Dell announces XPS 13 Ultrabook at CES

Dell has also joined in on the Ultrabook bandwagon at CES as it announced the XPS 13 Ultrabook. With the XPS 13 Dell is looking to fill a void left in its portfolio of notebooks, that has been existent since it discontinued the Adamo series of ultra portable notebooks. On the face of it the XPS 13 is .24-inchs thick at its thinnest point and .71-inch thick at it’s thickest and weighs around 2.9 pounds. Clearly in terms of anorexia it’s not in the league of the Adamo, but Dell is not gunning for pure size zero. The Ultraportable concept caters to an audience that demands a high performance portable workstation with a style and convenience of an ultra portable and Dell surely hopes to achieve this with the XPS 13.

On the specs front the XPS 13 packs in a 13.3-inch display with almost non-existent bezel giving the illusion of an 12-incher and features Intel core series of processors (i3 for the base model), 4GB of RAM and 128 GB SSD. The display gives a resolution of 1366×768 and is further reinforced with Gorilla glass. Apart from these frills the device comes with standard array of ports including USB 3.0, USB 2.0, 3.5-mm headphone jack and miniDisplay ports. The XPS 13 series will start at $999, though Dell is yet to announce release dates. While the $999 price looks decent on paper we doubt it will remain the same by the time the ultrabook hits Indian shores

Facebook Messenger App now available for BlackBerry devices

The Facebook Messenger App has finally made a debut on the BlackBerry devices. The app which was earlier available for iPhone and Android platform, allows users to directly send messages to their buddies in real time. You don’t have to go through the entire process of first launching the main Facebook app and then look for friends whom you gotta send the message. The Facebook Messenger App for BlackBerry comes with new features and the existing version of the app for iPhone and Android has also gotten updated. You’d now be able to see who’s online and can also share an image/location with your friends through the new mapping feature. Users can see who’s typing via the typing indicator just the way you see on other messaging apps like GTalk, WhatsApp etc. The update has also added support for 22 new languages for Android platform and 12 new languages for the iPhone. Hit here to get the app.

Practical tips to fight Facebook addiction

Facebook is the new over-the-counter drug and everyone’s addicted.
99% of you reading this article have a Facebook account; 50% of you have your Facebook page open in your browser as you are reading this.20% of you check your Facebook when you wake up and before going to sleep!
If you are one of those people who spends hours on Facebook updating your status and pictures, browsing through your friend’s friends’ albums, checking out potential new friends, installing applications, liking everything, farming and planting and NEED to make life seem like such a la-la-land constantly; you are definitely addicted to Facebook. Because Facebooking has taken precedence over work, family, friends, affecting your personal and professional life.
Is it time to get a grip and use Facebook as a tool rather than having it validate your life and existence?
Here are a few tips to fight the Facebook Addiction –
Admit it. You are addicted to Facebook. It gives you the same rush, the same heady high of that first cigarette of the day. Admission is the first step to rehabilitation. This applies to any kind of addiction.
Be honest with yourself. Your virtual life has taken over your real life. In fact, you end up thinking I need to update/upload this on my profile. Your need to take perfect holiday pictures overrules the actual enjoyment of the holiday. You need to focus on staying in the present.
Pause to think before you log on to your account next time – what am I looking for? Why am I here? Making a mental note about what you plan to do once you are logged on gives you a direction to follow. Make a physical note if you must.
Reflect on what you did once you logged on – Did I click on random feeds and pictures? Did I upload or commented once I logged on? Reflection will help you assess how much you were able to keep up with your plan. Most importantly, reflect on how you felt about what you did or read. Did it make you feel good or bad about yourself? If the answer to either is yes each time, your self-worth has started to depend on your virtual life rather than the real you.
Ask yourself if you can go without Facebook for a day. Remember, you had a life even before Facebook came into existence. Reclaim it. Now your virtual avatar has taken over your real life.
Stop wasting time – decide on time limit before you log on. Set an alarm if necessary. No, setting 2 hours as a limit is not acceptable. No wonder you are addicted. 20 minutes maximum – that’s a good limit. Twice a day should suffice.
Start ignoring the pokes and the feeds that are constantly bombarded at you. You don’t have to check every single thing out. And turn those notifications on your smart phones off!
Disconnecting your account or the internet connection is an option you can consider. Though, that may not be advisable at the beginning. The withdrawal symptoms would be too much to handle. Instead, you can stop using the Facebook application on your android so frequently. Believe me, out of your 800 odd friends, maybe only 3 really care if you are stuck in traffic or wondering what to cook.
What you can do is maybe take up ballet dancing. Practice swordplay. Occupy yourself so that you don’t think about Facebook. Do new out-of-the-box things. Get addicted to life!

Watch launches the smartwatch at CES

Italian company i’m Watch has launched its smartwatch at CES. The smartwatch dons an Italian wristwatch design, a 1.55-inch high-resolution multi-touch display, multitasking capabilities, 4GB of memory and a Graphical user interface. Previously the smartwatch became the first of a kind device to be compatible with the iPhone, but now i’m Watch has introduced compatibility with Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone smartphones as well. The device can manage tasks on the various smartphones via Bluetooth and personal hotspot functionality. With its GUI based OS, developers can make apps exclusively for the smartwatch. The smartwatch will be available in February 2012 at $349.

NASA satellite breaks up in plunge to Earth

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A six-tonnes NASA science satellite fell back to Earth, the U.S. space agency said on Saturday, but it was not yet known where the remains landed.
NASA said its decommissioned Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite was "passing over Canada and Africa as well as vast portions of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans" as it returned to Earth, and that "the precise re-entry time and location are not yet known with certainty."
The 20-year-old satellite, which took an unpredictable course as it tumbled through the upper atmosphere, fell to Earth sometime between 11:23 p.m EDT on Friday and 1:09 a.m. EDT on Saturday (0323 to 0509 GMT on Saturday), NASA said.
There were reports on Twitter of debris falling over Okotoks, a town south of Calgary in western Canada, most likely satellite remains.
Stretching 35 feet (10.6 metres) long and 15 feet (4.5 metres) in diameter, UARS was among the largest spacecraft to plummet uncontrollably through the atmosphere, although it is a slim cousin to NASA's 75-tonnes Skylab station, which crashed to Earth in 1979.
Russia's last space station, the 135-tonnes Mir, crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 2001, but it was a guided descent.
NASA now plans for the controlled re-entry of large spacecraft, but it did not when UARS was designed.
The 13,000-pound (5,897 kg) satellite was dispatched into orbit by a space shuttle crew in 1991 to study ozone and other chemicals in Earth's atmosphere. It completed its mission in 2005 and had been slowly losing altitude ever since, pulled by the planet's gravity.
Most of the spacecraft burned up during the fiery plunge through the atmosphere, but about 26 individual pieces, weighing a total of about 1,100 pounds (500 kg) could have survived the incineration.
The debris field spans about 500 miles (805 km), but exactly where it is located depends on when UARS descended.
With most of the planet covered in water and vast uninhabited deserts and other land directly beneath the satellite's flight path, the chance that someone would be hit by falling debris was 1-in-3,200, NASA said.
"The risk to public safety is very remote," it said.
The satellite flew over most of the planet, traveling between 57 degrees north and 57 degrees south of the equator.
UARS was one of about 20,000 pieces of space debris in orbit around Earth. Something the size of UARS falls back into the atmosphere about once a year.