Technology Effect

The microblogging site Twitter turned down a 500 million dollar purchase offer from the social networking site Facebook in 2008, according to the Financial Times. In an interview with the British business daily published over the weekend, co-founder Biz Stone said Twitter wanted to become not just a popular site but a viable business, rather than be taken over by another company. "We've created something that people are finding value in," he said. "But we haven't yet created a business out of this, and we really wanted to do that." According to the Financial Times, Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg offered 500 million dollars in Facebook stock for Twitter. But Stone said Facebook had nothing that Twitter's three co-founders -- Stone, Evan Williams and Jack Dorsey -- wanted. The daily added, without elaboration, that Twitter still isn't turning a profit more than four years after it was created. In mid-December, Twitter said it...

The bells weren't ringing for many iPhone users this New Year's weekend, when thanks to a glitch the alarms on Apple's iconic mobile phones failed to go off, causing many to oversleep. It was the second time in just a few months that the alarm function on the phone failed to activate correctly, prompting an avalanche of complaints on the social networking micro-blog Twitter. "Dear iPhone, why didn't your alarm go off this morning? I set six of them. I've now missed church. Thanks for nothing," said one user Sunday morning. "Some sort of digital iPhone pandemic is going on. Alarm clock failure reports are pouring in from all sources around the globe," said another Twitter user. Apple said in a message sent to Macworld magazine that the California-based company was aware of the problem. "We're aware of an issue related to non-repeating alarms set for January 1 or 2," spokeswoman Natalie Harrison said. "Customer...

This edition of NetSpeak explores the key developments in the current web browser market with special reference to the new version of Opera. The web browser, the software meant for accessing the web, plays a significant role in our on-line life. Choosing an appropriate browser and equipping it with necessary add-ons are some of the primary skills required to survive in cyberspace. For instance, most of the mainstream browsers now support the extension facility (a browser extension is a small program that enhances its functionality). To make the browsing experience more smooth and efficient one should closely track the latest extensions available and integrate the relevant ones with the browser. Browser developers are quite responsive to the ever-changing needs of netizens and, generally, all of them regularly release new versions with bug fixes, added features and enhanced security. Opera is one browser that excels in this department. Compared to other mainstream browse...

China's homemade fourth-generation telecommunication technology TD-LTE that can download over 150 megabytes per second will be used globally by 2015, say Chinese industry experts. The next-generation Time Division-Long Term Evolution (TD-LTE) technology, currently under trial, is promoted by the China Mobile Communications Co. "Many international operators have contacted China Mobile and expressed willingness to adopt TD-LTE networks," Chen Jinqiao, deputy chief engineer at the China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR), told China Daily. He said the most likely partners in building the TD-LTE networks would come from Africa and Latin America, as many countries in these continents have a good relationship with China. "They are more likely to accept China's technology, and TD-LTE may even help them make a leap forward directly from the 2G era to the 4G stage," said Chen. The successful use of the technology in China will boost confide...

The New Year begins with a partial solar eclipse that can be seen on Tuesday from the northern part of the country besides from Europe, the Arabian peninsula, North Africa and Western Asia. The partial solar eclipse will begin at 12:10:11 IST and end at 16:30:54 IST, R C Kapoor, retired Prof of Indian Astro Physics, told PTI. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partially obscuring the Earth’s view of the Sun. In India, the eastern fringe of the penumbral shadow of the Moon passes over Kutch, parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, UP, Delhi, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, he said. The magnitude of the eclipse is, however, between 0 and about 20 per cent (fraction of the Sun’s disc that is covered) and at most of the places, the eclipse will not be easily noticeable. The eclipse is partial everywhere since umbra of the Moon misses the Earth. In Delhi, the eclipse will begin at 15:11:4...