<H1>BlackBerry Q10 review</h1> <Br> Blackberry<br> 7/10<br> WIRED RATING<br> <br> <br> WIRED Very sharp screen, excellent QWERTY keyboard, solid build quality, good battery life TIRED OS learning curve, not a lot in the BlackBerry World app store, no Google Maps, no bargain PRICE £530 <br><br> Blackberry Once upon a time, BlackBerry distinguished itself by having just about the best physical keyboard you could find on a phone. Nowadays, it's very nearly the only one, as most smartphones eschew them completely in favour of more versatile full-face screens. So is there still a place for BlackBerry's USP? <br> The BlackBerry Q10 is on sale now for around £530.  <br> Design and features<br> Following on the heels of the full-screen Z10 with its revamped BlackBerry 10 operating system, the Q10 sees a return to more traditional BlackBerry styling, with Qwerty keyboard beneath the touchscreen, while on the sides are a volume rocker, microUSB and micro HDMI ports, plus a 3.5mm headphone jack and power/sleep button on top (no convenience key though). <br><br> So far, so BlackBerry. But there are differences: the optical trackpad has gone and navigation is now totally reliant on the touchscreen with additional swiping options provided by BB10 (actually 10.1 in this case, an evolution of the OS we first saw on the Z10). <br> Swiping from right to left allows you to scroll through the various home pages of course. But sliding down from the top offers settings or notifications and sliding up from the bottom takes you out of the application you're in and gives you an overview of other open applications. <br> Other innovations include the Universal Search function. This is incredibly easy to access -- just start typing from the home screen and you're in, with the ability to search files, messages, contacts, settings, BBM, Twitter, Facebook and help. <br> Swiping to the right from the home page brings you to Type and Go -- start typing a message and then you can decide whether to send a text, email, BBM, Facebook, Twitter or even LinkedIn message. It's a very neat system and helps make the BlackBerry a rather excellent communicator, once you've climbed the learning curve to get used to its ways. <br> For business users, there's also BlackBerry Balance, which offers a choice of two completely separate interfaces for home and for work -- data held within each interface is inaccessible from the other, which adds an extra level of security. <br><br> Keyboard<br> And so to the keyboard. Many have abandoned reliance on hard-button Qwerty keyboards in favour of advanced touchscreen versions. But for high-speed, reliable typing there's nothing quite like it and BlackBerry has done well not to fix one of the few things about its technology that's never been broken by rivals' innovations. <br> There's a confidence to typing on a keyboard with hard keys that inevitably leads to fewer mistakes, and as ever, the angled BlackBerry keys feel just right under the thumbs and offer just the right amount of feedback. <br> The permanent shortcuts are handy -- backspace to delete a message, or "W" to flag a message, arguably saves a little time and effort than pressing and holding or swiping. Auto-correction and word prediction are very good overall too, with suggested words appearing at the bottom of the screen as you type -- you just tap on one when you're ready. All in all, it's a great device for sending messages. <br> The 3.1-inch Super Amoled touchscreen offers a resolution of 720x720 pixels, which may not sound that great, but it breaks down to 320 pixels per inch, which puts it ever so slightly ahead of the iPhone 5's Retina display. It's small, but beautiful, with deep blacks, rich contrast and vivid colours, not to mention super sharp detail, especially with small print. <br> The browser works surprisingly well on the half-size screen too. It feels like it ought to be the wrong shape for browsing, but it generally displays well and the Reader mode (get it from the menu, or simply press "R") resizes pages to make them more like an ebook, which occasionally comes in handy. <br><br> Blackberry Performance and apps<br> It's fast too. The 1.5GHz dual-core processor is backed by a full 2GB RAM and there was no discernable lag when flitting between apps. There's 16GB of memory on board and you can boost that by a further 32GB with a microSD card, which you'll need to remove the battery to insert. <br><br> The eight-megapixel camera comes with a large F2.2 lens and a dedicated ISP (image signal processor). There aren't many settings to fiddle with, but it has HDR, geotagging, face detection and the option to switch aspect ratio between 1:1, 4:3 and 16:9, so you aren't stuck with the square ratio that the screen suggests. <br><br> Picture quality is pretty good, with a decent level of detail and accurate colours, though they can quickly look a little washed out if you aren't careful with your light. It can handle 1,080p full HD video recording and there's also a 2-megapixel camera on the front for video calls. It can shoot 720p HD video and unusually, comes with a 3x digital zoom. <br> NFC's on board for mobile payments or use with Smart Tags, though bizarrely it doesn't support wireless charging, and there's 4G futureproofing, though of course you won't feel on the online speed benefit unless you're on EE. <br> The BlackBerry World app store is way behind its Apple and Android rivals (BB claims 100,000, though they're of very variable quality, and why would you want to pay for Angry Birds?), though many of the essentials are here, either natively, or ported from Android. Facebook and Twitter seem likely candidates as ported apps and work perfectly well, but there is a danger that not all apps will be ported as successfully as the originals on Google Play or Apple's App Store. <br> The battery held up very well indeed, delivering two full days of fairly heavy use, which puts it ahead of most smartphones in its class. <br><br> Conclusion BlackBerry may be in trouble, but it's not going out without a fight. Its USPs may have been largely eroded by its rivals, but it still offers additional security options for business users, and the BB10 OS is smoother and more efficient than its predecessor, helped by strong battery life and a speedy processor. Lack of apps in BlackBerry World is a shame, but its messaging and networking capabilities are strong, and if you feel the need for a hard keyboard, there's really only one to get excited about. <br><br> SPECIFICATIONS<br> Software<br> BlackBerry 10.1 <br><br> Processor<br> Dual-core 1.5GHz <br><br> Memory slot<br> Yes <br><br> Display<br> 3.1in touchscreen 720x720 pixels <br><br> Connectivity<br> Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 <br><br> Ports<br> microUSB, 3.5mm headphone jack, microHDMI <br><br> Camera<br> 8 megapixel camera with auto focus, LEDflash; 2 megapixel front-facing camera <br><br> Video playback<br> 3GP, 3GP2, M4A,M4V, MOV, MP4, MKV, MPEG-4, AVI, ASF, WMV <br><br> Audio playback<br> WMA, MP3, MKA, AAC, AMR, F4V,WAV, MP2PS, MP2TS, AWB, OGG, FLAC <br><br> Radio<br> No <br><br> Battery<br> 2,100mAh <br><br> Size<br> 120x67x10mm <br><br> Weight 139g<br> <A href ="http://www.wired.co.uk/reviews/mobile-phones/2013-05/blackberry-q10">Picture</a><br> Follow me on twitter <a href ="http://www.twitter.com/@maryann3n">@maryann3n</a>

BlackBerry Q10 review Blackberry 7/10 WIRED RATING WIRED Very sharp screen, excellent QWERTY keyboard, solid build quality...

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<H1>Things That Happen When You Grow-up In A Nigerian House </h1> <Br> 1. Your parents are basically demi-gods. It doesn’t matter if you learned that the sky is blue. If your parents say the sky is orange, the sky is in fact, orange. At least, in their presence. <Br> 2. Your parents will seldom ever admit they are wrong. And if and when they do, you will be too stunned to even believe it. <Br> 3. Your grandparents are the only people who can put your parents in their place. (And you will enjoy those moments.) <Br> 4. Your house is a free for all. At some point a relative, twice-removed, will be invited to stay for an extended-period of time. <Br> 5. You will likely be raised the old-fashioned way -“you spare the rod, you spoil the child” kind of old-fashioned way. In your adulthood, you’ll largely be grateful for it and you’ll always be able to tell the difference between people who were raised the same way and people who were not. <Br> 6. God help you if you’re living under your parent’s roof and you yell at them, slam a door in anger, and/or curse in their presence. Yeah, God help you. <Br> 7. The youngest child will be blamed for everything….until he or she is able to talk. <Br> 8. The oldest child will be blamed for everything that the younger children do. <Br> 9. If you cry while being accused of something, it is assumed that you are guilty. <Br> 10. Your parents will call you from upstairs, downstairs, outside, etc., to hand them something that is literally 10 centimeters away from them. <Br> 11. You will not leave your parents’ home without learning how to cook. <Br> 12. Religious attendance and practice is not an option. <Br> 13. Everyone who is older than you is your “auntie” or “uncle.” Calling them by their first name is basically a crime against humanity. <Br> 14. You will probably never meet all of your extended family because there are just so many of them. <Br> 15. This one specifically applies to most Nigerians (although I have to hand it to papa and mama Biakolo for not putting this kind of pressure on us): Doing well in school is not an option and by doing well, parents have expectations that you will be the best at everything. Example: If you get a 98%, they might ask, “What happened to the other 2%?” If you get a B, your parents will likely ask, “The person who got an A, do they have three heads?” Just do well in school. <Br> 16. Your friends better greet your parents first when they see them or that friendship is pretty much over. R-E-S-P-E-C-T is H-U-G-E. <Br> 17. Sleepovers at friends’ houses are mythical tales or basically only happen when your parents have known the family’s family since the beginning of time. <Br> 18. Another mythical tale – being in a serious relationship with anyone when you’re in your teens. And until your parents believe you are of, “courtship age,” they will refer to anyone you are dating as, “your friend.” <Br> 19. You will still be expected to have a traditional engagement/marriage regardless of where the person you’re marrying is from. (Have fun explaining the details of that to all your significant others!) <Br> 20. Your parents will talk to you in a lot of proverbs and metaphors. For example, when I was 12, I spent half a day trying to figure out what my dad meant when he said, “When I talk to you and advise you, do I talk with water in my mouth?” I eventually got it. <Br> 21. You will have maybe 3 conversations about sex with your parents – one when puberty starts to take its course, the second one when you start secondary school Biology, and the third one when you are about to leave home. The will all surprisingly sound like the Mean Girl’s quote, “Don’t Be Intimate because you will get pregnant and die!” followed by “Do not bring shame to this family!” Got it parents, I can’t start dating until I’m married and I can’t Be Intimate until after I’ve had children. <Br> 22. Your siblings will be the first people to bully the crap out of you. Later on, you’ll realize that they were preparing you for a big bad world out there. <Br> 23. If your entire full name is being called, and your native language is also being spoken, the day shall not pass without tears. <Br> 24. Soda in the fridge? Either your parents were in a REALLY good mood or there are visitors coming over. <Br> 25. Surprisingly, alcohol is a hit or miss with African parents. It depends on the set that you get. My dad drinks, my mum doesn’t (at all). I got to choose. I chose my dad’s viewpoint. <Br> 26. You won’t realize how incredibly hilarious and somewhat bizarre your upbringing was until you reach adulthood. And you’ll burst out into tears of laughter when you’re sitting next to an African woman who is telling her child who probably just got a B, “So the person who got an A, do they have three heads?” Hang in there kid, they secretly boast that they have the best children ever, just not to your face.<Br> Follow me on twitter <a href ="http://www.twitter.com/@maryann3n">@maryann3n</a>

Things That Happen When You Grow-up In A Nigerian House 1. Your parents are basically demi-gods. It doesn’t matter if you learned that the...

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<H1>Motorola's tattoos could replace passwords</h1><br> 'Biostamps' made by IC10 feature bendable circuitry that can stretch up to double its original size <br> Motorola’s forthcoming phones could use electronic tattoos or pills to identify users, it has been announced. <br> The technology, which aims to remove the need to enter passwords and replace them simply with a phone being close to a user’s body, was one of the suggestions Dennis Woodside, Motorola’s chief executive, California's D11 conference yesterday. <br> The tattoos have been developed by Massachusetts-based engineering firm MC10, and contain flexible electronic circuits that are attached to the wearer's skin using a rubber stamp. <br><br> Nokia has previously experimented with integrating tattoos into mobile phones, and Motorola's senior vice president of advance research, Regina Dugan, a former head of the US Pentagon's Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, demonstrated the silicon-based technology that uses bendable electronic circuits. Initially designed for medical purposes, Motorola hopes the ‘Biostamps’ could now be used for consumer authentication purposes. <br> Motorola is also investigating the Proteus Digital Health pill, which has already been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and was given European regulatory approval in 2010. Its computer chip is powered by a battery using the acid in a user’s stomach. <br> The pill creates a unique signal like an ECG trace that can be picked up by devices outside the body and which could be used to verify a user’s identity. It can be taken daily for up to a month, it has been claimed. <br><br> Woodside admitted that such experimental ideas were not going to be on sale soon. But he claimed Motorola had “tested it authenticating a phone, and it works.' <br> The former Google employee, however, who was parachuted in to Motorola after its $12.5billion acquisition in 2011, said “Having the boldness to think differently about problems that everybody has every day is really important for Motorola now.'” <br> Dugan added “Authentication is irritating. In fact its so irritating only about half the people do it, despite the fact there is a lot of information about you on your smartphone, which makes you far more prone to identity theft.” <br> She said authentication takes 2.3 seconds each time for existing users, some of whom log in to their phones a 100 times a day and added Motorola would not be put off by those who felt that the new technologies were “creepy”. <br> Meanwhile, the Moto X phone, which will launch in October, will be struggling Motorola's first device to go on sale sinces its acquisition. It will know what you want to do before you do but cost significantly less than an iPhone, Motorola has claimed. <br> The phone, which is to largely be manufactured in America, will also use advanced sensors to anticipate user behaviour, Woodside said. <br> Without offering further details, he said the Moto X would change the way users “engage with how the devices are designed”, and that the “broadly distributed” phone would provide “experiences [that] are unlike other experiences out there.” <br> The device will also be an attempt to drive down prices of smartphones, and Woodside said the flagship device would compete with both top Android devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One as well as the iPhone, which is expected to be updated later this year. <br> Woodside said the Moto X “is more contextually aware of what’s going on around it. It allows you to interact with it more than other devices today. It anticipates my need”. <br> The device, which is likely to build on the features in Google’s ‘Now’ search product, will aim to predict what a user wants to do so that they do not waste time choosing it manually. Examples include automatically sensing a device is travelling at speed along a road and suggesting entering ‘car mode’ or making it faster to open the camera application. <br> Woodside added that Google wanted to sell the device at lower margins than companies such as Apple have become used to. Although he did not aim the iPhone specifically, he told the D11 conference, “Those products earn 50 per cent margins. We don’t necessarily have those constraints. Those [margins] will not persist.” He said that while computers and televisions had seen dramatic price drops in recent years, smartphones had yet to see such falls. <A href = "http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02577/tattbest_2577741e.jpg"> View Picture</a><br> Follow me on twitter <a href ="http://www.twitter.com/@maryann3n"> @maryann3n</a>

Motorola's tattoos could replace passwords 'Biostamps' made by IC10 feature bendable circuitry that can stretch up to double i...

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<H1>Nigeria one step away from banning gay marriage</h1> <Br> President yet to sign bill that would jail same-sex couples for up to 14 years amid pressure from UK and US over foreign aid <Br> Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's president, must now decide whether to sign homophobia into law in his country. <Br> Nigeria has passed a bill banning gay marriage, outlawing organisations supporting gay rights and setting prison terms of up to 14 years for offenders. <Br> The bill, passed by Nigeria's House of Representatives will now go to the president, Goodluck Jonathan, to be signed into law. Whether he will approve it remains unclear, as both the US and the UK said the move could jeopardise foreign funding for Aids and HIV outreach programs. <Br> Nigeria's Senate passed the bill in November 2011, but it did not emerge in the house until Thursday. Under previous versions of the bill, couples who marry could face up to 14 years each in prison. Witnesses or anyone who helps couples marry could be jailed for 10 years. <Br> The bill also makes it illegal to register gay clubs or organisations criminalises the "public show of same-sex amorous relationships directly or indirectly". Those who violate these aspects would face 10 years in jail. <Br> While the house's version of the bill appeared to be similar, a copy of the version that was passed was not immediately available. If there are differences between the house and Senate versions, a joint committee will be set up to iron out these discrepancies before sending it to the president. <Br> Gay sex has been banned in Nigeria since colonial rule by the British. Gay people face open discrimination and abuse in a country divided by Christians and Muslims who near-uniformly oppose homosexuality. Many other African countries have made homosexuality punishable by jail sentences. <Br> Nigeria's proposed law has drawn the interest of EU countries, some of which already offer Nigeria's sexual minorities asylum based on gender identity. The British government recently threatened to cut aid to African countries that violate the rights of gay and lesbian citizens. However, British aid remains quite small in oil-rich Nigeria, one of the top crude suppliers to the US. <Br> The measure could affect HIV and Aids outreach programs funding by USAid, an arm of the US government. Nigeria has the world's third-largest population of people living with HIV and Aids.<Br> Follow me on twitter <a href ="http://www.twitter.com/@maryann3n">@maryann3n</a>

Nigeria one step away from banning gay marriage President yet to sign bill that would jail same-sex couples for up to 14 years amid pressu...

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