The Live Indian Entertainment Blog

"From December 21st thru December 27th, travelers passing through or delayed in over 50 airports across the country will be able to access third-party hotspots using Skype WiFi and connect with loved ones via a Skype video or voice call for free," the voice-over IP service wrote in an official blog post.

Skype, which is owned by Microsoft, is not the first to offer this kind of holiday deal. Nintendo has also partnered with Boingo, the country's leading WiFi hotspot provider, to give free online access to 3DS owners during the busy travel season.

And last year, the nascent Gogo in-flight WiFi service was available for free, thanks to a promotion from Google.

The number of people traveling by plane for the holidays this year is expected to rise over last year, and anything that can make those travelers more comfortable - therefore less irritable when they step onto the plane - is a definite positive.

"The holidays are all about connecting with those you love. Skype is excited to help you maintain these meaningful connections wherever you may be this holiday season," said Skype. How festive.

"From December 21st thru December 27th, travelers passing through or delayed in over 50 airports across the country will be able to access third-party hotspots using Skype WiFi and connect with loved ones via a Skype video or voice call for free," the voice-over IP service wrote in an official blog post.

Skype, which is owned by Microsoft, is not the first to offer this kind of holiday deal. Nintendo has also partnered with Boingo, the country's leading WiFi hotspot provider, to give free online access to 3DS owners during the busy travel season.

And last year, the nascent Gogo in-flight WiFi service was available for free, thanks to a promotion from Google.

The number of people traveling by plane for the holidays this year is expected to rise over last year, and anything that can make those travelers more comfortable - therefore less irritable when they step onto the plane - is a definite positive.

"The holidays are all about connecting with those you love. Skype is excited to help you maintain these meaningful connections wherever you may be this holiday season," said Skype. How festive.

"From December 21st thru December 27th, travelers passing through or delayed in over 50 airports across the country will be able to access third-party hotspots using Skype WiFi and connect with loved ones via a Skype video or voice call for free," the voice-over IP service wrote in an official blog post.

Skype, which is owned by Microsoft, is not the first to offer this kind of holiday deal. Nintendo has also partnered with Boingo, the country's leading WiFi hotspot provider, to give free online access to 3DS owners during the busy travel season.

And last year, the nascent Gogo in-flight WiFi service was available for free, thanks to a promotion from Google.

The number of people traveling by plane for the holidays this year is expected to rise over last year, and anything that can make those travelers more comfortable - therefore less irritable when they step onto the plane - is a definite positive.

"The holidays are all about connecting with those you love. Skype is excited to help you maintain these meaningful connections wherever you may be this holiday season," said Skype. How festive.

Amazon.com has promised to make a paid app free every day in the Amazon Appstore, and today's app is wp clock full.

wp clock full is called wp clock donation and is priced at $1.11 in the Android Market. Meanwhile, it is normally priced at $0.99 in the Amazon Appstore. As we noted previously, prices sometimes differ between the two stores.

wp clock full is described as follows:

Your wallpaper can look good and still be useful. Display the day, date, time, WiFi service set identifier, and battery status boldly across a background of your choice. Get what you need at a glance and like what you see.

Love the Way It Looks

Using the sliding color scales, create the precise font color you desire. Add an outline for additional flair, and choose its color, opacity, and thickness. An endless array of background choices enhance the personalized and polished finish of the wallpaper. Select or create a color using the apps sliding color scale, or use any background image from your device or the Internet. Play a slideshow of images from a selected directory for a varying duration- -yep, you can pick that too.

Appreciate Its Purpose

Conveniently display what you want, how you want. Down to the details, wp clock full offers a variety of ways to personalize the format. It supports both 12- and 24-hour clock modes. Using checkboxes or dropdown menus, determine what to include on your screen, including clock position, time format, battery status, operator name, and more. It's a simple app, offering useful information in an aesthetically pleasing package.

wp clock full has a 4.4-star rating in the Android Market and a 4.0-star rating in the Amazon Appstore. It's rather cool, a wallpaper that's a clock, but remember that live wallpaper tends to reduce battery life.

Those who are considering "buying" a Free Amazon Appstore app might want to consider what it means to developers.

Amazon.com opened up the Appstore despite a lawsuit by Apple, which has previously trademarked the term "App Store." Microsoft has filed an appeal against that trademark, saying the term is too generic. Amazon.com has responded to the lawsuit in the same manner.

Amazon.com has promised to make a paid app free every day in the Amazon Appstore, and today's app is WiFi File Explorer PRO.

WiFi File Explorer PRO is priced at $1.61 in the Android Market. Meanwhile, it is normally priced at $1.49 in the Amazon Appstore. As we noted previously, prices sometimes differ between the two stores.

WiFi File Explorer PRO is described as follows:

If you've ever needed to access a file from your phone (a photo, for example, or a song you like) but don't have a cable to connect the phone to a computer, WiFi File Explorer PRO can make it happen. This Android app allows you to browse, download, and stream information--as well as manage your files--from your phone directly to a computer using a Wi-Fi connection and password-protected Web browser.

Untether Yourself

Setup for WiFi File Explorer PRO is simple and easy. When you open the app, it automatically detects nearby Wi-Fi networks and supplies you with a URL address to enter into the Web browser of your computer. You'll also be prompted to enter a password (which you will create when you first begin using the app).

Once your phone is connected to the Wi-Fi network, it's easy to go to the computer (which must also be connected to the network) and access the Web address. You'll find that your phone's files are there to be browsed, downloaded, or even streamed whenever you wish.

In this PRO version, you can also upload, sync, delete, copy, and zip or unzip all the files on your Android phone and computer, which makes it a great overall file manager.

A free version of this app, simply called WiFi File Explorer, is available as well. It offers similar but less robust features.

"I wholeheartedly recommend going the wireless route with WiFi File Explorer!" - Paul Jickling, PC World

WiFi File Explorer PRO has a 4.5-star rating in the Android Market and a 4.0-star rating in the Amazon Appstore.

Those who are considering "buying" a Free Amazon Appstore app should consider what it means to developers.

Amazon.com opened up the Appstore despite a lawsuit by Apple, which has previously trademarked the term "App Store." Microsoft has filed an appeal against that trademark, saying the term is too generic. Amazon.com has responded to the lawsuit in the same manner.

Amazon.com has promised to make a paid app free every day in the Amazon Appstore, and today's app is Fieldrunners HD (WiFi Download Only).

Fieldrunners HD (WiFi Download Only) is currently exclusive, for two weeks, in the Android Market. Meanwhile, it is normally priced at $2.99 in the Amazon Appstore. As we noted previously, prices sometimes differ between the two stores.

Fieldrunners HD (WiFi Download Only) is described as follows:

Armed and animated, a motley crew is bound and determined to infiltrate your base. Control the field in FieldrunnersHD, a tower defense game adapted for your Android device. Blowing up little helmeted soldiers, helicopters, and big, muscle-headed buffoons has never been so visually stunning--because now you can annihilate them in hi-definition graphics. HOO-rah!

Creatively Construct Your Defenses
Choose from seven towers, each with its own special weaponry, and unleash a medley of destruction. You'll start small, maybe with the Gatling Tower, and work your way up to the Mortar Tower, delivering ultimate destructive powers via the nuke.

With a bird's-eye view of your field, strategically place your towers where you believe they'll be most effective. Drag and drop them from the menu to your field. Replace a tower by tapping it and then selling it for cash.

Earn more points and more cash by preventing enemies from crossing the grassy field and infiltrating your base. Lose a life for each fieldrunner that penetrates your defenses.

Demolish Countless Waves of Combatants
Master a wide array of tactics and strategies to help stand victorious against countless waves of unique land and air combatants. With over 400 levels across four unique battlefields, there's always a Fieldrunner to slay, level to unlock, or achievement to earn.

Three modes of gameplay will satiate your tower defense desires. Start with Classic-- offered in Easy, Medium, or Hard. Two additional modes, Extended and Endless, can only be unlocked by beating Classic.

Hi-Def Graphics Make Destruction More Fun
Stunning graphics, sound effects, and background music enhance the already-addictive gameplay. The enemy maintains an undaunting and tenacious character, grunting and collapsing with each blow. It's just graphic enough to be amusing, but not gruesome enough to feel like you need a therapist.

See if you've got what it takes to defeat the Fieldrunners and rise to the top as the ultimate tower defense champion.

Note: FieldrunnersHD requires a phone running OS 2.2 or above, and is not compatible with tablets.

Fieldrunners HD (WiFi Download Only) has a 4-star rating in the Amazon Appstore.  The comment about tablets probably refers to Honeycomb-based (Android 3.x) tablets, but it's unclear if it also refers to tablets running 2.2 or 2.3 such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Amazon.com opened up the Appstore despite a lawsuit by Apple, which has previously trademarked the term "App Store." Microsoft has filed an appeal against that trademark, saying the term is too generic. Amazon.com has responded to the lawsuit in the same manner.

If you remember the big to-do over the "location tracking" file found in iOS, which eventually had to be fixed in an iOS update, you'd think everyone was very, very concerned about privacy. Not, apparently, these (over) 1,000 people, who joined a study that lets just about everything they do on their Android phones be tracked.

The Device Analyzer study is being run by Daniel Wagner, a PhD student at Cambridge University Computer Laboratory.

To participate in the research, users install Device Analyzer from the Android Market onto their phones. The application collects usage data in the background. Personal identifiable data is stripped from the data, the remaining data is uploaded periodicially to a server at Cambridge University in the U.K., where is it aggregated with the data of others and analyzed.

A partial list of the data collected includes:

• when an end user turns on or charges his phone
• when an end user make phone calls and send texts
• apps used
• wifi and bluetooth devices near the phone
• coarse (network-based location), which is pretty much the type of location data that Apple was collecting, and which started the bruhaha over iOS

Researchers will also collect some information about system apps and Android Market apps installed. They will not collect any information for sideloaded apps (such as installed via SD card or via the Amazon Appstore. Full details on data collection are available here.

Here is what the researchers said about the project:

Perhaps surprisingly, it is not well understood what people do with their smart phones. Which of the many features do you use? And how often? Do you often miss calls? How many text messages do you send? Mobile phone carriers know your calling patterns but often don’t make them available to manufacturers. They in turn conduct interviews and surveys to see what people like about their phones and what they use them for, but these are always limited to a relatively small group of people.

Device Analyzer performs rigorous, automatic collection. It doesn’t get tired after a week of recording what you have done and can provide a large and detailed data set covering a broad audience. We will use this data set to make recommendations for the improvement of future smart phones, extract patterns and trends and will let you benefit from our insights with cool new statistics and recommendations based on what other people do.

With your permission, we would like to share your data set with other researchers worldwide so that they can get even more from it! If you don’t want that you can just let us know with a single click and your data will only be used within the University of Cambridge.

Users can opt-out of the study at any time, with their data then deleted from the University’s servers. It's also possible to "pause" data collection for a time.

According to the University, usage of the app is rising daily. In addition to contributing to the research, participants will be able to download and analyze their own data, as well.

Sony Ericsson Satio, previously known as the Idou, has been announced as a concept device during Mobile World Congress 2009. At the time, the mere idea of introducing a 12MP camera in a smartphone was baffling, and it received a lot of praise from the general public, although many were wondering whether or not the Idou will see the light of day as a production device.

Well, the Idou eventually became the Satio, and is now almost ready to roll through the markets. With S60 5th Edition on board, a ton of UI improvements introduced by Sony Ericsson’s knowledge and past experience from UIQ, a heart-throbbing 12 MegaPixel camera, GPS, WiFi, accelerometer, the Satio is definitely a great contender to the hottest/geekiest/most capable smartphone of the year award.

While we earlier said that there is really not much of a reason for iPad 1 users to update to iPad 2s, as the iPad 2 was more of an incremental update to Apple's tablet device. That said, plenty of end users have re-sold their devices to sites such as Gazelle, and Gazelle has opened up a standalone web store, to take advantage of that.

The Web store opened on Monday, and Gazelle says it's a pilot program. The iPads are, Gazelle says, in "superb cosmetic condition." That means no scratches on the screens, and minimal wear on the cases from "normal handling," meaning light scratches. Each of these iPads comes with all the original accessories, including the original box. As first generation models, the 3G models use AT&T service (iPad 2s can either have AT&T or Verizon service).

Interestingly, while Apple adds a $130 premium to 3G-enabled iPads (both 1 and 2 models), Gazelle isn't doing so. Pricing is as follows:

• Apple iPad 16GB WiFi - $329.99
• Apple iPad 16GB WiFI + 3G - $379.99

• Apple iPad 32GB WiFi - $399.99
• Apple iPad 32GB WiFi + 3G - $419.99

• Apple iPad 64GB WiFi - $419.99
• Apple iPad 64GB WiFi + 3G - $479.99

These prices are a significant savings over the iPad 2 at the same data tiers, but the first generation iPad has a slower processor, and no forward-facing camera, as well as being heavier and more sizable.

If, however, an end user is able to live with the differences (we believe the iPad 3 will be a much improved model, with possibly a doubling of screen resolution to 2048 x 1536), these could be a great bargain.

Gazelle also has an eBay store, which it uses, as well. In a press release announcing the new store, Gazelle said, "Through the pilot, the company hopes to better understand consumer demand for buying high-quality used electronics and develop customer feedback it would use to define a future solution."

BenQ which means Bringing Enjoyment and Quality to life ,has come out with new mobile innovative design ,BenQ Android tab-R100 in China .BenQ is multi-national company that sells and markets consumer electronics, computing and communications devices.This mobile BenQ R100 has 10.1-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels and is based on a 833MHz ARM processor,contains an internal memory of 8 GB with SD slot that supports cards up to 16GB, a mini-port USB and mini-HDMI and 802.11 b / g / n WiFi, Bluetooth.The battery has a capacity of up to 12 hours.the touch screen allows users to take handwritten notes in pen.The tablet is sold at 3100 yuan (about 470 U.S. dollars).