Apple just announced the latest iteration of their smartphone: the iPhone 4. And it is, as expected, much superior to the iPhone 3G and 3GS. Steve Jobs is on stage talking about it as this is being typed. Now of course, he has already announced the all-new design, the microSIM only format (not available in Pakistan), the new so-called “retina display”, a faster processor, a better battery, a gyroscope for better motion-sensing, a much better camera, inclusion of the iBook Store and iAd advertisement system and blah blah blippity blah blah that you can read about here or here or here.

It’s going to cost well over 900$ in Pakistan. So what is there to rejoice about?

You’ll have to read on ahead for that!

Doesn’t Cut It

In this man’s humble opinion: the iPhone is one of the best smartphones in the market BUT for your average upper-middle-class Pakistani, it just doesn’t cut it for a very simple reason: It is super expensive. Last time I checked, the iPhone 3GS retailed at one of the local mobile stores for 80,000Rs. That’s a whopping 930$. Afforable? Nay.

And in that lies the main problem with the iPhone. It’s a very VERY nice phone, but for 930$ even with such an advanced OS and hundred thousand apps, it’s just not worth it. The more basic features of the iPhone: WiFi for browsing, music and video playback, camera, GPS etc can be easily be gotten on a 450$ Nokia E72. You won’t be getting the epic touchscreen or the mazaydaar iPhone OS 4, but do you really need it? No you don’t. The iPhone is more of a status symbol here in Pakland than anything else.

I could write a book on this topic, but I won’t. Cause you already get it. Moving on.

Good News

For those who are on a comparatively tight budget and still want an iPhone, there is good news to be heard. Apple, in lieu of the iPhone 4 announcement, has discontinued the iPhone 3G.

Now that ain’t such a bad thing. Because what this will do is: the instant iPhone 4 reaches Pakistani markets, the iPhone 3G will go down in price harder than ever. Expect it to cost less than 300$ (equivalent to 25,000Rs.). What that means is that people like yours truly can realistically think of saving up money to get their hands on an iPhone.

That’s that.

iPhone 4 Announced!

As mentioned earlier in the post, iPhone 4 has the following new features:

• New design
• Vastly superior Retina Display (highest resolution on a smartphone),
• Faster processor
• Better battery
• Inclusion of a gyroscope for better motion-sensing
• A much better camera (with LED Flash, back-lit sensor and 5 megapixels)
• Inclusion of the iBook Store for reading books on your iPod Touch or iPhone
• iAd advertisement system (this is interesting for developers only)

If you want more details, check out Apple’s official iPhone 4 website. And if you’re in for some humor, you have to see this!

artsyHANDS is back after a three day downtime and we’ve got news for ya, Apple’s latest creation: The iPad!

The most important things first: it has a ~10″ screen, it operates like the iPhone (software-wise), starts at the utterly amazing (though eventually disappointing) 499$ and is quite fun to use, but has its fairshare of shortcomings.

We won’t be informing you of the specs and details. You can check out Redmond Pie and iThinkDiff for that! This post will enlist what’s good, bad and ugly about the iPad.

More ahead on the most exciting tech-story of the year!

Intro

The Acha

• The User-Interface is very friendly. Chances are, your grandmother will be able to use it.
• An amazing 10″ capacitative LED-backlit touchscreen that’ll make videos and photos pop.
• Support for the more than 140,000 apps on the App Store. (i.e. apps created for the iPhone will work on it)
• 10 hours of battery life on a single charge.
• Starts at 499$ (16GB without 3G). Goes all the way up to 829$.
• Very attractive design.
• Supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
• Will be available in March.
• You can read books on it! So it’s an eBook reader too! Books can be bought from the iBookstore.
• Typing on the touchscreen seems comfortable, provided you have a lap to rest it on.

The Bura

• Still expensive when you really think about it. 16GB does not suffice when you consider that the iPad has to handle HD videos, songs, applications, documents, contact and photos. And we all know how quickly they eat up memory.
• No webcam. Skype web conferences are not going to happen any time soon on an iPad.
• 3G support will cost you an extra 130 dollars and it requires microSIM.  Neither of which is available in Pakistan.
• No multitasking. You can only be in one application at a given moment.
• 4:3 ratio screen. Meaning it’s NOT a widescreen, which is something unexpected coming from a company like Apple.

The Badsoorat

• iPad does not support Adobe Flash. You won’t be able to watch video files on websites like Time.com or National Geographic. (Why Flash omission is significant)
• iPad will get updated in 6 months with far superior hardware and software. (iPhone EDGE, anyone?)
• NO USB port i.e. you won’t be able to connect your camera, external hard-drive, mouse or anything that uses the Universal Serial Bus! :/
• All your data on the iPad will be managed through iTunes. That means you won’t be drag-and-drop or share files with other computers or download files from the internet (think: songs, videos, documents etc) and use them on the spot. It will only synchronize data with your computer ONLY. So you will have to connect your iPad to your PC and then drop files into it.

Public Opinion So Far

Personal Opinion

Having read many articles on the iPad from different websites like Engadget, Mashable and Gizmodo, I’ve come to a conclusion: the iPad is not the gap that bridges smartphones and full-blown desktops/laptops.

If it were an actual gap, it would have a webcam, it would support Adobe Flash for a full web-browsing experience, it would have more space to accommodate HD videos, it would read memory cards, it would be able to connect with your printer, camera, external HDD etc and it would be able to manage files without having to synchronize with iTunes!

In such cases, it just seems better to just consider going for netbook which does all that – and more; for under 400$.

You can get the functionality of the iPad with the iPod Touch, which is 300$ cheaper!

So remember, the iPad is not a large iPhone… it’s a large iPod Touch.

Bottom Line: Netbooks are still better at bridging the gap between smartphones and laptops than the iPad.

Interesting Articles on the Apple iPad

Apple iPad first hands-on! – Engadget

The Anti-Hype: Why Apple’s iPad Disappoints – Mashable

Apple iPad starting at $499! – iThinkDiff

8 Things That Suck About the iPad – Gizmodo

Apple iPad Official Site – Apple

Questions for the Readers

• What is your opinion on the iPad?
• Are you going to buy one when it releases?
• Do you agree with our list? Is there anything you would like to add?

Do let us know by leaving a comment!

There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of PC security products available online and off. There is simply no end to the number of software that are designed to protect you from viruses, malware, spyware and all sort of shiznattz.

For the security conscious user, it’s a nightmare to choose which software to install because each product portrays itself as better than the other. In that case, what do you dooo?

Ze Tips!

You install a standard-fare antivirus and then follow the following simple steps! That’s what you doo!

USE AN ANTI-VIRUS

A common misconception among common people is that they refuse to install an anti-virus because they belive it would be too hard a process to install it. Well, I’ll tell ya this: when a virus makes your PC go kaput, that’ll be an even harder process.

Why are you reading this if you have no anti-virus installed!? The first and last step to safety & security is to install an anti-virus. I personally recommend using Avast! It’s fast, light on your PC, super-effective against both viruses and spyware and the price is just right: freee!

Scan Dat Thang

Hackers and virus-creators often use removable disks(such as your Flash Drive) to spread their malicious programs. It’s the most common way of spreading them and as such, you must always scan the flash drive with your anti-virus before using it. All it takes is right-clicking on your flash drive in My Computer and click on “Scan with Avast!”

Activate Windows Firewall

Your firewall is like a sentry guarding the gates to your computer from the Internet, it controls which data is allowed to come in and which data is permitted to come out. Although many more powerful firewalls are available, Window’s very own firewall is the best for the everyday user.

Open up your Control Panel, click on “Security Center” and activate Windows Firewall from there.

Keep your software updated

The people behind the software you use fix various issues each time they announce an update. Keeping your installed software up-to-date is of great importance.

All you need to do is install and then run the Update Checker from FileHippo.com. Job done!

Regularly scan your computer

It’s perfectly normal for a cunning virus to evade your antivirus’ real-time scanner. This is where the on-demand scanner comes into play

People stay away from scanning their computers by giving rather lame excuses, “It slows my computer down!” Here’s a suggestion: just scan it overnight! It’s highly recommended that you do this at least once every month.

Keep your security software updated

Lots; nay, hundreds of viruses are released into the wild daily. Make sure you keep your antivirus updated so it can kick their ass! Most antivirus’ do this themselves i.e. they auto-update, however if you don’t have an always-on connection, you’ll have to update it yourself. Right-clicking on your antivirus’ icon in the system tray and clicking on “update” usually works out.

Look at file-size before downloading

Let’s face it. People do use torrents and P2P clients like LimeWire to illegally download songs, movies and/or install full-price software for free. I can’t stop you if you do as such. I’m here to give you tips!

So here’s what you do: look at the file’s size before you download it! Adobe Photoshop CS4 can’t be squashed into a meager 437KB file, can it? Nor can a Kings of Leon song be packed into 17.1KBs! These are actual viruses! Virus-creator-people just change the name of the file to make it look like a full file.

Use an updated internet browser

The internet is the base of operations for most, if not all, the malware out there. Protect yourself by using an Internet browser that is updated. Dump Internet Explorer, move on to Firefox! It’s cinch to install!

Famous Last Words

Your security software can only take you so far. After that ‘far’ point, your computer’s security depends entirely upon you and you alone. So stay on your toes while using your computer, that next click may as well spell doom for you if you don’t consider what’s BEYOND that click.

Stay safe

I’m a big fan of Twitter – the microblogging service: what we do on twitter is post little updates (limited to 140 characters) about what we’re doing, thinking or thinking of doing. We tell this to all the people who follow us (they tend to be random folks). It’s all nerdoo-fun really. Yes, you may laugh. I have no life.

One of the most common ways of posting an update – called tweets – is to share a link to a website which you may find funny, entertaining or maybe just informative for what it is.

The SHORTEST Link Shortener, after the jump! Click on “Read the rest of this entry”.

140 Characters and Link Shorteners

In that case, sending out a really long link like this: http://artsyhands.com/2009/08/kids-survive-chatting-msn-messenger/ (that’s 66 characters) can cause problems putting the message through within 140 characters.

And this is precisely from where, Link shorteners or URL Shorteners as they are called; stemmed from.

Using the link shortening service u.nu, I can shorten the above link to this: http://u.nu/87qz. Down from 74 characters to a simple 16. Amazing, no?

So how is this useful to you? It really is of no use unless you use twitter. Otherwise, it’s largely a gimmick.

Last night, I went looking for the absolute shortest of link shortening services. Sure, there’s the TinyURLs and bit.lys and whatnot, they’re all fine and dandy but when you want to feel like the biggest and smartest of nerds, you will want to show your tweeps the shortest link.

How short can URLs and domain names really get?

Three characters is the minimum limit. The most popular three name link shorteners are 3.ly, u.nu, x.vu, 5.gp, r.im and a.gp. The shortest shortened URLs can go as low as 13 characters!

In the unnecessary hunt for the shortest link shorteners, I found three services:

tweak.tk

What this URL shortener does is make the URL you want to be shortened into.. get this: an ACTUAL website with a random domain name like this: http://fskl3.tk <– That’s down to 15 characters! Why they give away domain names for free is best guessed by Wikipedia:

Tokelau provides any interested individuals .tk domain names free of charge. These free domains are pointed to Tokelau servers which simply redirect traffic.

Tokelau is a small territory in New Zealand. Their internet level code .tk can be registered for free, unlimted number of times from this page!

However, tweak.tk is basically just unreliable. Out of the 10 clicks I made to my shortened address, only 3 passed through. Not recommended.

tinyarro.ws

At first glance, this simply seems like just another URL shortener, but it is, in fact the absolutely shortest URL shortener! What tinyarro.ws does is make use of special characters instead of alpha-numerics. Have a look at the link I shortened:

http://?.ws/?

Ahhh! I wish the special characters that tinyarro.ws uses would be compatible with other softwares because most twitter clients just don’t support them. :’(

Clicked on that link above! See? Even our software doesn’t support it.

3.ly

Threely is yet another Link shortener. Reliable and short URLs. Just what your average joe needs. You can even choose a custom ID!

http://3.ly/JjS <— 15 characters.

For the fact that it doesn’t let you down, 3.ly is highly recommended!

—-

The WINAR

In retrospective, let’s look at all the links we shortened:

Original Link: http://artsyhands.com/2009/08/kids-survive-chatting-msn-messenger/ 66 characters

Tweak.tk: http://fskl3.tk 15 characters

tinyarro.ws: http://?.ws/? 13 characters

3.ly: http://3.ly/JjS 15 characters

We have a WINAR! 3.ly wins just cause it’s reliable because in the end, that is what truly matters!

So go ahead, shorten that link! Get the Short URL Firefox add-on to trim URLs with ease.

Waisybabu

Now Firefox is a great browser and everything, but there’s one thing I don’t like about it: it takes far too much space with all it’s bars and whatnot.

The question arises: how to reclaim all that space?

Read the full post to learn how!

We Hate Internet Explorer!!

We here at artsyHANDS loathe Internet Explorer… and love the fiery Firefox.

Internet Explorer is the browser that caused so many design problems for me when I was setting up the website. If I made the site IE6/7 compatible, it meant an ugly site and in turn, underutilizing the power of modern browsers. If I made a good looking site, it would cause problems for people who still haven’t moved on…

In the end (that is today), I simply decided to go ahead and cater for the people who use the latest browsers. While artsy still runs with IE, it just doesn’t look that good..

Now onto Firefox: the browser I use, the browser the team uses (Shanipani still refuses move ahead with the times) and the browser we suggest you should use as well.

Step 1: Get rid of useless toolbars

Did you know that you really don’t need the bookmarks toolbar? Of course, that means not having to type in your favorite sites all the time, but there’s a solution. Fast Dial: Visual Bookmarks for Firefox! (think using Speed Dial from your phone on your browser). That’s about 15 pixels saved!

Step 2: Install autoHideStatusbar

What the above-mentioned add-on does is automatically hide your status bar (the bar at the very bottom) when it’s not in use. Another 10 or so pixels saved!

Step 3: Integrate your Menu Bar into a single drop-down button

And lastly, you can use Personal Menu to get more space! What this wonderful little add-on does is sort of convert the horizontally aligned Fire Edit View… menu bar into what I like to call a menu button. So you just click on the Personal Menu icon to get to the menu options! Hmmm, that’s another 10 pixels.

The Awesome Result!

It all adds up. Here’s the before and after result:

—

15+10+10= 35 whopping pixels!! I hope I helped

Move on to Firefox. You won’t regret it.

Waisybabu

Anti-viruses. Install one on your PC and they cause headaches. Refrain from installing one, and the darr just kills you anyway.

In that case, people tend to install the simplest of free anti-viruses like Avira or AVG. They offer only basic protection. Protection that more than often falls short of what is required from an anti-virus.

In THAT case, what you can do is simply download the recently announced 3-month free Norton Internet Security 2009 License that anyone from anywhere can download for duhh.. free!

Read more about Norton Internet Security, why you should install it and my personal experience with it after the “read the rest of this entry” button!

I have personally used NIS09 and stand by my belief that it is the fastest security suite EVAR!

The features will make you dizzy. This is a FULL-featured security software that will get rid of all your security worries.

NIS09's User-Friendly Interface

To make sure you don’t have to worry about Norton’s deal having a fine print: I have personally tested the install and am using the program right now (as of writing). The program works just as claimed: speedy, secure, stable and that too on a 5-year old laptop.

Happy computing,

Waisybabu

Ubuntu is an Operating System. Remember Windows? That thing that you use on your computers? That’s an Operating System (OS for short). Ubuntu is an alternative OS that murders all our Windows’ issues and makes you more productive.

Learn more about Ubuntu, it’s advantages, how to install it and why you should use it instead of Windows by clicking on “Read the rest of this entry”.

The Difference

The main difference between Windows and Ubuntu is very simple: Ubuntu is absolutely free and open-source.

Two questions arise:

• What is Open-Source?
• What is absolutely free? (Both econimically and spiritually)
  

We here in Pakistan would say:

“But I bought my Windows XP for 100Rs… that’s barely two dollars!”

Of course, that’s because you live in Pirated Pakistan. An original Windows XP copy costs more than 10,000Rs…

Open Source

That is where is Open Source software comes in: Software which has it’s underlying code released under a free software license to the general public.

This software license gives people the power to use, change, improve and redistribute the software code without worrying about licensing issues. Issues that would arise by doing the same with Windows or any of Microsoft’s proprietary software products.

We here in Pakistan would say:

“But whenever any of my friends needs to install Windows, I just give them my CD”

Of course, that’s because you live in Pirated Pakistan. That would be illegal elsewhere.

And besides, you cannot edit Windows’ code or improve upon it. Only Microsoft has that privilege. That’s because Microsoft owns it.

Open-Source software isn’t owned by anyone specifically. It’s all very much community based. Everyone and anyone can go ahead with their idea, edit the code and improve the software. This only helps software to innovate in a faster and easier way.

Fact: An original copy of PhotoShop CS4 costs more than 55,000Rs.

Read what Ubuntu is, how it’s better than Windows and how you can install it on your PC without short-circuiting your brain by clicking on “Page 2″

Photofunia is a web-based photo editing tool that you can use to give your uploaded photo a myriad of kamaal effects.

Trying to so much as explain this absolutely amazing website in textual form would be impossible. To really appreciate the versatility of Photofunia, you’ll have to really see it.

See the effects at work after the jump!

I searched up Google, found some random baby’s equally random passport photo, put it through various available effects on photofunia and will now show you what the software is capable of.

Helping us in this journey is this little boy/girl from Germany, let’s name him Fuchs Organschaft till we know of his real identity (which we will probably know soon through child security):

Fuchs Organschaft

And now. Behold.

Fuchs Organschaft in jail.

Fuchs Organschaft on Mount Rushmore

Fuchs Organschaft ..... O_O

Fuchs Organschaft in Pirates of the Carribean

Fuchs Organschaft on Times Square...?

Fuchs Organschaft in the 60s

You get the drift now, don’t you? These kind of photos make for great profile pictures, so go ahead and visit Photofunia.com and amaze your friends!

Waisybabu