Microsoft has lately been on a spree of integrating its various suites together in order to provide a seamless user experience. The Redmond giant famously releases versions of its productivity software across platforms, and recently extended Microsoft the net even over to Android and iOS, with apps like Lync, OneNote and SkyDrive. The “Rooms” feature on the upcoming Windows Phone 8 devices will also allow non-WP8 users to be a part of the Room, allowing them to share notes, images and calendars with other occupants of that particular Room

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has announced a cap of 100 SMSes in a day per SIM at concessional rates. For every SMS sent above the cap imposed by the TRAI, a minimum charge of 50 paisa will be levied.

According to TRAI's principal advisor, N Parameswaran, the move will help stop unregistered telemarketers from misusing the concession SMS plans for sending bulk promotional messages. The restriction however does not apply on registered telemarketers, transactional message-sending entities, and telephone numbers.  The regulator is also considering a new mechanism which will enable telecom operators to block messages with same or similar characters. The proposed mechanism envisages a maximum of 200 SMSes with “similar signatures” are sent in an hour. The service provider can block the source once the cap is breached.

Instagram announced on its blog its plan to go ahead with web profiles, which will allow you to share your profiles over the web. To see your profile, or to explore a friend’s profile, simply navigate to instagram.com/[username].

The header images keep transitioning like live Windows Phone tiles and on first glance they look very similar to the Facebook or Google Plus photo streams. When you hover your mouse over the individual images below the header, you can see date when the image was taken alongwith the likes and comments (below). On clicking on the image, it pops out with the web-based viewer.

Research In Motion (RIM) has said its much-delayed new BlackBerry smartphones are now being tested by 50 wireless carriers around the world. The phones are seen as critical to RIM's survival. The release will come as the company struggles in North America to hold onto customers who are abandoning BlackBerrys for flashier iPhones and Android phones.

The Canadian company called the testing a key step as it prepares to launch the new BlackBerry 10 software and phones in the first quarter of next year. RIM's current software is still focused on email and messaging, and is less user-friendly and agile than iPhone or Android. Its attempt at touch screens and a tablet were a flop, and RIM lacks the apps that power other smartphones. RIM's hopes hang on BlackBerry 10. It's thoroughly redesigned for the touchscreen, Internet browsing and apps experience that customers now expect. A full touchscreen device will be released first followed shortly after by a physical keyboard version.

The new BlackBerrys will be released after the holiday shopping season and well after Apple's launch of the iPhone 5, Apple's biggest product introduction yet. RIM's platform transition is also happening under a new management team and as RIM lays off 5,000 employees as part of a bid to save $1 billion. RIM was once Canada's most valuable company with a market value of more than $80 billion in 2008, but the stock has plummeted since, from over $140 share to around $7. Its decline evokes memories of Nortel, another former Canadian tech giant, which declared bankruptcy in 2009.

Apple on Monday announced it has sold three million iPads in just three days since the launch of its new iPad mini and fourth generation iPad. It is double the number of first weekend milestone of 1.5 million Wi-Fi only models sold for the third generation iPad in March.

The new iPad mini features a 7.9-inch Multi-Touch display, FaceTime HD and iSight cameras, and an 10 hours of battery life. The new fourth generation iPad features a 9.7-inch Retina display, new Apple-designed A6X chip, FaceTime HD camera and ultrafast wireless performance.

Both iPad mini and the new fourth generation iPad with Retina display are available in 34 countries including the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and the UK, and will be available in many more countries later this year, including mainland China. 

Samsung Electronics has sold more than 3 million Galaxy Note 2 smartphones in a little over a month after its launch, as the company vies to keep its lead over rivals during the crucial holiday quarter. The South Korean firm, which was the world's largest maker of smartphones in the July-September quarter, said it took 37 days for the oversize smartphone to reach the sales figure.

The Note was one of the few 5-inch smartphone in the market when the first model was unveiled last year, making some people believe it would become a "tweener" - neither a tablet nor a smartphone. The Note series is one of the two key mobile devices from Samsung on the high-end smartphone segment, along with flagship Galaxy S3 smartphone, helping Samsung rake in profit for the business division that is responsible for more than 70 per cent of the company's quarterly sales.

The latest iteration of the Note features a screen measuring 5.5 inches diagonally and a digital pen for note-taking. Research firm IDC said Samsung topped the global smartphone market in the July-September third quarter with 56.3 million sales, more than double Apple's 26.9 million iPhone sales.

Internet addictions — especially to social media — have been well documented. And the truth is, we’re feeling like we might have a touch of Facebook addiction. But what’s the psychology behind this disorder? As it turns out, receiving and answering a notification results in a hit of dopamine, a chemical neurotransmitter associated with the motivation and reward response in the human brain. Dopamine is also released in high quantities when we consume drugs or have sex. Social media notifications can have the same addictive effect.

HTC has announced that its first two WP8 handsets, the Windows Phone 8X and 8S, will be released in India this month. The Taiwanese mobile giant also released pricing information for the two devices – the top-end HTC Windows Phone 8X gets an MOP of Rs. 35,023, the mid-range HTC Windows Phone 8S gets an MOP of Rs. 19,260.

The company also announced two other smartphones for the Indian market, the HTC Desire SV, and HTC One X+, pricing them at Rs. 22,590 and Rs. 40,190 respectively.

HTC has launched a mid-range Android smartphone for India, and a few other South East Asian countries. The phone is called Desire SV, and will be priced at Rs. 22,590 (MOP). It is expected to be available in India over the next couple of weeks.

HTC Desire SV Features :
- Dual-SIM phone  (Do note that the SIMs needs to be of the micro-SIM type)
- 1GHz dual core processor
- 68MB of RAM
- 4.3-inch 800x400 pixel (217ppi) Super LCD2 display

Kim Dotcom, the founder of Megaupload, and possibly the most hunted man on the internet, has revealed plans for the successor to his wildly popular file sharing service. Before it was shut down in January, 2012, Megaupload was one of the largest file storage and viewing services in the world, averaging about 50 million hits per day. With over 25 petabytes (25,000 terabytes) of data stored on its servers, the portal was widely known and used, and its shutting down led to great outrage in the online sphere, with many severe responses from the file sharing community, including denial-of-service attacks on a range of websites belonging to the U.S. government and copyright organizations.

A number of government websites including those of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Prime Minister's Office and West Bengal's police department, Directorate of Estates (Ministry of Urban Development), Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, and Rehabilitation Council of India have suffered massive cyber attacks. 

Facebook is currently testing a new format for Timeline, which will be putting all posts in a single column on the left, while the activity modules and friends, places, apps and other sections will be placed on the right.