Microsoft say they sell 7 copies of Windows 7 every second. You have to be kidding, right?

Microsoft announced a few days ago an information which is quite suspicious, at least for me, and I think I'm not the only one. They said that they sold 150 million copies of Windows 7, meaning they have been selling 7 copies every second since they launched it. 150 million Windows 7 sold? 7 copies every second? Hmmmm....

Let's calculate something. Let's say that those 150 million copies, were all upgrades, to Windows 7 Home Premium. Its price is $120. This means that... they had somewhere about $18 billion income (yes, $18 000 000 000). But I'm sure that they also sold lots of Windows 7 Ultimate full version, at the price of $320. These numbers, for a company which is still market by the fail of Vista, seem that to be not pretty real. I don't say that Microsoft is lying, I say only that it is hard to believe something like this.

What do you think? Do these numbers seem real to you?

More on Microsoft's blog here.

Google removed remotely two applications from some Android devices. And what?

A few days ago, an announcement came officially from Google who said that they removed two applications from the Android Market. The cause was that those two apps were simply not doing what they were intended to do. They were made by a security researcher, and even if they weren't developing any malicious activities or saving sensible data, because they violated Android's Terms of Service, Google decided to remove them. Till now, everything is OK.

But, what created notable flames on the blogs/forums/social networks was the information that Google, in order to remove completely that applications, also removed them (remotely) from the phones of some users who downloaded them. Personally, I don't see what is the problem in this, and why some people became...upset because of this. I think this reaction of Google was something normal.

Google affirmed that the two applications could be used in attacks, so, considering this, I really don't see any problem in Google's action. Are they afraid that if Google can do this, Google can even get access to their private data? So what, do they think that other OS providers didn't implement mechanisms like Google did? I'm sure that they also did. But at least, in Google's situation, it is very good that this is something transparent. Very good, Google!

Convert (almost) anything on your Android device with Unit Converter - Convertpad.

If you're searching for a complex conversion program for Android, what I recommend you to try is "Unit Converter". It is a fully featured Unit Converter and Calculator. As I've told you in the title, this can convert (and also calculate) almost anything. Starting from Length, Weight, Volume, Time, continuing with Surface Tension, Permeability, Fuel Efficiency - Mass, and finishing with Typography, Cooking and Lumber (and tens of others).

This application is very popular on the Market, having over 250 000 downloads currently. It is very useful especially at Physics (at school), but also when you want to convert something fast and you don't want to stay and think how it is the best to convert that. It has even a currency converter (but unfortunately it has a limited number of currencies and needs a data connection to update). But, what matters, it is free.

Download it now from the Market : "Unit Converter - Convertpad " (type full name, the application is by Sunny Moon).

The best collection of HD wallpapers?

My opinion is that, when we are talking about HD wallpapers, the best site where you can find plenty of them is HDwallpapers.net. You will find there only high-quality images, at the best resolution possible. Wallpapers on this website are organized on categories. Some of them are: Abstract, Computer, Movies, Nature and Landscapes, Travel and others.

I think that this is the best site of this type, because of the quality of the pictures. The organization on categories is a plus when you're trying to find something certain. The website is well designed, having a pleasant theme. What I also like is that the advertising is present only on the left part of the website while navigating through the wallpapers, under categories, so it is discomforting the user while navigating.

Visit HDwallpapers.net now and download the wallpapers you like.

Do you know an equivalent website or one you think it's better? Let us know!

iPhone 4 just arrived, as well as major problems.

iPhone 4, the phone which "changes everything, again", seems to fail quite much this time. The guys from Engadget have been using the iPhone 4 for 6 days now (this is really interesting), and they noticed some scratches on the back of the device. Apple said that this "Gorilla Glass" which covers the front and the back of the device is...I don't know how many times resistant than normal plastic, and it is very hard to scratch.  However, the guys from Engadget got it scratched. More here (+photos).

The front of the unit doesn't stay better, also. After just 4 drops on asphalt, the screen broke. Probably the screen didn't work anymore, but they (the guys from Engadget) couldn't test that, because the device stopped working from the second drop already!!! More here (photo+video).

There are problems, again, with the screen. Many users are seeing yellow spots at the bottom of the screen. It is not known if this is a manufacturing fail or an IPS LCD issue, but it is clear that there are problems with the screen. Apple said that they are working on a fix, but it is improbable that they are going to resolve something as they had 600 000 requests on the first day of pre-orders, and most probably there are over 1 million devices coming to their customers currently. Anyway, it seems that IPS screens are harder to create than it was thought, so only a half of Apple 4 units can be delivered at expected time. So, I think that it is 99% sure that we'll have problems with the stocks, again.

There are also problems with the signal. Cellular signal. We don't know yet if there are problems with the Wi-Fi, because there weren't any reports saying this, but as Apple's products are usually having problems with the  Wi-Fi, it is expected to come in the following period reports confirming this or not. Certain is that there are major problems with the cellular signal. If the device is kept on a flat table, the signal is excellent, the new construction of Apple does it's job excellent (the antenna is integrated on the structure of the device). But in the moment you take the device in your hand, the signal decreases, until it loses it. If you put the device on the table, it gets the signal again and goes even until full.

More about these two problems here (photos+video+polls).

Are you having any of these problems? Please leave a comment to let us know if you have or not.

Protect your Android device with Lookout Mobile Security.

Todays mobile devices (such as phones) run more and more advanced and complex operating systems, so a protection suite is something needed now. When I got my Android phone (Nexus One), I've started looking for a mobile antivirus. I got one which offered only antivirus protection, but I wasn't satisfied with it, so I tried Lookout, and it really impressed me.

This is not just an antivirus. It has a very useful backup mechanism, and for extra protection, it also has a device locating system (named "Missing Device"). Additionally, in the last system, a method for making your device scream is also included, to help you in case that you lost your device and you think it's somewhere near you.

When you install the application, you have to create an account. Later, this account is going to be used in order to manage various tasks, such as: details about scanned and infected files, viewing, managing and sending back to your phone data which has been saved (via backup), locating and making your device scream, and some other tasks.

The entire system works perfectly. It happened for me several times to download infected apps from the Market, and Lookout blocked them. I also tried to locate my device, and it located (not instantly) my phone impressive exactly (it indicated an area of about 50 meters, as when I tried to locate it I was inside a hotel room).

After you create an account, you can enter on https://www.mylookout.com/user/login, from where you can see real-time details about your phone. From here, you can do anything I told you. You can even set how frequent should your device be scanned and backup procedures done.

It works with Android 2.1 and Android 2.2 (tested by me). Search it on the Android Market: "Lookout".

Windows 7 SP1, coming on July.

Service Pack (SP) represents usually the most important update that a version of an OS can receive. Windows 7 SP1 has been tested by developers for more months, and it is coming for the end-users by the end of the next month. What this update will include are all bug-fixes and updates which were already delivered to the users through Windows Update, plus support for USB 3.0.

It seems that this new pack fixes about 150 vulnerabilities and has about 150MB. The installation process is probably going to be really easy, and even if it isn't necessary now, Microsoft probably wants to make a step forward and detach from what was a total fail, Windows Vista. There are lots of torrents which pretend to be the SP1 Windows 7, but as it is not yet released officially for end-users it is hard for me to believe that they are the real SP1 which will be released by MS.

If you think Windows 7 is boring, just be patient until the SP1 of Windows 7 arrives (I'll let you know when Microsoft launches it officially).

Apple launches iOS 4 today!

Apple is today going to launch their new version of iPhone OS, now named iOS. We are talking here about iOS 4, a new operating system for iPhones/iPods which adds over 100 new features to the iPhone 3GS, compared to the earlier OS version. It's a quite complicated story, because this new OS will be available only for the new iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G.

However, if you have a 3G iPhone, it has been already shown that the new iOS stresses the device considerably much. I recommend you not to update yet, and wait for some videos on YouTube to see how fast it moves. Apple is always making older devices (this time is 3G's turn) to move slowly with new software, in order to make people buy new devices (3GS or 4). And if you're on 3G, you won't have multitasking and wallpaper image (so there is no real need to update, in my opinion).

What else you need to know is that if you ordered a new 3GS today, it is already being delivered with iOS 4 so if you need to unlock it, there is no jailbreaking solution yet. Don't understand me wrong, iOS 4 has already been jailbroken, but the 3GS and the 4 will surely come with a new boot rom installed so you can't jailbreak them yet.

Anyway, if you need a jailbroken device, do not update yet, as the situation is not clear how to jailbreak iPhone 3G/3GS/4.

Android 2.2 FRF72 manual update is now available.

Google launched yesterday an update for Android 2.2, for those who received their Nexus One at Google's conference. It updates the build number on the Nexus from FRF50 to FRF72, and it is just an under 2 MB .zip archive. So, there shouldn't be any notable difference compared to previous version.

However, for me it seems that it makes the applications a little more responsive, and changes the way "pinch-to-zoom" works on pictures. The first sensation is a little inaccuracy, but after playing a little with it, I think that this is a new feature. If you move your both fingers in a direction while zooming (in or out), you will observe that the image moves that way. This is too natural (for the fingers) and too smooth (for the phone) to be a bug, in my opinion.

Please note that in order to update, you MUST have the previous built for Android 2.2 (FRF50) installed on your phone.

You can get the Android 2.2 built50 (previous built) with installation instructions from here.

For FRF72, follow the instructions from the link above, as they are the same.

Download Android 2.2 FRF72 from here. In case that Google removes the file, mirror download link is here.

You can expect for this file to hit the Nexus via an OTA update anytime.

Notes:

• You may have to try step 6 for several times (it might not work for the first time).
• Step 8 is necessary.
• This will NOT void your warranty, however, the update is on your own responsibility.

Apple and AT&T canceling iPhone 4 pre-orders, apparently, for no reason?

Some of the people who pre-ordered the iPhone 4 had received a mail which notified them that their pre-order has been canceled, apparently, without any plausible reason. On the first day of pre-orders Apple had about 600 000 requests, so that they delayed the shipping date for pre-orders two times, until the 2nd of July. There were, on the first day, much more requests than anybody (including Apple) has expected, so Apple's servers had big difficulties in handling that heavy traffic which has been occurred.

AT&T doesn't stay better, they also canceled some pre-orders, saying that they had ten times more pre-orders on the first day compared to the 3GS. I don't know what's with these cancels, but it is certain that this will put some people in an unpleasant situation, especially those who wanted to have their phone on the first day of shipping (OK, who didn't want?). Considering this enormous demand for the iPhone 4, pre-orders which are made today are going to be delivered much later.

By the way, Apple has already started shipping iPhone 4 for those who ordered it in the first period of pre-orders. They will most probably be received on the 23rd of June.

Sources from Engadget, here and here.

Fixing "connection refused" problem in Pidgin (Ubuntu).

"Connection refused" error is a problem which is known by many Linux users. It is usually occurred (sometimes) on most IM clients, especially when trying to connect to Yahoo!. This is a very annoying problem, and almost nobody knows exactly how to fix it (and if they fixed it, what they really did). Certain is that this usually occurs when the guys from Yahoo! are changing the way users are authenticating on their servers. So their servers are probably misconfigured (for Linux users), and they are simply refusing all clients who are coming from other clients, different than their own client (application).

There are some ways of fixing this on the internet. It has been reported that if you continue trying to connect, you could be in a final connected or redirected to a server which allows authentication in the old way. However, theoretically spoken, this solution is only temporary. If you disconnect, you'll probably have again problems connecting. Other users reported that changing the server on which the application is logging on may resolve the problem. I've tried changing it between scsa.msg.yahoo.com, cn.scs.msg.yahoo.com, scs.msg.yahoo.com and other addresses like these. I tried to change the address even with server's IP address directly (thinking that it could be an address resolving problem), everything with no luck.

But I continued trying, and after tens of forums and blogs, I found on brainstorms.in a user who reported that changing the server to scsd.msg.yahoo.com works. And it really works. So, if you have this problem, click on Accounts -> (on your account) Edit Accounts -> Advanced, and on the first row (Pager server), put "scsd.msg.yahoo.com".

Please leave a comment to know if this fixed your problem or not.

Ubuntu 10.04 + Nvidia FX proprietary drivers? Maybe not!

I never was a fan of Nvidia's graphic cards. I don't have a reason for this, but I simply prefer ATI's products. And after what Nvidia proprietary driver did when I activated it in Ubuntu 10.04, I surely won't be a fan of them ever. So here are the details. An AMD platform (32-bit), with a Nvidia FX 5600 graphic card and a fresh-installed Ubuntu 10.04.

Nvidia usually makes its own drivers for Linux distributions. These kinds of drivers are known as "proprietary drivers", which means that their code is made and developed by Nvidia developers. In Ubuntu, in case that something goes wrong (including a driver), developers (from anywhere in the world) start working (on open source code) immediately on a fix so that it is available as soon as possible in the Update Manager. But with Nvidia, the situation is different. Because it's a proprietary driver, Ubuntu's developers doesn't have access to the code (because it isn't a public or open source code), so they can't improve or fix it. Any user using a Nvidia graphic card under Ubuntu has to wait for Nvidia's developers in case that it appears a problem with the driver.

So here's my problem. After I activated Nvidia's driver (version 173), it asked for a reboot. Until then, everything worked fine. But after reboot...it happened...I don't know what. I can't even explain. Under the VGA port, the image was highly affected. I could hardly read something on the screen (the colors and the image were totally misplaced). The monitor (Samsung T220) was continuously warning me that the image is displayed in "not optimum mode", and even after I got into driver's settings and changed them from auto to 1680 x 1050 with 60 Hz, the situation remained the same. The image on the monitor was starting to color white at every 10 seconds, and I was afraid that this can burn the pixels or even broke the entire monitor.

On DVI, the situation was completely different. The image looked pretty OK, however, the monitor was still warning me that it is in "not optimum mode" and it was restarting at every 1-3 seconds. This happens both with driver version 173 which is recommended, and with version 96 to which I have access.

In now stuck on a desktop without any accelerated video driver, but at least, this works (even if it is quite slow). The only thing I can do is to hope and wait for Nvidia to update their stupid driver for Ubuntu 10.04. I don't know why, but I think that Nvidia won't change something here...I hope I'm wrong. I know that there are some open-source drivers for Nvidia called "Nouveau" but I observed that they are only for GeForce6 and above (mine is GeForce 5).

So, if you installed one of these drivers with problems, try to enter into "hardware drivers" to remove it, and then reboot. In this way, you will be able to use your computer.

If you know how to fix this, please let me know via a comment.

Ubuntu 10.04 has 2 important bugs since 13th of June - with all updates installed -.

The first problem is with the sound. What you should do is to avoid putting the sound on mute, because you won't be able to start it again. This is what I did yesterday. And now I realized that I don't have sound anymore. It doesn't matter what settings I give to the system in sound preferences, because on the bar it just displays the speaker followed by three lines (3x "-"). This means that the sound is muted, even if in all my settings the sound is on. Of course that "waking up" the sound would be theoretically possible with third-party programs from the Software Center, but I'll let my system like it is, just to see how much it takes for developers to fix this.

The other problems is related to the...shutdown. Here it is a critical bug, which brings you to the login screen, when you select shutdown. I don't know why, but now the shutdown button has the same functionality as the log out one. Practically, there is now way to shut down your system from the OS. In case that you are here, what you can do in order to shutdown your system is to push and keep the power button on your PC/Laptop for 5 seconds (this cuts the power of your computer), or to unplug it from the power source (if you are on a laptop, use the first option). Both are improper ways of shutting down the system, but there is no alternative.

Note: My Ubuntu is up-to-date, at 9:15 GMT time, Monday, 14th of May, and the problems are not fixed. If an update appears in the update manager which fixes these problems, I'll update this article.

Testing campaign for BitDefender 2011 Beta has started.

BitDefender, the security company from Romania, announced the start of the testing campaign for their latest security suite, 2011 Beta. The installation of this new product is done quickly, with the possibility of scanning before installation and without the need of restart after installation. What you have to do in order to get this product working, is to enter here to create an account at BitDefender (if you don't have one), and then to enter here and select one of the first two options. Then you'll get two keys, which will give you 180 days (6 months) of trial if they are inserted.

Related to the antivirus itself, it now has another interface which is optimized especially for unexperienced users. It includes "Search Advisor", which automatically warns you if you visit a website reported as infected (all links are automatically checked with BitDefender's servers), a new utility which displays you all applications that are stressing your computer and suggests you ways of fixing them, and a new mechanism, which assures the optimum speed of the computer (the antivirus adapts its use of resources dynamically, depending on the available resources of your computer).

The detection rate has been improved compared to the earlier version (with the help of new methods of detection and upgraded existing ones), and I can really say that this places BitDefender on top of the world's most powerful antivirus suites. However, as usual, BitDefender has important problems related to the fix of advanced and complex malware. This kind of problem can even make your system unable to boot.... so this is an important thing that is not yet resolved.

If you want, you can download and test this security suite, but as it is a Beta 1 version, I don't recommend you using it in an environment in which the security is something essential.

Is Yahoo! Messenger for Mac going to be a beta version forever?

I bought my Mac almost a year ago (10 months), and when I received it I hoped that it would support Yahoo! Messenger by default. I knew that Mac OS X is a very stable and a very complex OS. And mainly, so it was. Except that iChat, the default chatting application from Mac OS X, doesn't support anything else than MobileMe, Mac.com, AIM, Jabber and Google talk accounts. So here started the problem...Apple didn't implement a client supporting Yahoo!, so it was clear that I had to use Yahoo!'s own application.

I was surprised that at least there was a program developed by Yahoo!, for Mac. It was a beta, and it was the only option that I found for Mac. After installation, I noticed several problems, such as: unexpected crashes (prior to this the application becomes unresponsive), a bug which doesn't allow you to click on a contact (you have to move the pointer in order to do that), and the most...idiot problem, that one which displays you as "available" even if you logged in as "invisible". OK, you are "invisible" for all others, but you see yourself as "available". And this happens always.

What I consider that sucks is that you see only the small avatars of your contacts in the list, and if you move the mouse over a contact you will see only its name and status, without the picture. If you want to view the picture in "large" size, you have to open a window chat for that person. On Windows version of Yahoo!, you can view large pictures even on the list with all contacts (there's an option for that).

Those aren't critical problems, but they are very annoying because they seem that they will never be fixed. Yahoo! didn't launched any new version since I first installed it (it's still 3.0 beta (191946) ) and I don't think that Apple is going to move a finger to do something. But I still hope that Yahoo! didn't abandoned at all developing their application for Mac...

iPhone 4 has been announced - coming on 24th of June.

iPhone 4 has been announced today, by Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. I was expecting to be a real surprise for me, but it actually wasn't, because pretty much of what was rumoring in the last period is found in the device. Also, the...too sharp design for an Apple product, in my opinion. So let's get through the specs:

• Thinest smartphone ever (9.3 mm)
• Apple A4 chip inside (also found in the iPad and we know that it has 512 RAM, but we don't know what's the frequency of the processor)
• 3.5-inch display with a resolution of 960 x 640 pixels, Apple calls the display a "Retina Display"
• Battery life improved by 16% compared to 3GS
• 5 MPx camera with (single) LED flash and 720p video recording capability
• Frontal camera for Video calling
• The case is made of a scratch-resistant material (both the screen and the back, finally)
• A secondary microphone (for noise canceling)
• Gyroscope
• New micro-SIM standard
• iOS4 (the new name for the iPhone OS) which allows the creation of folders, as well as wallpapers on the background)
• And finally, Multitasking (Apple has to learn what multitasking does mean from Android, but this is an other story)
  

It will be available in black or white, with a capacity of 16 or 32 GB. It will be first launched in the US, France, UK, Germany and Japan, with pre-orders starting in a week. Another 18 countries will be added in July. Its price will be $199 for the 16 GB version, and $299 for the 32 GB version (don't worry, with a 2-year contract with carrier).

Are you going to buy the new iPhone? I probably won't. Nexus One can do almost anything what the iPhone 4 can (except video calling). And even more.

Nexus One's internal memory is quite insufficient.

I've occurred problems related to insufficient internal memory after over a month of using the phone. I came from an iPhone, so I never look how many applications I have, as soon as they are "fitting" me. I've been able to install many applications, because they are specially designed to occupy as less as possible, because it is known that Android 2.1 (and previous versions) doesn't support installing applications on external SD cards. First time when my Nexus informed me that it was running "low on space", happened just a few days before media got the 2.2 update (which I also got, manually).

In case you didn't know, Android 2.2 allows installing applications to SD cards (or more exactly, moving them after installation on SD cards). But this is just a theory, as there are applications which doesn't allow moving themselves to the SD card. Actually, there are only a few applications which have this possibility. I mean, I have about 90 applications and I was able to move only 2 of them on the SD card.

The Nexus has 196 MB internal storage memory, and I have free only 13 of them. I know that I have a game which occupies pretty much of that memory (about 25 MB), but because I like it I don't want to delete it (and I can't move it to SD card). Of course, if I need more storage for the phone, I will remove it (and other applications if needed).

Google didn't bring something which helps much here (with 2.2 update). I think that they must now make pressure on developers, to design and update their applications with supportability for SD cards.