Tech Junky

Samsung has outed an official teaser of it’s upcoming Galaxy phone, most probably the S-III.

Whilst you may desire the convenience of a Facebook program for chatting, it’s not always desirable to install a software application on your computer. Particularly, when using older computers, installing additional software is likely to slow them down. Indeed, having an application that you rarely use installed on your computer running at start up may cause more grief than solution.

Alternatively, you could for example, find yourself at an internet cafe or be on a work computer where you are unable to install software applications.

Enter Athena IT Limited. Makers of Facebook chatting programs for Windows, Blackberry and iPhone, their latest manifestation of Facebook chat software is Chit Chat for Facebook (web).

Chit Chat for Facebook (web) is a portable Facebook chat program for your web-browser. Compatible with Safari, Opera, Firefox and Chrome – as well as a variety of other web-browsers. Chit Chat for Facebook can now be used on your Linux, Mac or Tablet computer – in addition to Windows – with this web based solution.

You will probably be aware that Facebook already allows Facebook chat instant messaging through Facebook.com. In fact, recently, Facebook integrated it’s Facebook chat and Facebook messaging system such that they are now the same – a message sent via Facebook chat can be received using Facebook messages and vice versa. As such, in order for Chit Chat (web) to be useful it needs to offer benefits over and above Facebook.com.

Why Use Chit Chat (Web) Over Facebook.com For Facebook Chat?

In short, Chit Chat provides a plethora of benefits over Facebook.com when using it for your Facebook messaging.

For example:

• Attractive Interface - Chit Chat provides a much more stylish interface with which you can engage in Facebook chatting, handy if you spend a long time instant messaging.
• Insert Emoticons – At a click of a button, you can select the emoticon(s) that you wish to insert into your online Facebook chat messages. No need to remember (or lookup) Facebook’s emoticon short codes!
• Text Formatting – Format your instant messages like you would in Microsoft Word, or your email. Select text to make it bold or italic.
• Speech Bubble Messaging – Your instant messages are easier to read with Chit Chat with the use of speech bubbles.
• Searchable Buddy List – Find your friends quickly and easily in the buddy list by searching for their names.
• Contacts Grouped – Your friends are automatically grouped by user groups.
• Status Alerts - Lets you know when your friends login or out, as well as when you’ve received messages from your Facebook buddies.

Check out the Chit Chat Facebook web messenger now.  I’m sure you’ll agree with me, it’s pretty darn good.

The  MoneySupermarket.com car insurance comparison app is finally here and while it is not available in the US for the time being, it is worth checking to see whether its merits will eventually be beneficial to the American market.

The app itself is available for iOS and Android devices, which include the iPhone, iPad and an array of Google-powered smartphones and tablets.

It will cost you nothing to download and will also be free to use, provided you either have a data plan built into your mobile tariff or access to a Wi-Fi hotspot for comparison purposes.

Those in the UK can save an average of £374.93 by using MoneySupermarket’s car insurance price comparison tools. The app gives full access to quotes from more than 100 different companies so that the best possible price rises to the surface.

Any app, no matter how useful it might potentially be, will live or die by the accessibility of its interface.

Thankfully, the MoneySupermarket app is well designed on any platform and has been specifically adapted to suit the style of interface typically found on Android and iOS smartphones.

First time users will be required to create an account via the application, which takes a few minutes and will require a decent dose of personal information to make sure that quotes are accurate.

However, once this registration has been completed once, there is no need to repeat the process as the app stores your data so that it can be used again and again to compare prices without the form filling.

If you have the app installed on a compatible smartphone, it will be able to give you a direct line of contact to the various insurance companies once the quotes have been sourced using MoneySupermarket’s powerful comparison engine.

This will let you quickly tap on quotes that suit your budget and cover requirements, subsequently giving you the option to call the insurer and discuss the opportunities that they are offering.

Each of the quotes listed will also note whether or not the deal includes bonus features like free windscreen cover and the option to drive a courtesy car while yours is being repaired.

This comprehensive yet entirely uncomplicated approach to app-based price comparison is certain to catch on amongst those who are tired of paying over the odds for their annual cover in the UK.

MoneySupermarket is apparently in the process of not only porting the app to other mobile platforms, but also introducing similar features to customers who live in the US and further afield.

Hopefully the success of the app in the UK will encourage it to speed up the transatlantic translation process and put the app on the Android Market and App Store stateside as soon as possible.

The Prada III, being LG and Prada’s latest offering is their first attempt at an Android device. The device has a 4.3-inch NOVA Plus display, a dual-core processor and an 8-megapixel camera.  The Prada Phone 3.0 runs Android 2.3.7, with LG faithfully promising a jump to Ice Cream Sandwich in the future.  The WVGA (800 x 480) resolution display is a bit disappointing.

The device will set you back by £500 ($787).

Read the full review.

How about keeping the boring data and spreadsheet combination aside and doing something fun? I say let’s make a dice, cool? Don’t believe me? Check out this file. Keep pressing the F9 key once you’ve opened it. Magic!

Well it’s no magic, it’s fairly simple and is pure logic. I’m assuming you have some basic knowledge about Microsoft Excel and even if you don’t, no worries, I’ll teach you everything you need to know.

Read the rest of this entry »