Toshiba launches 32GB flash for PMPs and Phones

Cellphones, PMPs and other compact portable devices may soon be slimming down even further, as Toshiba announce their latest 32GB flash module. Consisting of eight 4GB NAND chips, the clever part is all in the sizing: through using 43nm manufacturing processes this new chip takes up just half of the space its predecessor requires.

Not only that, but Toshiba have added a new memory controller - responsible for data traffic management - that makes the chipset backward compatible with previous generation hardware. That means shorter development times, as OEMs aren't required to redesign to take advantage of the memory.

Although Toshiba - like many suppliers - will not confirm which manufacturers use its memory chips, they are known to have a working relationship with Apple. There's a fair chance the new 32GB chip could appear in a larger-capacity iPhone at some point in the future, with it doubling up to permit a 64GB iPod Touch no bigger than the existing 32GB model.

Toshiba will begin releasing the memory to suppliers in September, with bulk production this Fall. Expect commercially-available products in the following quarter.

New Software Review Blog

Considering the large number of Software available for reviewing, I have decided to branch out the software review section as a separate blog. This blog is available at:

http://softreview.co.cc/

So, check it out, and subscribe to it's RSS feeds to get info about various kinds of software.

Software Reviews of major sites would still be available on this blog. So, stay tuned.

Flock Browser - The Social Web Browser

Most users have hardly heard about this browser. But, believe it or not, the community of this browser is quiet big and active. Basically, it is an Open Source browser branched out from the most popular open source browser "Mozilla Firefox". This means that, Flock directly posses all the abilities of Firefox. Most of the extensions of Firefox are compatible with Flock. Any specific page written to support "Only Firefox" will work in Flock. In short, it can do all that Firefox can do.

Why Flock when it is a copy of Firefox?

Flock can be considered to be FireFox on steroids. To a newbie, the interface and options would appear to be a copy of Firefox. But, a few extra buttons are visible. The real power reside behind these buttons.

Social Networking is the hot stuff on the net right now. Blogs, Social Communities, Videos, etc. Flock is a "Social Browser". This means, it has been made from "ground up" to support many popular social networking sites and make social networking much easier.

At the time of writing this Blog, the Version 2 Beta 2 of this browser supports Digg, Facebook, Flickr, Pownce, Twitter, YouTube, Photobucket, Picasa, Piczo, Blogger, Blogsome, LiveJournal, Typepad, Wordpress, Xanga, Self-Hosted Blog, del.ico.us, Magnolia, AOL Mail, GMail, and Yahoo! Mail. Now that is a huge list.

Making Blogging Easier

Are you into blogging? If yes, Flock is the browser for you. It is the only browser with in-build Blog Editor. The blog editor is pretty much perfect, with option to insert pictures, edit tags and edit HTML. You can post directly to most of the popular Blog services from within the editor. It also comes with a Preview pane to see a Preview of your Blog.

The picture uploader module is integrated into the Blog Editor window. So, if you paste a picture or if you paste a picture file, the file will be uploaded to a Picture Sharing Site (Picasa, Photobucket or Piczo) and the link will be integrated into the blog.

It does not end there. Most big pictures and videos you see on websites will have a flock toolbar attached. This toolbar will have option to "Blog" the pictures. Clicking this brings up the Blog Editor with the picture attached. You can also drag pictures from any site, into the Blog Editor window.

Photo Uploader

The Photo Uploader is a basic, but quiet useful utility, which helps batch upload of pictures to online web albums on Picasa, Photobucket or Piczo. The uploader has inbuilt options for resizing and cropping pictures.

Bookmark Integration

Tagged bookmarking has become quiet popular with the advent of sites such as del.ico.us . For most browsers, there exist extensions and links to Bookmark a given page in these online bookmarking services. Flock too supports bookmarking to del.ico.us and Magnolia (inbuilt). What sets it apart is that, it also integrates your online bookmarks into the Favorites menu of the browser, making it easier for accessing the bookmarks from any place.

People

Are you an extensive user of online social networking sites? Flock integrates with many Social Networking sites, Facebook, Flick, Pownce, Twitter, YouTube, Digg, etc. Integration with other social networking sites such as Orkut are still pending. The sections helps in direct media sharing from within the browser.

Media Bar

Media Bar is a small strip that appears across the top of the tabs. It can show picutres from your online photo albums, or videos from your favorite video sharing site.

RSS and Mail Integration

Like all modern browser, it too has a good RSS Integratoin.

It can also integrate with your online mail provider such as Gmail, Yahoo! or AOL and check for mail regularly. Also, email links in webpages can be redirected to these online mail sites.

Packing Up.....

Overall, Flock is a very innovative browser. I recommend that you give it a try. It should please you (atleast for a while). The memory usage is also quet impressive (considering the heavy loaded features it support).