath will be coming to the Indian market on August 19.
The report has it that the Wrath currently sells in the UK at 235,000 Great Britain Pounds, and as such, the Indian price could start at INR 4.5 crores..

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Usain Bolt crossing the finish line as lightning flashes in the sky could be the best sports photo of 2013

German automaker, Mercedes-Benz added two new models to its E-class versions: the E200 and BlueTechEfficiency.
The E200 NGD(Natural Gas Drive), which can be powered by a Petrol or Natural gas, offers  115kW(156 HP) with a speed of 100KM in 10.4 seconds.
As for the E 220 BlueTech Blue-Efficiency , it will come with a 2.1-litre four-cylinder engine, generating  125kW(170 HP) and can accelerate  0 to 100 km/h in 8.4 seconds before reaching a top speed of 227 km/m.