FlantR: Flaunt It Real Good

FlauntR is anew tool that is almost everything you could want in a photo editor. Those that know me can attest that when it comes to computing platforms, I tend to go over economy and quantity over quality. I have many desktop systems, all clocking in at or around 1 Ghz, and with varying amounts of RAM that tend to satisfy the minimum hardware requirements of the $9.00 rack of software at your favorite retailer.

Flauntr actually offers three web-application solutions for photo editing: PhotoStylr, PhotoEditr, and PhotoProfilr. Each one is different in it’s approach to photo editing, and all three are free to use under one single site login.

Avot Media: Search It! Watch it! myFavit! Love it!

Web 2.0 has offered many video viewing and aggregate options, a new option to watch all your favorite videos from a multitude of user-generated video websites, including YouTube, just got better. With mobile video viewing as the newest Web 2.0 trend and with cell phone technology advancing into the 21st Century, we should see more companies like Avot Media popping up. WAP-enabled phones are finally giving way to fully enabled video phones and devices like the iPhone. But you don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on a new mobile device to watch streaming videos.

Announced August 27, 2007 - Avot mV has been released to the public into a beta version. The young Web 2.0 company is allowing you an me to watch user-generated videos on a mobile phone or mobile device. Avot mV (beta) is a mobile video search and discovery solution by Avot Media which allows users to search, watch and myFav unlimited number of videos from various user generated video sharing sites. Just point and click on your favorite video from different categories including CNN and YouTube.

Avot mV is a video aggregate and video search engine offering billions of videos from many popular video sharing sites. The Avot mobile site users have the option of organizing video playlists offer a mobile video jukebox. Avot mV provides direct streaming from the original content provider offering high video quality.


You can download Avot mV 1.2 at:

The Mobile site: Go to m.avotmedia.com using your mobile phone browser, download the client.
The OTA delivery: Go to www.avotmedia.com from your desktop PC browser and click download to download the client.
The PC download: download executable files to your desktop PC from www.avotmedia.com.


Avot mV supports Windows Mobile 5.0, Pocket PC, and Smartphone mobile devices. Avot mV works globally across all 3G carriers and EV-DO with current preview on Windows Mobile phones.

Some of the 70 phones supported include the Samsung Blackjack, Qwest PocketPC, Palm Treo 750, Palm Treo 700w, Cingular 2125, Cingular 8125, Cingular 8125, Audiovox XV6700, Dopod C720W, HP iPAQ 510 Vioce Messenger, iPAQ rx5900 Travel Companion Series, HTC S710, HTC P3300, HTC P4350, iMate PDAL, iMate JAQ, Motorola MotoQ, Motorola MotoQ Pro, Motorola Q9, O2 XDA Neo, O2 XDA Orbit, O2 XDA Cosmo, O2 XDA Trion, Orange SPV E650, Orange SPV M3100, Qtek 9100, Samsung SGH-i320, Sprint IP 830W, Sprint Vision Smart Device PPC-6700, Sprint Mogul, T-Mobile Dash and Wing, UT Starcom PPC6700, and Verizon Wireless XV6700.

Point your mobile browser to http://m.avotmedia.com and start watching your favorite videos. For more information check the Avot Blog.

Microsoft & Facebook: Bosom Buddies

Microsoft has officially taken a $240 million equity stake in Facebook during its next round of financing, valuing Facebook at $15 billion, not million but billion

"We are pleased to take our Microsoft partnership to the next level," Owen Van Natta, vice president of operations and chief revenue officer at Facebook, said in a statement. "We think this expanded relationship will allow Facebook to continue to innovate and grow as a technology leader and major player in social computing, as well as bring relevant advertising to the more than 49 million active users of Facebook."

Microsoft will be the exclusive third-party advertising partner for Facebook and the Microsoft ads will expand beyond the U.S. to Facebook's international presence. For those of you who don't already know, Facebook is a Palo Alto, Calif.-based social-networking site. The advertising deal does not appear to have expanded beyond the current 2011 expiration date.

With Microsoft and Facebook's strategic alliance, they are a force to be reckoned with. Two heads are better than one, especially in the social networking industry.

Blockbuster: A Little Help From My Friends

Movielink offers digital movie downloads to play on your computer, dvd player, video iPod, and soon to be released on the PSP and other mobile devices.

Founded in 2002, Movielink is backed by Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Warner Bros. Studios.

For Blockbuster, the acquisition comes during one of the company's low points. Competition from cable providers offering video-on-demand and DVD-rental services including Netflix have cut into profits. With Movielink and Blockbuster total access, Blockbuster should see an increase of market share of competitors. Keeping up with the times is the mission of Blockbuster and so far they have achieved it with a little help from its friends.

"Blockbuster is committed to keeping pace with the changing needs of customers by offering them an expanding array of convenient ways to access entertainment content," said Jim Keyes, Blockbuster Chairman and CEO. "

New Quantum Dot Transistor Counts Individual Photons

A transistor containing quantum dots that can count individual photons (the smallest particles of light) has been designed and demonstrated at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The semiconductor could be integrated easily into electronics and able to operate at higher temperatures than other single-photon detectors. Offering a practical advantage such as quantum key distribution (QKD) for “unbreakable” encryption using single photons.

Apple iPhone: Developers Paradise

Developers of third-party applications will be able to create Web applications for the iPhone using Safari. With iPhone selling out and many wanting to be the first to have one, many are trying to be the first to develop applications for the iPhone as well.

This gives developers the chance to create iPhone applications using common Web development standards and Ajax. In addition to enhancing Safari the applications will also work mobile devices with Windows Mobile 6.

With over a million iPhones already purchased, an audience is growing for apple iPhone developers to make applications that can be used by millions, a developers paradise.

Panasonic Toughbook Mobile Computer

Start with the most rugged laptop computer in the industry and customize it. Include professional services, first-class partners and integrated wireless innovations and you have a laptop powerhouse.

Mobile technology gives people the ability to access anything, anywhere, with affordable mobile devices. Leveraging innovative thinking and groundbreaking designs, Panasonic is changing how professionals collaborate remotely with the full line of Toughbook mobile computers.

Google Phone: The Rumor Continues

There's speculation that Google might drop some hints at its analyst day on Wednesday, but until now Google executives and spokespeople have done their best to hide the revolutionary phone from the industry until it is ready for criticism

Where there's smoke there's fire. Unlike Apple's iPhone, the Gphone probably won't be more about the software than the hardware. The Google phone software will enhance industry phones from Samsung, Qualcomm, Motorola, and many other mobile device providers. With Gphone, anyone will be able to surf the Internet anywhere and everywhere.

NY Times Mobile: The Big Apple To Go

The New York Times has launched a mobile site sponsored by Microsoft for their Internet based newspaper readers.

The mobile site is free, with the ability for users to search a seven-day news archive. Registration is required to email articles or use the news tracker alert. The NY Times mobile offers weather, sports scores and movie showtimes. The site provides access to news and information from NYTimes.com via mobile devices including Wap phones and PDAs.

Readers can scan headlines on the section-fronts or read the complete articles from the Latest News, World, Business, Sports, Arts and other sections of the New York Times mobile website.

Apple MacBook: Food for Thought

Starting under $1,100, MacBook is designed for your mobile lifestyle with:
- Intel Core 2 Duo processors
- 1GB of memory
- Larger hard drives
- Built-in iSight camera for video phone functionality
- 13-inch widescreen display
- Dual-display support

Powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor at speeds up to 2.16GHz you can have a video chat with friends, watch a movie on the widescreen display, or even do work faster and more efficiently.

AOL Mobile: WAP It Real Good

At the CTIA wireless trade show this week in San Francisco, AOL is introducing new mobile services designed to get mobile users to rely on AOL for their mobile needs. With AOL behind Google and Yahoo! in the search engine market, AOL is leveraging mobile offerings to increase their mobile presence.

AOL's new mobile offerings including AIM, AOL Email, AOL CityGuide, MapQuest, AOL Search, Moviefone, and Winamp—plus. Everything you need to browse on the go.