Flexible Samsung phone 'to be issued in 2012'

The new Samsung Galaxy Skin is set to feature a bendable AMOLED display that will allow users to roll it up like a wrist-watch

 Samsung is poised to release a flexible mobile phone, according to reports in the International Business Times. The new Samsung Galaxy Skin will feature an AMOLED display that will allow the phone to bend around a cylinder with a 1-inch diameter. Brighter than the normal screen, the AMOLED display is also low-energy and almost unbreakable, according to the reports.

Using a plastic polyimide substrate instead of glass, Samsung has produced displays that are “rollable [and] bendable” and which can even “survive blows from a hammer”. The phone was developed by Prof Haeseong Jee and Jye Yeon You.

The key material of this new technology is ‘graphene’, touted as “the miracle material”. Research by scientists from Columbia University has established that ‘graphene’ is the strongest material in the world, “some 200 times stronger than structural steel”.

The Galaxy Skin will offer a high-resolution 800×480 flexible AMOLED screen, eight megapixel camera and 1Gb of RAM as well as a 1.2GHz processor. Samsung has not yet disclosed the device’s operating system, but there have been rumors about Jelly Bean – Google’s next Android release after Ice Cream Sandwich – or a new release called Android Flexy.

The new core technology also allows the phone to be used as a mouse, a clock or a wrist-watch. Samsung has not confirmed the exact date of release.

Five Best Portable External Hard Disks

 
1. Western Digital Elements Desktop

Western Digital Elements external hard drive is an easy-to-use, reliable way to add more storage to your PC or Mac. Simply plug it in to a USB port and start saving or backing up your photos, music, video, and files. It is preformatted for immediate use so there is no software or CD to load.  It is designed for use with Windows-based computers and it can be easily reformatted for use with Macs. The compact, durable metal case provides extra data protection helping keep data safe from loss.

This external hard drive is equipped with a high performance with the transfer speed from 28MB per second to 38MB per second. This is because it operates at 7200RPM, so it is pretty fast. It is designed with the same commitment to quality that made WD external drives the number one selling drives in the world. It has a price of 4,627 for 2 TB.

2. Iomega Prestige

The Iomega Prestige portable hard drive provides a simple and affordable solution for all your storage needs and an ideal for adding capacity to your system. This stylish drive offers a strong aluminum construction and included stand which will resist good shots without damage and also can be used both horizontally and vertically as the user likes.

It has a very beautiful finishes making it ideal to be on your desktop but is a little slower than some of its competitors. It connects via USB 2.0 port, FireWire, or eSATA and does not come with any software. Within the range of Prestige it runs at 7200rpm, has an 8MB cache and data transfer speed is 25 MB to 20 MB of reading and for writing. It is priced at 5,913 for 1.5 TB.

3. LaCie Design by Neil Poulton

The LaCie hard disk, design by Neil Poulton adds a sleek, sophisticated style to your desktop to delivering high-speed performance as a hard drive. Neil Poultion is a Scottish designer worked for many technology companies to design to order any of their products.

The design is simple in fact it is rectangular and looks like a brick. It is made of glossy black plastic for a visual impact, but it’s a bit sensitive to fingerprints. It works via USB 2.0 ports, FireWire and eSATA and has 1TB of storage capacity. This device is certainly one of the best there is around in the market for its beautiful design. The transfer speed is not the best but without doubt it is something we can ignore considering its beauty.

With Hi-Speed USB 2.0, this efficient hard drive makes a great companion to your PC or Mac. The setup is nearly effortless it is plug & play and offers customizable formatting. This beautiful hard drive has a price of 3,856 for 1 TB.

4. Western Digital My Book 3.0

The Western Digital My Book series is one of the longest running product brand names in the storage market. The My Book 3.0 has the same glossy black book like covering as Western Digital's other external hard drives. The main draw of the My Book 3.0 is its super speed USB 3.0 interface, which manages to break it free from the speed bottlenecks faced by current USB 2.0 external hard drives.

It is a sleek enclosure around two inches wide and seven inches tall. The top, bottom and back are vented to allow air to flow over the internal drive, but the front and sides have a matte black finish. With super speeds it feel entirely like you are using an internal hard disk and not the external drive, it is pretty fast that you can use for both storage and for daily purposes. It has a pretty high price for the super speed USB 3.0, it is available at the price of 9,015 for 3 TB.

5. Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex

Seagate has a huge market in India. It is designed almost identical to previous versions and it allows connections through both USB 2.0 and 3.0, FireWire 800 and eSATA. The device weighs only 148 grams, with 1TB makes it an attractive option for transport.

It comes pre-loaded with an installer that includes several Seagate and Memeo utilities. It can be used with windows PC or Mac with a simple reformatting. The installer can also set the FreeAgent GoFlex up with sync software, file encryption, and a more feature-rich Memeo Premium backup utility.

The device also comes with a dock that will unplug and carry a very simple and leave the dock all the time on your computer through the USB port. It is available for the price of 4,118 for 1TB.

Linux Mint 12 codenamed Lisa ...

Linux Mint, a popular Linux distribution announced its latest release Linux Mint 12 codenamed Lisa. The Ubuntu based Linux Mint is now available for download. Lisa comes with a new desktop, built with Gnome 3 and Mint Gnome Shell Extensions (MSGE). It also has extended support for Gnome 2.




The Gnome 2 extension ‘MATE’ is also available for Linux Mint 12; so now you can run both versions of Gnome in the same Lisa installation. Other major improvements are in cosmetics and search engines. Two new themes named Mint-Z and Mint-Z Dark are available for Lisa which are originally derived from based on Mint-X and Zukitwo.
The new default search engine used in Linux Mint 12 is Duck Duck Go. It also features upstream components of Ubuntu 11.10, Linux 3.0, Gnome 3.2.
You can download Linux Mint from linuxmint.com/download.php

Linux Mint 12 Review

A friend of mine had issues with configuring his new Creative 5.1 speaker system in Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot. He tried different ways to make it work before calling me for help. So when I finally found his system, it was in a pretty bad shape. I had no clue where to even start with. Then I learned that the release of Linux Mint 12 "Lisa" was around the corner. The system would be better off with a reinstall anyway, so I thought, why don't I just give Linux Mint 12 a try and see what happens.

I went on to download Linux Mint 12 "Lisa" 64-bit DVD release. Installation went smooth and fast, thanks to the new improved Ubiquity introduced during the latest Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot release cycle. All essential applications and codecs were already in place and it was quite slick too even with all the added GNOME Shell tweaks. Then I plugged in the Creative 5.1 speaker system, launched Sound Settings from Volume Menu, choose Analog Surround 5.1 Output from Hardware tab and that was it. All 5 speakers and the subwoofer was working just fine. I was really impressed. And so I decided to install Linux Mint 12 in my netbook replacing my old, reliable work horse Ping-Eee OS for the very first time.

Linux Mint's Tryst with GNOME Shell

Unity and GNOME Shell desktop environments are slowly starting to gain acceptance everywhere. Hue and cry over missing features and customization options has now almost over. Popular distros like Linux Mint, which earlier chose not to use either GNOME Shell or Unity for its Ubuntu based Linux flavor now runs on top of GNOME 3.0 and GNOME Shell.

GNOME Shell already have extensions support and Linux Mint 12 Lisa comes with a bunch of new GNOME Shell extensions pre installed and activated. They include Menu Extension, Media Player Extension, Smart Overview Extension, Bottom Pannel Extension, User Theme Extension etc. to name a few[To try some of these in Ubuntu running GNOME Shell, see our article featuring top 7 GNOME Shell extensions].

GNOME Tweak Tool also comes pre installed in Linux Mint 12 "Lisa" which makes it even simpler and easier to manage GNOME Shell themes, extensions and other minor GNOME Shell specific tweaks. At the moment, it is virtually impossible to use, configure and customize GNOME Shell desktop satisfactorily without GNOME Tweak Tool.

The Linux Mint 12 Desktop Experience
GNOME Shell experience in not new to me anymore and I have been extensively using GNOME Shell with Ubuntu 11.10 for sometime now. But Linux Mint 12 is different.

To me, one of the first highlights of Linux Mint 12 experience was its neatly executed Welcome Screen with useful links to User Guide, Tutorials, Hardware Database etc., something that other Linux based distros can also emulate.

Linux Mint developers has always been the best at gauging the pulse of its loyal user base. MGSE or Mint GNOME Shell Extensions is developed with the intention of creating a more pleasing and familiar GNOME Shell experience. MGSE is basically a desktop layer on top of Gnome 3. You can easily disable all MGSE components using GNOME Tweak Tool for raw GNOME Shell experience. The important features in MGSE include:

• Bottom panel.

• Application menu.

• The window list.

• A task-centric desktop (i.e. you switch between windows, not applications).

• Visible system tray icons.

All those tweaks are brilliant additions to the vanilla GNOME Shell experience. The bottom panel and Mint Menu extensions make it look more traditional. But if vertical space is at premium, those extensions suddenly becomes less ideal. In my netbook, I always preferred Unity over all other desktop environments simple because of the reason that, Unity desktop is the best when it comes to the utilization of available vertical space. Read our Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot review for more on that. Anyway, I went on to disable many of those extensions in Linux Mint 12 that compromised vertical space in my netbook.

Default music player application is Banshee and it is neatly integrated with Media Player GNOME Shell extension like in Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot's Unity desktop.

Smart Overview GNOME Shell extension is brilliant.

Finding and launching applications and files have never been easier, thanks to the radical improvements brought about by GNOME Shell desktop environment. Speaking of applications, default list of apps for Linux Mint 12 include Banshee 2.2, VLC 1.1.12, GNOME MPlayer 1.0.4, GIMP 2.6.11, APTonCD, Brasero Disc Burner etc. to name a few.

Linux Mint 12 Review: Conclusion

Linux Mint 12 "Lisa" is a nice blend of old and new. I can sum up the whole review in a straight forward sentence, Linux Mint 12 is simply the best GNOME Shell experience I've had so far. It is really fast, stable and looks really simple, consistent. If you want the best out-of-the-box experience of cutting edge GNOME Shell desktop environment, look no further.