When picking out your new laptop, there are specifications that you need to check in order to make sure that your laptop will run the programs and games you need. As powerful as most laptops are these days, it is common for people to buy a laptop with outrageous specifications far above what is necessary. Knowing the specifications your computer needs will help you narrow down your choices and save quite a bit of money.

Processor

Two things that you usually cannot change in a laptop are the processor and the graphics card. These two components also play a large role in how fast your computer will run applications and video games. In order to run the Windows 7 operating system and most office applications, such as Microsoft Word, you will need at least a 1 GHz processor. Some processors are dual and even quad-core, which basically means that you can run multiple applications more efficiently and some programs will utilize the extra cores for higher performance. If you plan on playing some video games or running Adobe Photoshop then a 2.5GHz dual core processor is recommended for better performance.

RAM

Memory, also known as RAM, is the part of your laptop that affects how many applications you can have open at the same time. For example, when you have too many tabs open and your laptop slows down a bit, it is because you are low on memory. Windows 7 requires 2GB of RAM to run properly.  This is also enough for most office applications. If you like to run multiple applications at the same time, play video games, or plan on doing any photo or video editing then you might want to go with 3 to 4GB of RAM.

Graphics Card

If you like to play modern computer games then you will need to make sure your laptop has a decent graphics card. This will boost the cost of your laptop a bit, but it is needed in order to play most new games. Budget laptops come with integrated graphics cards, such as Intel HD Graphics, that are only capable of playing older games at lower resolutions. If the laptop specifications list that it has its own ATI or Nvidia graphics card with 256MB video RAM then the laptop is capable of playing most video games. For high resolution gaming, you will probably need at least 512MB of dedicated video RAM.

Hard Disk

Hard disk drive (HDD) space will also affect the price of your laptop. Windows 7 alone will take up 20GB so you will want your HDD to be at least 100GB. HDDs have been dropping in price for a while now, so even budget laptops typically come with at least 250GB HDDs, while the higher priced laptops will come equipped with 500GB to 1TB HDDs. If you are more concerned with preserving your data and you do not plan on using up more than 100GB in storage space, then a solid-state drive (SSD) is the perfect choice. They cost more for less storage space, but SSDs use no mechanical parts so they are less prone to crashing and general failure.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

This article was written by Sheldon Armstrong, a techie who loves keeping up with the latest in technology while blogging about them online. He recommends using a Kensington laptop dock to keep your desk organized. Check out Kensington’s other great products at kensington.com.

Devices that are compatible with this new operating system are provided by the following cell phone brands: Nokia, HTC, Samsung and Huawei. All those Windows 8 phone devices will be upgraded to the next generation of Windows phone.

When you’ll have the type of device that supports the new Windows Phone 8, there is a majority of particularly cool options.

Among the many features, now you have an opportunity to make your device really personal. Thanks to the new Windows Phone 8, you can personalize your device the way you want and that will meet your every day needs.

The one thing that is really cool is that you can make your device a really good listener to your voice commands. You can use your voice to make phone calls, send text messages, take notes, search the Web and Open maps. All devices that support Windows Phone 8 will also use the new Internet Explorer 10. Here is just an example of how it can work:

If you want to call somebody, all you have to do is to press and hold the ‘Start button’ and clearly say the full name, or the exact name of the person you need (the way it’s written down in your phonebook).

When it’s recognized, your device will be calling the contact you want to talk to. The part connected with Voice commanding is also related to a particular vocabulary, and there are five words that are really important. They are: Call, Text, Note, Find and Open. When you start the phrase with the word ‘call’ it ‘knows’ that you want to make a phone call. You can be specific and whenever you want to text a message to someone you just have to say their number or recipient’s name.

If you want to add a note or something, you will need to say the phrase and it will be written and shown on your screen. For example:

Order pizza or buy new sneakers. Thanks to the Web explorer now you will be able to search for the nearest pizza place in town or some of the most popular sports wear store, by just saying the key word ‘find’. There also are two options if you want to receive suggestions or recommendations about many functional places in your town or surrounding areas: the first one is known as Local Scout and the second is Search settings.

Now you will have your own personalized informatory on the most popular public places where you can order food or have a dinner with your loved ones; watch movies; get information on public events like sports games or concerts; markets and stores; gas stations, hospitals, police stations; streets, roads and many others.

‘Here Maps’ application provides mapping with 90 countries covered and can give you driving instructions as well by taking you to the other application called ‘Here Drive’. That’s how you can enjoy a modern way of navigating showing you buildings in 3D, but also speed limit instructions for a safer driving. A good equivalent for a better navigation while being on the road can also be found in the amazing Garmin nüvi 50LM 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator.

Thanks to the Back-up stuff application all of your downloaded or imported data (photos, music, documents files and videos) can be saved to the Cloud, just in case something happens to your mobile device.

Once you sign in to your phone with a Microsoft account you will be able to get plenty of applications, music and games from the Store.

Now you even have a rare opportunity where you can digitally store your debit, credit and membership cards and manage the required transactions and balances; so it basically acts out like a wallet.

One of the most practical features probably is that you can set a lock screen password, so to make it apart of a special Kids corner that can be created. Now all of your important can stay out of your beloved kids who play their favorite games.

Many other opportunities can now become part of your everyday life and you can be one among hundreds of people that will enjoy the advantage of organized daily schedule, the funny way of exploring and sharing, talking to your loved ones, feeling the safety on the road or the safety of your personal wallet and the highest achievements of the computer technology stored in one.

Dropbox

For ease of use with regards to file sharing, you cannot go wrong with Dropbox. This small piece of software is quick to install and a breeze to operate. By registering with the company, you can then sync up your computer with any other that also has Dropbox on it. This means that you can access your files from anywhere on Earth by simply logging in. You can also use it to upload your important files to the cloud, ensuring that you don’t lose anything if your computer crashes or breaks later on. Offering users 2GB for free initially, there are also paid plans boasting up to 500GB of storage space for those with a lot to backup.

CCleaner

For optimal computing power, you’ll need to do some spring cleaning every once in a while.  CCleaner makes this a piece of cake though, offering plenty of functionality to get rid of unwanted files on your laptop or desktop. For example, it can:

>>>  Delete temporary files
>>>  Clear internet history
>>>  Delete cookies
>>>  Empty the recycling bin
>>>  Conduct a registry clean
>>>  Check disk fragments

All of these will help free up plenty of space on your computer, making it run a lot faster than it used to. It can be downloaded for free or for a fee, with paid versions offering additional levels of support.

SpeedFan

Any tech enthusiast will want to know what is physically going on inside their computer. This is because the internal conditions can give warning signs if there will be a problem or not. To take care of your Toshiba laptops, it is advised to download SpeedFan, a small app that tracks the temperatures, voltages and fan speeds of your machine’s individual components. It takes readings in real-time too, notifying you of the moment that your computer starts overheating. It can also combat this, increasing fan speed to try and cool everything down again afterwards. If you simply must know what is going on inside your computer, and control it to prevent premature shutdown, you’ll need to download SpeedFan as soon as you can.

WinRAR

When it comes to file compression, no app beats WinRAR in terms of performance and functionality. Not only can it achieve much smaller file compression than the rest of the competition but it can also unpack a vast number of file types as well. Furthermore, it offers AES encryption meaning that no one can unzip the file you are sending to them unless you permit them to. This improved performance and security is supported by a massive online community as well, meaning that WinRAR stands out from other compression programs in a number of different ways.

Rainmeter

If you’re the type of techie that likes to tweak the look of every device, Rainmeter gives you the chance to change the appearance of your Windows machine exactly how you desire. It allows you to place a whole host of gadgets on your desktop, ranging from weather forecasts to memory usage apps. Some of these additions even offer extended functionality such as the ability to send Tweets directly from your desktop. Rainmeter offers plenty when it comes to customising any computer, offering the ability to transform your machine in ways you never even thought possible.

Do you know of other tools that help your computer run in tip-top shape?  Tell us about them and maybe they’ll get added to the list!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

This article was provided to Spectral Fusion Technologies by one of our guest authors Niamh Carey.  To learn more about publishing articles for Spectral FT please visit our Write for Our Blog page.

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Watkins believed that “the war is over physical distribution versus electrical and Blu-ray and HD lost that.” In fact, he gave quite a speech that week during a morning meeting. According to him, electrical distribution and the companies producing that are the big winners. 5 years later, and much of it rings true.

However, although HD-DVD failed, I wouldn’t say Blu-Ray is an outright failure. Sure, streaming movies and TV is great, but if you don’t have a high-speed internet connection, why bother? In addition, those with HDTVs and Blu-Ray players probably are still doing to buy their favorite movies on Blu-Ray, and perhaps even more so now that a lot of newer HDTVs have 3D capabilities.

Sure, services like Netflix and Hulu seem like the quick, easy way to go. On-demand videos and TV programs are very popular. Again, without a high-speed internet connection or the services themselves, it’s useless. I get that minimalism is a new trend and most people don’t want tons of DVDs laying around just like they are ridding themselves of physical books and papers, but that doesn’t mean people will stop buying Blu-Rays. In fact, myself and others I know tend to only buy Blu-Rays now. You don’t get Blu-Ray quality on Netflix.

Going back to Watkins, he said Hollywood would need to get into the delivery of content to people’s homes. “They [the people] will watch lousy content if it is easy to do,” he said. Well, now in 2013 that’s true, as plenty of people watch Netflix and YouTube videos, and who goes to a video store anymore? However, not all movies are available on Netflix and I actually still do go to local video stores (or Redbox) to rent new releases. People are uppity about quality content. Sure, you might be able to watch grainy episodes of Steve Wilkos on YouTube (guilty as charged), but you’re not going to want to watch the new Iron Man movie that way, no matter how easy it is.

Lastly, Watkins explained how such a transformation is good for hard drive manufacturers, since people need places to store downloaded data. I mean, I guess, but do people really download all the movies they watch? No. Some people delete them after they are done with them (or burn them to a disc). I agree more storage space is constantly needed, but not necessarily because of electronic video formats. A lot of people buy external drives and space to back up their data in case their computer crashes or another data loss disaster occurs.

It’s Cool

According to college students, holding a trendy gadget such as an iPhone is cool. Following this, the trend of buying customized iPhone cases also has increased in last few years.

It Looks Smart

Students often prefer to buy an iPhone instead any other gadget because of its smart, sleek, and modern look.

It Provides a User-Friendly Experience

An iPhone is a smart gadget with a user-friendly interface, which makes it easy for students to learn how to use it .

Its App Collection is Large

The most important reason that increases the use of iPhones in students is the availability of myriad apps. More than 2 million iPhone supported apps are available, and many are handy for students. Some of the most well-known iPhone apps for students are as follows:

•             iStudiez Pro

iStudiez Pro is an amazing app that can be used as a daily planner. Using this app, a student can add his class and assignment schedules with the date, name of teacher, and subject. The best part is that this app has a built-in auto rearranging feature which organizes the dates irrespective of the order in which the user has recorded them. The price of iStudiez Pro is just $2.

•             BigWords

Buying books at reasonable rates is an important concern for students. Using the BigWords app, students can compare the prices of textbooks to make an easy, economical purchase . This handy app is available for free.

•             Cram

Cram can be considered the best study app available for iPhone users. Using this app, the user can make digital flash cards to test his or her knowledge. This app is available for $6.99 and most useful for multiple-choice exam preparation.

•             PI83 Graphing Calculator

A graphing calculator is  a common college need, especially formath and science students. The PI83 Graphing calculator, the best graphing calculator available for iPhone users,  is available on theApp store for $0.99

Author Biography:

This article  was written by Alaa Younes, a technology blogger who has written several articles on different topics such as Smartphone apps, antivirus software, and smartphone accessories. You can reach Alaa at Wrappz .

When you have an iPad in your hand, do you really require a desktop or a laptop? Those who have been using iPads know that they don’t. iPads are a mini computer system ready to assist you while you’re on the go. How many apps do you really need on your iPad? You might have experimented with a number of apps but probably deleted most of them.

Check this list of the best iPad apps of 2012. You might have used some of them and can comment on a few as well.

Zeebox

Live tweeting while watching television has become an increasingly popular pastime. Whether it is the Olympics or the Grammys, you’re sure to see the Twittersphere blow up when these types of events take place. Now, when you are carrying a second screen with you, why shouldn’t you use it for entertaining yourself? This app makes television much more immersive for you and gives you the privilege to use the screen to your advantage.

This is a social platform enabling you to interact and chat with like-minded viewers across the world through stats and games. Click the “zeetag” on the program you are watching and get more information about the viewing options for your show. This wonderful app is offered to you for FREE.

Paper

As you can understand from the name of the app itself, this app is like a sketch pad or an everyday notebook. This is a creative app that allows you to enjoy drawing, writing, doodling, and anything else you can do with plain paper. You are provided with plenty of artistic scope and innumerable tools. Paper App has no clunky settings–all you have to do is select the stylus you prefer and start making paintings, sketches and write ups as much as you desire. Thanks to the iPad retina display, that doesn’t make your work shabby at all.

iPhoto

Most of the iPhoto functions from Apple are found in the iPads thereby making you an established photo editor. With just touch of the button, you can have improved photos. You can now repair the red-eyes, add white balance and adjust the contrast of any image.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

This article was written by Timothy Anderson, a website developer and tech junky who keeps updated on various technical devices, especially iPads. He suggests that readers contact online iPad support services when encountering iPad issues.

Mobile Gaming vs. Console Gaming

It seems that most people want to interweave their mobile device and their favorite gaming console. The mobile device is nice for playing on the go for location does not matter when playing. The downside is that with the exception of a few swipes of your finger tips or roll of your thumbs there is not a lot of involvement in the actual game play. This is why many people have found ways to connect their favorite gaming console remotes to their mobile device in order to optimize their experience.

Console gaming is definitely a completely different experience than mobile gaming. It is extremely involved and, in many places, quite interactive. Additionally, the graphics are quite amazing.  While the graphics for the mobile devices are quite impressive, they cannot really compare to a large screen HD output. This is why many people enjoy both platforms to satisfy their video game needs.

Android Based Console

Many game developers have realized that the large focus on gaming consoles has now shifted to the handheld platform. They will like for it to come back around. The only thing is that most gaming consoles offer a completely different set of properties than the mobile devices. How is it even possible to combine them? You can get a lot of the benefits of the console while still having the benefits of the mobile device. Now this is possible with the help of GameStick.

What is GameStick?

The new GameStick console is as easy to setup as plugging a thumb drive into the computer. However, instead of plugging the stick into the computer you are simply plugging it into the HDMI port of a TV. This allows you to have all of the hi-def properties that you love about a stand-alone game console within an extremely portable package.

The remote for the new USB console looks just like a regular console controller and, as an added benefit, the controller also acts as a storage device for the actual HDMI-stick game console “brain.” You no longer have a bunch of cords and wires that you have to worry about. You simply carry the whole device in your pocket, plug it in when you’re ready to play, and have fun!

Conclusion

The Gamestick designers were quite clever with the development on their device–it is unmatched by any other device. While the Ouya is pretty comparable in size, few units are able to hold up to the accuracy, intelligence, and clarity that you are able to get when you are gaming. With several other models already in the process of prototyping we can see that GameStick is going to have a big competition soon. Since this kind of gaming technology is going mainstream we can expect some big players to enter the market.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

This article is written by Jason Phillips. He is an avid blogger and is trying to reach new heights through passion and hard work. He plays games at Truck Games 365 at his free time.

Here’s the history and sequence of events!

FEDs came first: in the mid 1990’s. A FED is a Field Emission Display. Much like a a CRT, FED technology used a beam of electrons to excite phosphors, which then emitted visible light. The trick was to use multiple electron emitters for each pixel in the display, while a CRT display requires a beam focusing system, or electron gun. No electron gun, meant FEDs could be made as shallow as 10mm. With no warm up, heat. No backlight. Brighter than LCDs; a 160 degree view angle. Dramatically better contrast than LCDs, more saturated color, too.

But as promising as they were, FED’s were extremely difficult to perfect.

Enter SEDS.

Over 4 years staring in 1998 FEDs were morphed into SEDs. By early 2004, Toshiba was set to introduce the world’s first flat panel display using SED technology.

What is SED?

A SED is a Surface-conduction Emission Display technology which uses a great deal of FED technology with some critical changes, including easier manufacturing methods!

Because SED’s draw far less power than FED’s and because they do not require backlights, as LCD’s do, the manufacturing costs are dramatically lower, so the price points promise to be significantly lower than current, flat-panel displays.

Low power consumption of SEDs is about 2/3 less than that of a CRT based display, 1/3 less than a Plasma. SEDs can be fabricated in large screen sizes.

Some people in the know say to expect much lower prices and that image quality rivals the best CRT direct view displays.

But that ain’t it.

Then came OLEDs.

Kodak and Dupont developed what is called OLED (Organic Light Emitting Display).

OLEDs, like SEDs, are emissive displays with extremely fast response time (i.e., “refresh rate”) unlike LCDs. This means they can adjust to changes in light and color output more quickly, producing extremely color-accurate, sharp, detailed images with excellent black level, brightness and contrast. OLEDs operate with extremely low power consumption. Clean, sharp, vivid. Yousah!

OLED displays will be made of glass at first, but later from special, dime-thin plastics to lower costs and possible damage.

Dupont, Xerox, Kodak, UDC (Universal Display Corporation), Lucent Technologies’ Bell Labs and the Sarnoff Corporation are pouring huge sums of money into advanced R&D to develop even more innovative OLED’s.

Admit it, you want one. If you have thousands of dollars lying around, you can have one soon.

With impeccable timing for those of us in Australia, Google has just introduced Google Message Continuity, a hosted DR solution for on-premise Microsoft Exchange mailservers.

Google Message Continuity is a robust, easy to implement Disaster Recovery Solution using their leading cloud computing infrastructure to compliment an existing Microsoft Exchange environment. Google Message Continuity provides dual delivery and message state synchronization between users Outlook clients and Gmail, allowing users to continue to work in Gmail in the event of an outage / disaster scenario affecting the on-premise Microsoft Exchange environment.

So, it appears that the same people who bring us amazing tools and force us to bow to the Almighty Page Rank (here’s a good article about that) are the same people to bring us the very latest in everything.  Who would have thunk it?