LinkedIn: Hiring trends in India relatively strong

Hiring trends in India is relatively strong than other markets around the world as nearly half of employers believe the recruitment volume this year is up from 2011, a survey says.

According to the LinkedIn Recruiting Trends survey with over 3,000 professionals/recruiters from the HR/Talent Acquisition department, of which 255 were from India, hiring in India remains healthy, despite global macroeconomic trends. 

"Over 50 per cent say hiring volume is up from 2011; another 22 per cent say hiring are at same rate," the survey said adding that budgets appear to be trending in line with hiring volume growth. 

Meanwhile, though India appears ahead of most other countries, there is still room to improve data-driven decision-making, the LinkedIn survey said as almost 40 per cent say they are average or poor at using data to make hiring decisions. 

About 81 per cent of respondents agree to the fact that employer brand has a significant impact on ability to hire great talent. A whopping 90 per cent of respondents said they are either increasing or maintaining employer brand investment. 

India is ahead of the curve when it comes to regularly measuring employer brand. Around 50 per cent of all India-based corporate recruiting leaders measure their employer brand as against the global average of 33 per cent. 

Meanwhile, the two biggest obstacles to hiring top talent include competition and compensation. Respondents are worried that their competitors will invest in employer branding, improve referral programmes, and invest in new recruiting tools, the survey noted. 

Around 45 per cent cite quality of hire as most critical metric. The survey findings noted that internet job boards and social platforms including online professional networks are rising as quality sources to attract talent. 

Another leading trend in India is that most recruiters believe in the importance of passive (who are currently not actively seeking a new job) and in the pipeline talent (database of qualified, relevant candidates in anticipation of future hiring needs). 

As per the survey, about 65 per cent of recruiters focus on passive talent and about 87 per cent of the recruiters are engaged in pipeline talent, the survey said.

An app to send ‘video SMSs‘

  

Text messaging is fast and efficient but a new video-sharing application aims to put users in the picture.

The London-based company Six3 has launched a new video-sharing app by the same name that will enable users to send short video messages as easily as sending a text. Whether it is a business traveller trying to stay in touch with family or a teenager connecting with friends, the app aims to combine the convenience of texting with the intimacy of video.

"It's easier to send a video message than a text message if you're walking down the street because you don't need to look down and tap away at tiny buttons. You just talk straight into the camera," said Tim Grimsditch, the co-founder and CEO of the London-based company Six3.

Users can also record a message, which must be less than 63 seconds long, and send it to other people using the app, or email it and send it to Facebook contacts.

It can also be used to send public messages via Facebook and Twitter and there are Instagram-style filters, that can add color, or contrast and other effects, that can be overlaid on the videos.

Grimsditch said most people using the app are business travelers and parents with young children. But "video natives," 25-year olds who grew up using video recording devices, are the most active users.

"They're using the app in a much more day-to-day, casual style because they have used video communication technologies their whole lives," Grimsditch explained.

"The text message started with the teens and very rapidly spread north up through the age groups," he added.

The idea for the app, which is available on iPhone now with plans for an Android version, originated when a company executive had difficulty sharing the experiences of his son growing up with family and friends who did not live nearby.

"He was surprised by just how difficult it was to communicate in an emotionally meaningful way," said Grimsditch, adding that video calling services such as Skype require coordination ahead of time.

With the increase in texting, the company thought the time was right to launch the video messaging platform. Since February when it was launched in beta, the app has over 12,000 users.

Grimsditch said it is possible to send a video as a text message, but added that the app maintains the quality of the video and provides a coherent way of sending video across various platforms.

The company plans to release an Android app in the first half of 2013, as well as premium services such as editing tools to monetise the app.

But can video messaging replace text messaging?

"Over time text messages will only be used for sharing small bursts of information, an address or a meeting time or date, while video messages will be used for almost all family, social and professional communication," Grimsditch predicted.

Why Facebook CEO ‘did not join‘ Microsoft

Mark Zuckerberg has opened up about his start-up experience and said that ifFacebook hadn't happened, he would have probably landed at Microsoft.

The social networking mogul shared his experience in a talk at Startup School, the annual conference for entrepreneurs and computer hackers at Stanford University, the Daily Mail reported Monday.

Even though Facebook boasts one billion users worldwide - the founder divulged that he most likely would have made his way to Seattle if his idea had flopped.

"I probably would have taken an engineering job (and) always had a lot of respect forMicrosoft," he told Paul Graham, co-founder of the tech venture capital Y Combinator, during an interview Saturday before an audience of 1,700 at Stanford's Memorial Hall.



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Android app to translate voice, text in real-time

Japan's biggest mobile operator said on Monday it will launch a translation service that lets people chat over the telephone in several different languages.

The application for NTT DoCoMo subscribers will give two-way voice and text readouts of conversations between Japanese speakers and those talking in English, Chinese or Korean with a several-second delay, the firm said.

" Hanashite Honyaku" will be a free application that can be used on smartphones and tablet computers with the Android operating system, DoCoMo said.

Customers will also be able to call landlines using the service, it said, adding that voice-to-text readouts will soon be available in French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai.

"We hope that with this application, our subscribers will be able to widen the range of their communication," a company spokeswoman said.

However, she conceded the service does not offer perfect translations and has trouble deciphering some dialects.

DoCoMo also said it has launched a separate service that lets users translate menus and signage using the smartphone camera.

Samsung‘s WP8-based Ativ S in India soon?

 

Samsung unveiled its Ativ S, the world's first Windows Phone 8 smartphone, during IFA 2012 in August. Now, it seems that the device, which is still to launch anywhere across the globe, is headed for India.

Ezoneonline, the ecommerce portal from Future Group, has listed Samsung Ativ S in its mobile phone category. Though the site does not give any pricing or launch date details.

The WP8-powered smartphone is listed as 'Out Of Stock', though the site says that the delivery period is within 7 to 10 days. For those interested in the cost of the device, the website says "Price On Request" and they can provide their name, email address and mobile number.

Samsung Ativ S has a 4.8-inch SuperAMOLED touchscreen, same as the Galaxy S III, and runs on the Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system. The South Korean manufacturer has used a 1.5GHz dual-core Krait processor with 1GB RAM in the phone.

Ativ S will be available in 16 and 32GB variants, and will support microSD card of up to 32GB capacity. The smartphone has an 8MP rear camera with flash and a 1.9MP front camera. It comes with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, 2G, 3G and microUSB 2.0 as connectivity options. The world's first Windows Phone 8 smartphone will be powered by a 2,300mAh battery.

Samsung has always given priority to India while launching its mobile devices, such as Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note II and Galaxy Note 10.1. Therefore, it is possible that the official launch of Ativ S in India may not be too far away, though the Windows Phone platform has not exactly picked up in the country.

Google opens virtual window into secretive data centers

Google is opening a virtual windowinto the secretive data centers   where an intricate maze of computers process Internet search requests, showYouTube video clips and distribute email for millions of people. 

The unprecedented peek is being provided through a new website unveiled Wednesday at http://www.google.com/about/datacenters/gallery/(hash)/ . The site features photos from inside some of the eight data centers that Google Inc. already has running in the US, Finland and Belgium. Google is also building data centers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Chile. 

Virtual tours of a North Carolina data center also will be available through Google's ``Street View'' service, which is usually used to view photos of neighborhoods around the world. 

The photographic access to Google's data centers coincides with the publication of a Wired magazine article about how the company builds and operates them. The article is written by Steven Levy, a journalist who won Google's trust while writing ``In The Plex,'' a book published last year about the company's philosophy and evolution. 

The data centers represent Google's nerve center, although none are located near the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California. 

As Google blossomed from its roots in a Silicon Valley garage, company co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin worked with other engineers to develop a system to connect low-cost computer servers in a way that would help them realize their ambition to provide a digital roadmap to all of the world's information. 

Initially, Google just wanted enough computing power to index all the websites on the Internet and deliver quick responses to search requests. As Google's tentacles extended into other markets, the company had to keep adding more computers to store videos, photos, email and information about their users' preferences. 

The insights that Google gathers about the more than 1 billion people that use its services has made the company a frequent target of privacy complaints around the world. The latest missive came Tuesday in Europe, where regulators told Google to revise a 7-month-old change to its privacy policy that enables the company to combine user data collected from its different services. 

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Indians prefer unlimited Internet data plans: Survey

A majority of mobile phone users in India prefer unlimited Internet data plans to usage-based plans, a survey by Ernst & Young has found. 

"In India almost 54 per cent of the respondents prefer unlimited mobile data for a fixed price per month," the survey, conducted across 12 countries including the US, the UK, China, Australia and Russia, to highlight short- and medium-term issues faced by operators, said. 

The survey said confusion over data tariffs and lack of guidance from operators on the value of new services are limiting the adoption of mobile data services. 

"One in three respondents say they cannot understand mobile data tariffs effectively while only one in five customers claim that they can make an accurate judgement as to what the best tariff option is," the survey said. 

In India, 31 per cent of the respondents said they clearly understand mobile data tariffs offered by operators, which is the highest among others. 

In the US, only 16 per cent respondents said they can understand the data plans, as many as 24 per cent understand data plans in the UK and Russia. 

"It is imperative for mobile operators to spread more awareness about the improved security and privacy features enabling the end consumer to effectively access mobile Internet services, especially in case of mobile money transfer or payment through mobile services," Ernst & Young Global Partner Prashant Singhal said. 

The survey said rising smartphone take-up means that more than 1 in 3 mobile customers are using services such as web browsing, instant messaging and social media on their devices. 

The survey finds that 3G customers are a high-value segment and in India, the average monthly spend of post-paid and pre-paid 3G users stand at $ 43 and $ 27 respectively, while in US, the figures stand at $ 115 and $ 78.

Microsoft sets Windows 8 price at $70 for a DVD pack, opens for pre-order

Microsoft Corp opened its  Windows 8 operating system for pre-orders on Friday, setting the price for the full version of the software at $70 for a DVD pack.

Users can also wait for launch on Oct. 26 to download the system onto their computers for $40, an offer price that will expire at the end of January.

Soon, eye movements can be your new password

Taking cue from iris scans used in UID in India, researchers are developing a new biometric system that can identify people by the way they flicker their eyes while looking at a computer screen. 

Oleg Komogortsev, a computer scientist at Texas State University-San Marco, is making use of the fact that no two people look at the world in the same way . 

When looking at a picture, different people will move their eyes among points of interest in different sequences, researchers observed. 

Even if two people trace the same paths, the exact way they move their eyes differs, the 'LiveScience' reported. 

"We are seeing there are enough differences so we can talk about this as a biometric," Komogortsev told TechNewsDaily. 

A biometric is a measurement of something on the body - fingerprints, for instance - used to identify people. 

Computer scientists all over the world are studying biometrics for crime solving, for border security, and just as a high-tech way to sign into smartphones, tablets and other devices. 

Komogortsev's research is in its earliest stages and needs years of work before it might show up at airports, high-security workplaces or even home computers. 

However, he thinks eye movements could be part of the next generation of a more established biometric iris scans, which are already used in some airports and private companies, and in a countrywide ID effort in India. 

Previously, researchers showed that crooks could fool an iris scanner with printed contacts, or by holding up a high-quality printout of the correct person's eye in front of the scanner. 

Komogortsev hopes adding an eye-movement sensor could prevent this type of counterfeiting. 

"The strength of our method is it can work together with iris [scanning]," he said. 

Komogortsev's system records eye movements and analyzes two features. In one, the system measures "fixations", the times when people linger their gaze over a point on screen. 

In another, it measures "saccades", the swift movements the eye makes when it flies between points. 

His system considers both the exact path that people's gazes take and the fixations and saccades they make along the way. 

From those movements, the system calculates unique properties about people's eyes, including the force their eye muscles use and other properties about the fat and flesh around the eye and the eyeball itself, Komogortsev said. 

UID is an initiative of Unique Identification Authority of India of the Indian government to create a unique ID for every Indian resident. 

‘Apple may unveil 13-inch MacBook Pro on October 23‘

Tech giant Apple is expected to unveil a 13-inch MacBook Pro during an event on October 23, where it is likely to launch the new iPad mini. 

According to a report by 9to5Mac, the newMacBook will have a high-resolution Retina display. 

The device will reportedly inherit the thin and light enclosure from the 15-inch Retina model, and it will be sold in two configurations, alongside the standard 13-inch MacBook Pro, which was updated with faster processors in June, Mashable reports. 

According to the report, if true, the report confirms an earlier rumor, which claimed Apple plans to release a smaller Retina MacBook Pro before the end of the year.

Samsung Galaxy Premier’s specs, price, pics leaked

 Samsung is reportedly working on a new Android-powered smartphone called the Galaxy Premier. A report in technology blog MobileGeeks says that the upcoming phone, code named Samsung GT-i9260, will not be the speculated Nexus 4, but an altogether new device.

In Galaxy Premier, the South Korean smartphone manufacturer seems to have stuck to the pebble-esque design which it introduced in its flagship Galaxy S III and then followed in Galaxy Note II and the recently-unveiled Galaxy S III Mini.

The upcoming Galaxy Premier will boast of a 4.65-inch touchscreen with 1280x720 resolution, 1.5GHz dual-core ARM Cortex A-9 processor and will run on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) skinned with TouchWiz UI. On the imaging front, the post on MobileGeeks says that the new smartphone will have an 8MP primary camera with LED flash, while the rear camera will have 2MP resolution.

According to MobileGeeks, the yet-to-be-announced Samsung Galaxy Premier will come in 8GB and 16GB variants and will support microSD card of up to 64GB capacity. In terms of connectivity, the device is expected to have Wi-Fi, DLNA, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, 3G, 2G and microUSB. The size of the upcoming device will be 68.1x133.97x8.8 mm, as per the post.

The post on MobileGeeks said that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Premier will cost 480 euros. However, considering that the unlocked version of the Galaxy S III, which has better specs, in Europe is priced at around 450 euros, this price seems unlikely. Samsung may choose to place this phone between the Galaxy S II and Galaxy S III, since it has no smartphone in that price bracket, expect for Galaxy Note, which is too big for most people.

Microsoft Surface priced below Apple‘s new iPad

Microsoft is setting the price of its new Surface tablet below comparable versions of Apple iPad, signaling its intent to grab a slice of the booming tablet market. 

The world's largest software company, which announced its surprise foray into computer manufacturing in June, said it would sell a 32-gigabyte (GB), Wi-Fi only version of its tablet at $499, versus $599 for a comparable version of Apple's new iPad. 

Microsoft's tablet, which is taller and slightly heavier than an iPad, will go on sale on October 26 as the company launches the new touch-friendly Windows 8 operating system. A limited number will be available for pre-order from a Microsoft website from Tuesday morning. 

The company is hoping the Surface - along with Windows tablets from other hardware makers - will challenge the dominance of Apple's iPad, which has 70 percent of the tablet market after essentially inventing the category in 2010. 

The iPad's popularity demolished the market for mini-laptops called netbooks, and crimped the sales of full-scale PCs, eating away at Microsoft's Windows market. 

Based on a Nvidia Corp chip designed by ARM Holdings, the Surface will run a simplified version of Windows 8 that is not compatible with old Microsoft applications. 

However, the tablet will feature new app-style versions of Office mainstays such as Word, PowerPoint and Excel, and will include Xbox games, video and music apps. 

The Surface, with two cameras and a USB port, will be Wi-Fi only. Microsoft has made no mention of a wireless-enabled version. 

On top of the basic model, Microsoft will also offer a 32GB model bundled with a black 'Touch Cover' - that doubles as a keyboard - for $599, and a 64GB version with a black Touch Cover for $699. 

That compares to $699 for a 64GB Wi-Fi only version of the new iPad. 

Since announcing the Surface in June, Microsoft had been silent on the price range, saying only that it would be "competitive" with similar products. 

Some market watchers had speculated that Microsoft might price its first tablet even lower to compete with Apple's less-powerful iPad 2, which costs $399, or smaller rivals such as Amazon.com's Kindle Fire HD and Google Inc's Nexus 7, which start at $199. 

Alongside Microsoft's physical stores in the United States and Canada, the Surface will be generally available online from October 26 for consumers in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Britain and the United States. 

A second, heavier Surface tablet aimed at the new generation of lightweight laptops called "ultrabooks," running on traditional Intel chips, is expected on the market in a few months.

Are your private emails, text messages conversations secure?

People need to be more careful with what they say and write, as every private text message or work email a person sends can be easily accessible, a report has revealed.

According to the Australian Federal Police everything you type in a text or an email can be accessed by authorities if your Telco or ISP has kept the records.

The AFP requires the approval of a judge or a telecommunications warrant to access the records, News.com.au reports.

According to the report, the bad news for anyone who likes to think their messages with friends are private is that some providers keep records from the time you first start an account.

The report quoted cyber law expert George Cho, from the University of Canberra, as saying that while it takes special circumstances to obtain your information, let alone publicise them, most providers will keep records for at least two years.

"The bottom line is this: the main consideration is that privacy of the people involved is maintained because there are national privacy laws that will protect people from intrusion into their privacy," Professor Cho said.

"(But) it's a policy matter for each ISP (or Telco). Some have (records for) two years, five years, it's an individual decision for each provider. In terms of Google, Yahoo and so forth - I think they keep it for a very long time," he added.

According to the paper, this clearly means that every text, private or work email, Facebook thread and tweets may be accessible if authorities can prove they need them.

Which laptop is right for you?

Tech Tonic reviews and recommends notebook PCs costing around 35,000, for gaming, portability and general computing.

The All-Rounder 

To qualify as an all-rounder, the machine must have a large screen, good speakers for multimedia playback, connectivity options such as Bluetooth and sufficient USB ports, a decent webcam, et al. It has to be a machine that lets you work, watch movies, and even play games.

The HP Pavilion G6-2101TU fits the bill. During our use, we found it to be pretty fast in launching programs, packing and unpacking Zip files, and multi-tasking. At the moment, it is one of the few mainstream laptops in this price range to be powered by the new 3rd-generationIntel Core i processors. It has average battery life, lasting almost four hours of continuous FullHD video playback.

What we like: The 3rd gen Core i3 processor is great for an all-purpose machine. It can even run demanding 3D games like Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 at low graphics settings. Plus, there is ample storage on offer and lots of connectivity options. Sound output from in-built Altec Lansing speakers is loud and clear. The screen is bright and renders colours well. Of course, like most other laptops, the viewing angles are bad.
What we don't like: In its default configuration, the laptop comes with just 2GB RAM. But users can add upgrade to 4GB for another 1,000. While 2GB RAM is sufficient at the moment for normal use, we would recommend the upgrade to futureproof your purchase.

The keys are too small for such a big laptop. They also feel as if they are made from cheap plastic, making typing an unpleasant experience. While the trackpad is responsive, the left- and right-click buttons are too stiff.

Alternatives: In case you want more RAM and a better CPU, take a look at the Lenovo Essential G580 ( 34,500 approx) or the Samsung NP300E5X-A01IN ( 33,500 approx). Both are powered by the 3rd gen Intel Core i5 3210M processor.
While we haven't reviewed these, in our experience, Lenovo laptops have very good keyboards. The Samsung machine claims a better battery life, but again, we haven't tested it ourselves. However, both notebooks come with DOS, so you may have to either run a Linux OS like Ubuntu or spend a few thousand rupees on Windows.

SPECS: 15.6-inch screen (1366x768) | 2.4 GHz dual-core Intel Core i3-3110M CPU | 2GB RAM | Intel HD 4000 graphics | 500GB HDD | 8X DVD Burner | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | 2xUSB3.0, 1xUSB2.0, Ethernet, HDMI, VGA ports | 1.3MP webcam, Altec Lansing Dolby Advanced audio, built-in mic | 2.47kg | 7 hours of average use (some work, web browsing and multimedia) |Windows 7 Home Basic (64-bit)

Rating: 6.5/10

Price: Rs 35,000

The Gamer's Beast

You aren't going to get a high-end gaming machine in this budget, but there are options that smoothly run recent games like Crysis 2 and Rage.

The Acer V3-551G is powered by an AMD Radeon HD 7670M graphics card. This card works along with the secondary Radeon 7640G chip inside the main processor unit for even better graphics performance.

In our tests, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 ran at high quality settings, Crysis 2 at medium, and Battlefield 3 at low. To put it in perspective, the V3-551G will give a smooth gaming experience for most titles. But you may have to buy a mouse for a more fulfilling experience.

What we like: Never before have we seen such good gaming performance from a notebook that is priced so low. The build quality of the laptop is very good. It's all glossy plastic but it feels sturdy, and the keys feel nice too.

What we don't like: The battery life is below average. The V3-551G lasted a little over 3 hours of continuous FullHD video playback. The buttons on the trackpad wobble, making them feel low quality. The AMD processor, despite being quad-core, is not as fast and responsive as Intel's dual-core 3rd-gen Ivy Bridge CPUs. During gaming, the left side of the laptop gets too hot, especially where the keyboard is.

Alternatives: For this budget, the Acer V3-551G is as good as it gets for a gaming laptop. If you don't want Acer, take a look at the HP Pavilion G6-2005AX ( 34,600 approx), which has virtually the same hardware. If you can up your budget to around 40,000, the Lenovo Ideapad Z580 ( 40,000 approx) is a good option, touting an Ivy Bridge processor and Nvidia 630M graphics card. Its gaming performance is likely to be on par with the Acer V3-551G, but Lenovo will have better battery life.

SPECS: 15.6-inch screen (1366x768) | 1.9GHz quad-core AMD A8 4500M CPU | 4GB RAM | AMD Radeon HD 7670M + 7640G graphics | 500GB HDD | 8X DVD Burner | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | 1xUSB3.0, 2xUSB2.0, Ethernet, HDMI, VGA ports | 1.3MP webcam, speakers with Dolby support, built-in mic | 2.6kg | 6 hours of average use (some work, web browsing and multimedia) | Windows 7 Home Basic (64-bit)

Rating: 7/10

Price: Rs 34,600


One for the road

This one is for those who have to always carry a laptop with them, like students, frequent fliers or sales professionals. Such portable notebooks cost upwards of 50,000, but there are a few good budget options too, such as the 11.6-incher Sony Vaio SVE11115EN.

The lid of this elegant laptop is slightly shorter than the base. With all the sides sporting a rounded-off finish, the laptop is a comfortable fit in hand. This makes it quite easy to carry it around like a book, whether in college or into a meeting. The design, though, is marred by the protruding battery compartment.

What we like: We loved the build quality. Sony has refrained from using glossy plastic, which means it won't be a fingerprint-magnet. The keys feel good, and fast typists will appreciate the feedback they give. It played FullHD video continuously for almost 4 hours - one of the best we have seen on small laptops that cost under 35,000.

What we didn't like: The screen is quite poor. We expected viewing angles to be bad, but the low brightness is unforgivable. It's fine for browsing the web while finishing some work. But if you want to encode videos for your iPad while simultaneously working on a Power-Point presentation, this isn't the laptop for you.

Alternatives: The screen is a big flaw in the Vaio. It isn't a deal-breaker, but you might still want to consider a few alternatives, such as the HP Pavilion 4201AU ( 26,000 approx) and the Samsung NP305U1AA08IN ( 24,500 approx). Then there is the Asus U32U ( 27,990 approx) with a bigger 13.3-inch screen, but it's heavier and suffers a bit in battery life. It'll also be worth checking out the Lenovo Ideapad S300 ( 31,500 approx), which has a 13-inch screen and a more powerful 2nd-generation Intel Core i3 processor, making it a very good traveller's laptop.

SPECS: 11.6-inch screen (1366x768) | 1.7 GHz dual-core AMD E2-1800 CPU | 2GB RAM | AMD Radeon HD 7340M graphics | 320GB HDD | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | 1xUSB3.0, 2xUSB2.0, Ethernet, HDMI, VGA ports | 1.3MP webcam, stereo speakers with xLoud volume booster, built-in mic| 1.5kg | 8 hours of average use (some work, web browsing and multimedia) | Windows 7 Home Basic (64-bit)

Rating: 6/10

Price: Rs 27,500

Things to remember while buying 

* The most important aspects in a laptop are keyboard, screen and build quality. Spend half an hour in a showroom with the laptop. Type 100-200 words to see if the keys feel right for you. Play a movie and a song to check the screen and audio quality. Finally, compare the laptop's plastic or metal quality to those of similarly-priced ones.

* Most machines that cost over 20,000 are fast enough to play FullHD videos, work on office documents, browse the web, edit photos and multi-tasking between these.

* For RAM, more is better. But don't worry too much about it because you can always add more RAM later.

Note: All prices mentioned are average market rate

ALL UPCOMING MOVIES...MUST NEED TO WATCH!!!!!!

Transformers 4′: A More Serious Sequel to ‘Dark of the Moon’ [Updated]

Paramount finally confirmed the inevitable this week, as the studio announced that both director Michael Bay and an official release date have been locked down forTransformers 4. The movie is already being trumped up as part reboot, in the sense that it will exist within the continuity established in Bay’s previousTransformers flicks, but is also going to “clean house” and remove certain characters (primarily, human players) who played prominent roles in the original TFtrilogy.

New insider reports on the fourth Transformers movie also claim the film will be a “direct” sequel to the third installment (subtitled Dark of the Moon) – and that certain thematic elements from the previous movies will also be left out of the loop, this next time around.

New X-Men origins Cyclops movie directed by Bryan Singer

SciFi Wire reports that at the premier for James Cameron'sAvatar, Bryan Singer said he had just signed a deal with Fox to direct the next X-Men movie, an "origins" movie similar toX-Men Origins: Wolverine that starred Hugh Jackman.

The movie will deal with the early days of Cyclops, along with Jean Grey and others at the Xavier Institute (X-Men: the Teenage Years perhaps?). If you remember the earlier X-Menfilm, Cyclops (Scott Summers) was played by James Marsden and was forced to wear special sunglasses to block a strong energy beam that streamed constantly out of his eyesballs (sounds a bit silly when you write it down).

"I'm ramping up to do a movie called Jack the Giant Killer at Warner Brothers, and I just yesterday signed a deal to do an X-Men: First Class Origins picture, which is kind of cool. I'm very excited," said Singer.

There have been 4 X-Men movies so far, including X-Men, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Jamie Moss (Ghost in the Shell) will write the screenplay and new characters with new powers are likely to be included.

Watch: Trailer for 'Epic', a New Animated Film

From out of nowhere, or at least as far as I am concerned, at the end of May, Fox announcedtheir upcoming slate of films and inside that announcement was a new film calledEpic, which had once been titled Leafmenand would be hitting theaters on May 24, 2013. I had never heard of it before, but it comes from Blue Sky, the animation house behind Ice Age and Rio, so it is something of a big deal and now, today, just as unexpected comes the first trailer for the film.

Epic tells the story of an ongoing battle deep in the forest between the forces of good and the forces of evil. When a teen age girl finds herself magically transported into this secret universe, she must band together with a rag-tag team of fun and whimsical characters in order to save their world... and ours.

The voice cast is lead by Beyonce Knowles and she's joined by Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Knoxville, Aziz Ansari, Jason Sudeikis, Pitbull, Steven Tyler, Blake Anderson and Judah Friedlander.

you must watch this movie..

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island - Movie

• Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

  • In this follow-up to the 2008 worldwide hit “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” the new 3D family adventure “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” begins when young Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson, reprising his role from the first film) receives a coded distress signal from a mysterious island where no island should exist. It’s a place of strange life forms, mountains of gold, deadly volcanoes, and more than one astonishing secret.....

Journey 2 Cast & Crew

• Josh Hutcherson - Sean Anderson
• Dwayne Johnson - Hank Parsons
• Vanessa Hudgens - Kailani
• Michael Caine - Grandfather
• Kristin Davis - Liz Anderson

Journey 2

Journey 2