The market may be dominated by the iPhone but it would be wrong to overlook the alternative options, especially if Apple’s signature products are proving too expensive for you. Well now we have the Sharp Aquos SH930W providing a more affordable option but does it hold its own against the mobile giants?

While the name may not be so catchy the SH930W does have a lot going for it and it helps that it happens to run on Android 4.1, while the screen has HD resolution and looks amazing, especially considering the price. The phone has a very sleek design and thin frame and Sharp has clearly decided to stick with the familiar design of its previous phones. The phone has an interesting colour scheme, with a black front bordering the screen but then flip it over and the back is a very stark white. It certainly eliminates the need to decide on a colour and it holds together in a very cool way. With protective glass covering it, it is difficult to see where the screen ends and it all merges together in a very stylish way. This glass is also scratch proof which adds a good amount of durability to it and protects the screen.

The screen measures 5 inches, which is a good size for a phone, big enough for a clearer display but small enough to use with one hand. It fits comfortably in the palm and navigation is fairly easy. The resolution of the screen is 1920×1080 and is easily one of the best things about this phone as it looks stunning. The colour scheme is easy on the eye and has a nice natural look, while remaining vibrant, although it does not do such a good job of eliminating glare so using it in the sun is not so easy. Apart from this though the screen is a triumph and images are incredibly sharp; the details in pictures really stand out.

There are two cameras; a 2-megapixel one at the front and an 8-megapixel one on the back, complete with flash. Photos turn out beautifully and videos produce the same quality. Again, everything appears clear and sharp and the colours look just right.

As for the functionality of the phone itself, it operates very smoothly. From the menu to a program, it all loads in seconds and you can easily multitask and switch between apps without any noticeable delays. However it depends on what you intend to do and more demanding programs may slow down. For example, when it comes to games the simple ones like Angry Birds work perfectly but if you try something more complex like GTA it does not run so smoothly. Playing HD videos is also far from ideal and, although the resolution may be high, the overall video is choppy and does not play so well. Hopefully this is something that will be fixed by an update or two.

Overall the Sharp Aquos SH930W phone is perfectly adequate but nothing special. The screen looks good and simple tasks run smoothly enough but the ore demanding activities can put a bit of a strain on it. If you cannot afford an iPhone or an Android then this is an acceptable replacement but it needs improvement.

Good news for everyone who hates Apple Maps and misses Google Maps. Everyone’s favourite navigation app is set to return with a shiny new version developed specifically for the iPhone. Google has been testing a new mapping app and they are gearing up to submit it to the App Store for approval, although it has yet to be determined just when this will happen.

If it is approved then it will be in direct competition with Apple Maps and will probably win effortlessly. Apple has yet to comment on this development, although it is probably safe to say CEO Tim Cook is not hugely enthusiastic about it. While he did apologise, fire the man responsible and has overseen gradual improvements in the app, he probably does not want an app war. But it would be a very foolish move to reject Google’s new app as the public would certainly not react favourably.

Google have the very humble aim of providing their maps service to whoever wants it, regardless of what platform they want to use it with. Obviously it will benefit Google to have as many people use it but all the same, their maps apps so far have been excellent and most customers will probably be happy to lend their support. Maps are an important element in the digital realm as customers are relying more and more on their mobile devices to help them navigate, so it is easy to see why Apple would be keen to attract more customers to their own app.

The new Google Maps app will feature step-by-step navigation that will allow customers to use it while driving like a GPS device. This will be the first time Google have included this kind of feature for an Apple device and it is sure to be popular, as directions were one of the better parts of Apple Maps. If Google offers the same thing with their app, what reason would there be to choose Apple Maps?

Apple has been hoping to eliminate Google services from its products, a recent casualty being YouTube, which was not included with iOS 6. However Google released an app for it anyway so Apple customers were still able to enjoy it and by having it as a separate download, it generated revenue for Google when people downloaded so Apple helped them in a way.

Google are expecting their web search tool to be dropped by Apple soon too, with Siri being the primary search function on the iPhone. But losing Google would damage the search results as Siri does in fact use it, among several other search engines, to gather data for people’s enquiries.

Apple may be fixing its Maps app but it may be too little too late. A rivalry against Google is not the best idea as they provide some of the most widely used and loved apps in the world and as much as we all love Apple, it is unlikely that we will be willing to give up the excellent services Google provides in favour of Apple’s own version.

Two examples of non-standard web browsers: lynx, a text-only browser, and a refreshable braille display (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lynx is text-based browser. This means that it is only able to render text content of the webpages, and all graphic content is totally ignored by it. This brings certain advantages to the user, because the pages are being showed much faster, as no graphic content is downloaded and therefore less traffic is used. There is less to process and to display for the computer, therefore it is known to be the most non-demanding browser used at the moment. People with a visual impairment or blindness often use it during browsing, which is especially effective in concern with speech synthesis or text-to-speech software.

Browsing processes can seem somewhat poor for today’s users, but for those purposes it is used for. it is the best and the easiest one ever. Lynx highlights the links by means of cursor keys, or otherwise it numbers the all the links on the page and you enter those links using the number keys. Many HTML and SSL features are supported by the current version. Frames can be explored as separate pages, and are identified by name. Tables are formatted by using simple spaces. Adobe Flash and JavaScript are not supported by Lynx. All this helps us to understand that Lynx is advantageous while browsing on an old machine, which has a hard time drawing the graphic contents of websites, or when using a low bandwidth internet connection because only text is rendered by the machine, and images and other content is neglected.

Security and privacy is a bit enhanced in the Lynx browser, because no web bugs that track user information are present in it. A lot of issues go away because no privacy details can be read without graphics in the web. Also a lot of tracking features are omitted because no JavaScript and Flash work. Yet, cookies can be received by Lynx, but they can be put into a blacklist or a whitelist. Cookies are in fact the only way of tracking a user’s information by browsing. Browsing history and caching of pages is also supported, and in some cases it is also able to trigger certain privacy concerns.

English: Browser usage share on Wikimedia Foundation projects on June 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Accepting command options is implemented in Lynx in two ways: from the command line and from configuration files like lynx.cfg (it has 233 configurable features, and in general Lynx is considered to be a highly configurable browser).

The most vivid advantage of Lynx browser is that it is a cross-platform one, working on any UNIX-like operating systems, DOS, Windows and others. This makes it very convenient for system administrators to use because they do not need an additional machine at hand. In general, Lynx is must-have browser, personally I use it for rescue purposes when I need Internet, and don’t have any browser at hand.

The X window system in general was invented in 1984, and X11 is running on hundreds of thousands of machines since September, 1987. The main task of X11 was creating the platform for remote interconnection and interaction of the users, which are connected with an installed client to an application, running on a time-sharing computer. As you understand, this required deep development on multi-tasking and multiprogramming levels. The developer’s result of MIT students that actually created it was so good that the system became run on many machines even without a direct need for time-sharing. All UNIX-like, Linux and Mac OS X systems were running X11 perfectly, and the popularity of the platform became vast in a very short time.

The features of are in fact no more than a common, up-to-date window system as it provides control of any keyboard, managing devices like joysticks, mice and others, as well as touchscreens, together with windowing the computer displays of the machines which are connected at the moment.

In fact, before the introduction of Mac OS X, X windows system was the only way of providing a graphical application on a UNIX-based operating system. Today X11 for Mac enables those who use UNIX running concurrently X11 apps, and Mac applications. X11 is completely integrated with Mac OS and enables smooth and trouble-free running of X11 applications on Macs.

Today X11 looks much better than it did 20 years ago. The designers and developers have made a great work, and dropping shadows, minimizing effects and other things are perfectly implemented in today’s X11 for Mac. You can as well cut and paste info between X11 and Mac applications, and their inter-integration enables a user to perform any task he or she needs. The new window manager of X11 is called Aqua, and as for me it is not any worse than a standard Mac one. OpenGL Direct Rendering, 2D and 3D graphics, which is accelerated with hardware, is used by means of Quartz, a graphics system of Mac OS.

Also it’s a great opportunity for developers as X11 enables to port Linux and UNIX applications on a Mac easily. SSH tunneling, secure display sharing and all the common toolkits for developer purposes can be easily downloaded. X11 is the finest decision for system administrators and other people who deal both with X11 applications and Mac ones. Check it out in order to understand the whole picture of the software, and it’s completely free.

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• Apple Releases X11 Version 7.13 for OS X 10.7.5

Apple has begun to take some new initiatives in order to keep its employees happy and seems to have been inspired by similar recent activity from Google. Earlier this year, a new program known as Blue Sky went into effect, which allowed a number of Apple’s staff members to focus their attention on their own projects for a few weeks.

This kind of allowance is nothing new for Google, who have undertaken various schemes of their own over the years, including 20% Time, which permitted their employees to devote up to one fifth of their time to additional projects of their choice.

Such allowances were previously unthinkable at Apple, a company where the employees would focus strictly on specific projects, and many of the staff have made complaints about this lack of compromise. Apple has always stayed away from employee perks that many other companies would provide as the prestige that comes with working for Apple is supposedly enough.

However the issue was raised during an Apple University meeting last year and officials discussed the similarities Apple shared with a military operation. Now it seems one of the many changes being implemented by new Chief Executive Tim Cook is a bigger effort to make Apple more employee-friendly. He went on to introduce such benefits as staff discounts on Apple products and he is much more vocal about the important role his employees raise than Steve Jobs was, offering a lot of praise during media events. Whether or not this is a publicity stunt is neither here nor there since it still benefits the employees. Cook is a lot more flexible in general regarding his employees, allowing them to be a bit more selective with the projects they work on and even take sabbaticals.

However this does not change the fact that head of iPhone software Scott Forstall was removed from the company last month and the exact status of Blue Sky, with which he was involved, is not immediately clear. This has happened during a time in which Apple is looking at ways to retain its employees and it has become a lot more aggressive when it comes to persuading employees to stay if they are considering leaving, as well as flaunting their attractive compensation packages. One change they that has been made is that stock grants are now listed by dollar amount rather than the number of shares, which makes them look a lot more promising.

But generally Apple employees are loyal and perfectly happy to play their part in realising Steve Jobs’ vision. Salaries are competent compared to other leading technology companies and the rising stock price has helped in no small way. As of September Apple is now the most valuable corporation in the US. However the more recent drops in stock price may change the minds of many employees and other rival companies may start headhunting if they start to lose enthusiasm for the job. But there are some who say the stock will not affect this, although the changing workplace might.

The Samsung Galaxy Note may have divided critics for its concept, after all a 5.3 inch screen for a tablet is slightly unconventional. But in practise it was a huge success and combined the function of a smartphone and tablet perfectly and with the Galaxy Note 2 they have only improved it. The screen is now larger at 5.5 inches, which may be a stretch for a phone but is hardly a problem here and the S Pen stylus and the latest Android Jelly Bean operating system have made it a must-have device.

Let’s consider the size of it first. Some people will find it too big to be practical as a phone and if you don’t think you will adapt to it then it may not be right for you. But if you are able to look at it more as a tablet with phone capabilities then this suddenly becomes an advantage. After all, a phone-size tablet would be highly impractical and the Galaxy Note 2 is anything but. What this size grants us is a high-definition screen, perfect for watching videos, browsing websites and of course, writing. The stylus is completely optional so if you prefer not to use it, you won’t lose out. But if you do, it adds a whole new level of practicality and makes a lot of functions easier.

As for how it runs, the quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM make this a powerful little tool and it certainly lives up to its potential. Jelly Bean means it all runs smoothly and when you see what it is capable of, you will wonder how it doesn’t need to be bigger. How powerful is it? Avid gamers will find this out immediately when they see how well 3D games run on it. In short, this is a highly functional device that offers a lot more than just texting and social networking. If that is all you need then you should look elsewhere because this is for people who want to get some serious use out of it and the quality of the software more than makes up for the increase in size.

The screen has a decent aspect ratio, which makes widescreen viewing a lot more enjoyable as it eliminates those big black bars that can ruin videos somewhat. But it is the resolution of 720×1280 that really stands out and the result is truly stunning. Colours are rich and bold, but not overly saturated. They look just right and if you don’t like it, they can easily be adjusted to suit you. The only here is that it is not quite as sharp as the Galaxy S3, which has a smaller screen, but in its own right it looks great and the difference is hardly noticeable when you compare them.

The stylus has been reworked since its previous incarnation and is now longer, with a thin nib for added accuracy. Using it feels completely natural and you can easily scribble notes clearly or browse the web without making any clumsy mistakes. You can also rest your hand on the screen while you write without it registering so you don’t need to worry about making mistakes that way either. Be sure to make sure the S pen is stored securely though as it is all too easy to lose.

There is a vast range of software available perfectly suited to the stylus so you can get the most out of it without it ever feeling too gimmicky. A nice feature is Air View, which is comes into play when you hold the stylus just above the screen without touching it. When you hold it over various items it will display information about it without you having to open them. There are all kinds of functions and shortcuts you can perform with the stylus, making it a perfect accessory; optional but functional.

One tiny disappointment is the camera. By no means bad, it is however not quite up to scratch with the rest of the software and it feels as if Samsung could have put a bit more into it. The 8-megapixel camera does a perfectly adequate job of taking photos but they tend to lack definition. Hopefully they will improve on this when the inevitable Note 3 comes out. But this does not detract too much from the Galaxy Note 2’s overall greatness.

If you have been unsure about which phone or tablet is right for you then this breaks new ground, taking the best of both worlds and wrapping it up in a stunning package that exceeds all expectations. Are there flaws? Of course, but nothing major. The obvious one is the size, which can be cumbersome for some and it is admittedly hard to use it one handed, but this is hardly a deal breaker and the capabilities make up for it. The stylus is easily lost so you need to be careful there and the camera is not as good as it could have been but again, these are minor complaints. The only reason you could possibly have for not wanting it is the awkward size and if this is not a problem for you then it will prove to be worth every penny. The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is the ultimate phone and tablet hybrid.

Microsoft Word

The center of the Office for Mac suite, Microsoft Word is no doubt one of the best word processors available. Office for Mac 2011 brings an assortment of new features, including the ability to collaborate with other document authors in real time. Layers can be managed easily, making it simple to create a complex document that uses different visual and text tools. Visual style guides are also on the table, which help streamline the document creation process, giving computer users a simple way to verify that items have been placed in the right location.

The Word interface itself remains largely unchanged from the version of Office for Mac which was released in 2003. Unfortunately, some of those changes would be have quite welcome. The software continues to make changes and modifications in documents in manners that are meant to be “intuitive,” but in fact end up being quite a bother. Ultimately Microsoft Word simply feels clunky and outdated, especially in comparison to what Apple offers users through its proprietary program, Pages. For those who simply cannot live without Microsoft Word, Office for Mac 2011 does the trick. Other users will likely be just as happy, if not more so, with the less expensive options available from Apple.

Microsoft PowerPoint

PowerPoint is perhaps the most influential software ever created for creating slideshow presentations. In fact, many consumers still refer to these slideshows as “powerpoints.” PowerPoint too has been upgraded in Office for Mac 2011, with features like photo retouching and layer management. Microsoft is also supporting cloud-based storage, making it possible for PowerPoint authors to view their content from anywhere. All of these features are enjoyable, helping to make the PowerPoint software feel fresh and ready for the modern user.

Unfortunately, PowerPoint comes with a myriad of challenges. Perhaps the most serious of these problems is that the product simply doesn’t work with some Macbook Pros linked to projection systems. While the problem does not appear to affect every user, there are plenty of Macbook Pro users who have been unable to get the presentation tool to work correctly. In some instances, documents created with PowerPoint on a Macintosh are not able to be viewed on Windows versions of the product, and vice versa. This is a serious complication that can be hard to iron out entirely. Unless users are sold on using PowerPoint, Keynote from Apple is a viable alternative that ultimately feels much less buggy.

Microsoft Excel

Known to spreadsheet users around the globe, Microsoft Excel is a business staple for many home and business users. The version of Excel found within Office for Mac is relatively robust. It too has been spruced up with an assortment of new features, including automation of repetitive tasks, data management tools, and the ability to display groups of data through what is known as “Conditional Formatting.” Excel too, is supported by cloud storage, making it easy for Excel users to share their work with friends and colleagues.

The downside to using Excel on Mac is simply that the program exhibits plenty of bugs when complicated spreadsheets are created. Most users likely won’t encounter these problems, as they don’t tend to manifest until codes become increasingly complex. Nevertheless, this is a problem for those users who would hope to use Excel in the same manner in which it is used on Microsoft computers.

Another major problem that can’t be overlooked is that Excel cannot import many files that were not created on the Mac. For example, if information is received from  a colleague who has created files that use ActiveX on Windows, those spreadsheets are not accessible. Why Microsoft did not create a conversion engine of sorts that would make these documents viewable on Mac is unknown. What it does mean, however, is that users who purchase Excel in order to easily exchange spreadsheets with Windows users will likely find themselves feeling disappointed by the experience.

Microsoft Outlook

For many years, Outlook aficionados have touted the vast benefits of using Microsoft Outlook, instead of the Mail software found on Macintosh machines. As Mail has become more advanced, however, the benefits that Outlook represents have gotten smaller and smaller. This is particularly true for Mac owners who also use an iOS device, such as an iPad or iPod. The ability to easily sync and share information across platforms in Mail means Outlook has an uphill battle if it wants to come out on top.

Ultimately, the question with Outlook is not so much, what is wrong with it, but rather, what can it do that a Mac cannot presently do? For most users, the answer to that question is nothing. Furthermore, it won’t sync with iOS devices. This renders Outlook rather useless for most Mac users.

Office for Mac 2011 is ultimately what most users who purchase it will expect: a version of Office that runs pretty well on Mac machines. There is nothing revolutionary, per se, about the software suite, but for those who simply cannot give up Windows productivity software, Office fits the bill. For most users, the cost of Office for Mac 2011 will be enough to deter them from purchasing it. Not only are Apple’s proprietary solutions, available through iWork, less expensive on the whole, but they are also better equipped to run on the Mac. Furthermore, the inability to work with some documents cross-platform, makes settling on Office for Mac 2011 a tough sell.

Following a mysterious viral campaign, Google’s Niantic Labs has come up with an amazing concept for a game that people will be playing through their mobile devices, but this is no ordinary game, this is Ingress and the entire game takes place in the real world with you as the character. Ingress was released on November 15 and is a highly innovative massively multiplayer map-based mobile online augmented reality game, or MMMMOARG for short, which is free for anyone to play, wherever they may be. Currently available for Android OS, there is an iOS version on the way so Apple customers will soon be able to join in.

The plot of the game deals with a mysterious energy force popping up across the world that could pose a threat to the human race and so you must pick a side and either try to stop it or encourage it. With your allegiance chosen, you head out into the real world to face off against the opposition and take over the world. This is done by linking energy hotspots that your device will identify so you can capture areas on the map. However, the enemy can break through your barrier and claim the area for themselves. This can lead to some interesting social encounters if you happen to bump into an enemy at the same location and you will probably find yourself eyeing up everyone in the vicinity using a phone suspiciously. The game is certainly immersive.

Niantic Labs leader John Hanke, who was also a co-founder of Google Earth creator Keyhole, came up with the game when he had the innovative idea of essentially “draping” the game world over our real world, so that when you walk around it, you are navigating within the game too. The energy hot spots are dotted around landmarks in cities across the globe and the game will utilise the phone’s map to identify them and allow players to check in. Some of these locations will include retailers and brands that Google made deals with in advance of the game going live.

In addition to the main gameplay, players can also build up their in-game strength by walking along designated routes for energy points. This aspect has raised the question of whether the game is doubling as a tool for gathering mapping data from the customers for the next Google Maps release but even if this is the case, it hardly detracts from the enjoyment of the game and players can do everything on their own terms anyway.

This is gaming on an epic scale and to make sure you feel as if it is going somewhere it does have a structured story, which is presented through videos released by Niantic to keep the plot alive. It will take around a year and a half to complete so there is plenty of time to get involved. Ingress is currently available on Google Play and should reach Apple’s App Store in a few months.

From a common user’s point of view, a string that can be read by a human being is an array of characters. But the machine works a bit different, and it stores the text using the internal character set called Unicode. Yet when we are looking at a page with text on it, we may not see clearly understandable text on it. I think everyone has seen at least once a page with some gibberish written on it. This happened because your machine didn’t have a special character converter on it. Lots of operating systems have them ready right from the box, but sometimes even such variants fail because of a rare font. The cause is rather simple – the author of the page may have used a different character set, and as well as a different one may have been used by the font author. In such a case you will see strange symbols and text on the screen.

The general way of processing the text by the machine usually works as follows:

1)      The machine converts data from the given input character set into its internal Unicode set, processes this data in order to show it to you in the right way on the screen, and after that displays it to you the way it should look like.

2)      For this reason a certain character repertoire is used. In fact, this is a set of characters that the system supports. It has two types; closed and open. A closed one means no characters can be added to the repertoire without creating a new standard. An open one means you can add characters to the repertoire (for example, Unicode is an open one).

3)

Usually in Linux systems, character converting was performed by siconv  (a module that enables the machine to operate with different types of codes and transfer these codes into other ones). Today its younger brother is used called iconv. This is a good option for encoding/decoding characters from one set to another.

In fact iconv is just a piece of code that integrates into the system, and after that the system is ready to read fonts and character sets it never could before. Iconv is installed from the box to all up-to-date Linux distributives, and is also available in lots of programming languages. In Windows, it is implemented by Cygwin and GnuWin32 environments.

This is the general principle of all character converting software, but iconv became the most popular among them (for example, uconv is not that popular, since it is very similar to siconv, and its implementation goes from the Ruby programming community).

The wait is over and the iPad Mini has been unveiled to the public. Speculation predicted it a long time ago it is finally official, we now have a miniature version of the iPad but don’t let the size fool you because in this case, less is definitely more. At the launch, those attending had the opportunity to get their hands on the Mini and try it out and it did not disappoint.

As its name suggests, the iPad is noticeably smaller than previous models with a screen measuring just 7.9 inches. It is also thinner, lighter, fits easily into the palm of your hand and is less unwieldy than its predecessors overall. It will be able to fit into a good-sized pocket for easy transportation and consultation and this is a device that really can be taken anywhere without any hassle. Due to its new size it is much easier to type with your thumb as you would on a phone, although touch typing is not so easy on this smaller screen, so if word processing is your aim, it does the job but not as well as the other models.

But for the space given to it, the iPad Mini screen does a lot with what it has. While it does not get to flaunt a Retina Display, it still has a very respectable resolution of 1024×768, the same used by the first two iPads originally. You may be slightly disappointed by the lack of Retina Display here but in its own right it looks great. In fact because of its tighter size the same resolution as the older versions is squeezed down into a more concentrated display and as a result, the screen is very sharp and superior to those models. You could be forgiven for thinking the resolution is higher than it is.

There is a lot going on inside the iPad Mini and Apple has done a great job of fitting as much as they can into its smaller body. The A5 processor will be familiar to users of the iPad 2, as will the dual-core chip. As for storage, customers have the standard options of 16GB, 32GB and 64GB and you are advised to get the highest one your budget will allow because you cannot add to it later on. Additional details include a 5-megapicel iSight camera on the rear, and a 1.2-megapixel FaceTime HD camera on the front, while the Mini utilises the same Lightning connector as the iPhone 5. The iPad Mini may share capabilities with the iPad 2 but it is completely up-to-date and supports iOS6 and all that entails. The battery life is said to last up to 10 hours but this will no doubt vary depending on how you use it.

Being smaller than the current line of iPads, the iPad Mini will cost significantly less, although when compared to other rival tablets of similar size, it is the more expensive one, especially if you opt for more storage space. But considering this is a premium tablet, the price tag does not seem overly demanding and it is still affordable, providing newcomers to Apple an easy way in.

There is no escaping the fact that this is just a smaller iPad but that is not necessarily a bad thing and Apple have reassured us that it is not a reduced iPad, but rather a condensed one, which is a fair enough description considering how powerful it is. By releasing a smaller version, Apple have made it easier for those with smaller budgets to join the iPad revolution but it offers more than a cut-price tablet. It is smaller, more convenient and very useful, while its hardware packs a punch you may not expect from a smaller device. It is very well made and the screen looks great even without Retina Display. Use an app or play a movie on it and you will see how well rendered it is. Great things come in small packages and the iPad Mini is a shining example. This may indeed be the iPad for you.