Acer neoTouch review Unboxing 360 degree spin design and construction

Unboxing the Acer neoTouch

Starting with the basics, in the retail box youll find a charger, data cable and a headset. The headset is one piece, but you can use your favorite headphones of course, thanks to the 3.5mm audio jack. The wall charger is universal and you get market-specific adaptors - just like you would with HTC handsets. The charger connects to the phones microUSB port.

The neoTouch is cabled, but not quite accessorized
The retail box will also include manuals and a disk with software. Given that this is a high-end PocketPC, we were a little disappointed to see that there were no additional accessories in the box. There is no memory card - which the neoTouch certainly needs, given the 300 MB of onboard storage available to the user. A TV out cable is nowhere in sight either.

Acer neoTouch 360-degree view

For a phone thats easily in the top 5 in terms of screen estate, the Acer neoTouch size is quite friendly. It measures 118.6 x 63 x 12 mm and weighs in at 130 grams. Tiny it isnt, but the 3.8" touchscreen is a good enough excuse and the best way to prove this is putting it alongside some of the competition. The neoTouch is almost the same size as the iPhone and noticeably smaller than the Omnia HD and it beats both in terms of screen size. Yes, it looks massive next to the HTC Touch 2 but the displays are incomparable.

Size matters: the neoTouch gets it right

Design and construction

The first thing to note - other than the huge touchscreen - is perhaps the distinct styling of the controls underneath. Not too keen on the green / red receiver convention, we quite liked the original minimalist pictograms marking the hardware buttons. The actual controls - Call buttons, Home key, Back key - are touch-sensitive and haptic-enabled.

The four buttons on the front
Otherwise, the Acer neoTouch is not willing to go to extremes to distinguish itself from the countless touchscreen bars out there. Instead it takes a rather cautious and traditional approach to styling. The Acer neoTouch front is quite conservative with black glass framing the display and the surface of the buttons. The rest of the handset is made of glossy plastic and while its not cheap looking, the fingerprints just love to make their home there. The whole handset was completely covered with smudges in no time and didnt look nice at all.
The glossy silver strip running the sides are the only accent and it works quite well. Its elegant and subtly emphasizes the huge display.
The Acer neoTouch display is a TFT unit, 3.8 inches in diagonal and within the limits of comfortable one hand use. The resolution is WVGA at 480 x 800 pixels - the highest any smartphone has gone so far. As far as screen sensitivity goes, the Acer neoTouch resistive unit is better than the XPERIA X1 and X2 and on par with the latest HTC handsets. We have nothing to complain about here.
Sunlight legibility is not one of its strengths though. Its far behind the iPhone and Nokia devices. Using the neoTouch in direct sunlight is near impossible, so you may want to look for some shade nearby if outdoor use is absolutely essential.

The display looks good, but sunlight legibility lets it down
As is expected on a Windows Mobile device, the Acer neoTouch screen has 65K-color support. On a screen this size, color banding really becomes an issue. But we all know the limited color palette is not Acers fault, but rather a limitation imposed by Microsoft. To give you a bit of background, Windows Mobile uses a 16-bit color palette (thats 65K colors) for CPU friendliness and optimal performance. We are sure it made perfect sense a few years back, but now that we have Snapdragon processors and a lot more RAM we may as well start hoping for a boost to color support. That will perhaps involve the guys at Redmond rewriting the whole OS.
Back to the neoTouch physical description, the video-call camera, proximity and ambient light sensors, along with a status LED are placed above the display on both sides of the earpiece.

Video-call camera, proximity and ambient light sensors
On the left side of the handset you get the hardware Lock key and nothing else. The key is quite handy actually - conveniently placed for your index finger (for right-handed users).
The neoTouch right side features the volume rocker, reset hole and the camera shutter key. The camera key has a distinct half and full press and is quite responsive.

Side controls on the Acer neoTouch
A 3.5 mm standard audio jack and the stylus compartment are at the top of the Acer neoTouch. The bottom reveals the microphone and the microUSB port, which is not protected by a cover. The phone charges via the USB port, which is quite useful as you can skip the charger when traveling if you have a computer with you.

microUSB port and standard audio jack on both ends of the phone
Unfortunately the stylus is not active as those on the HTC devices. It would have been a really nice addition to the Acer neoTouch user-friendliness.
The Acer neoTouch rear is neat and simple - quite in line with the conservative styling of the device. There youll find the 5 megapixel camera lens and the LED flash, along with a loudspeaker grill. The Acer neoTouch has no stereo speakers on board, but its still not considered a standard feature even on high-end smartphones.
As there is no lens cover, the 5 megapixel camera lens is exposed to both smudges and scratches

The loudspeaker, camera lens and LED flash
Under the back cover, youll find a 1350 mAh battery and the SIM card slot as well as the microSD card slot. Hot-swap is enabled but a card slot placed externally on the device wouldve been a lot better.

The microSD card slot is hot-swappable but under the rear cover
The Acer neoTouch can be commended on its high build quality. The all-plastic looking chassis looks and feels quite fit and durable. The rear cover holds firmly in place, no annoying creaks.

Acer neoTouch knows comfortable handling
The Acer neoTouch weighs in at 130 grams and thats perfectly acceptable given the spacious screen. Its not a small handset but size is well atoned for by the classic, subtle styling and secure handhold. The extreme edges of the screen may be a little hard to reach for some, but the device is still pocketable and reasonably comfortable to navigate single-handedly.
                                                                                                       (Source : gsmarena.com) 

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UNIX CONCEPTS

PROCESS MODEL and IPC

1.   Brief about the initial process sequence while the system boots up.

While booting, special process called the swapper or scheduler is created with Process-ID 0. The swapper manages memory allocation for processes and influences CPU allocation. The swapper inturn creates 3 children:

Ø  the process dispatcher,

Ø  vhand and

Ø  dbflush

with IDs 1,2 and 3 respectively.

This is done by executing the file /etc/init. Process dispatcher gives birth to the shell. Unix keeps track of all the processes in an internal data structure called the Process Table (listing command is ps -el).

2.   What are various IDs associated with a process?

Unix identifies each process with a unique integer called ProcessID. The process that executes the request for creation of a process is called the parent process whose PID is Parent Process ID. Every process is associated with a particular user called the owner who has privileges over the process. The identification for the user is UserID. Owner is the user who executes the process. Process also has Effective User ID which determines the access privileges for accessing resources like files.

getpid() -process id

getppid() -parent process id

getuid() -user id

geteuid() -effective user id

3.   Explain fork() system call.

The `fork()  used to create a new process from an existing process.  The new process is called the child process, and the existing process is called the parent.  We can tell which is which by checking the return value from `fork().  The parent gets the childs pid returned to him, but the child gets 0 returned to him.

4.   Predict the output of the following program code

main()

{

            fork();

printf("Hello World!");

}

Answer:

Hello World!Hello World!

Explanation:

The fork creates a child that is a duplicate of the parent process. The child begins from the fork().All the statements after the call to fork() will be executed twice.(once by the parent process and other by child). The statement before fork() is executed only by the parent process.

5.   Predict the output of the following program code

main()

{

fork(); fork(); fork();

printf("Hello World!");

}

Answer:

"Hello World" will be printed 8 times.

Explanation:

            2^n times where n is the number of calls to fork()

6.   List the system calls used for process management:

System calls                Description

fork()                           To create a new process

exec()                          To execute a new program in a process

wait()                           To wait until a created process completes its execution

exit()                            To exit from a process execution

getpid()                       To get a process identifier of the current process

getppid()                     To get parent process identifier

nice()                           To bias the existing priority of a process

brk()                            To increase/decrease the data segment size of a process

7.   How can you get/set an environment variable from a program?

Getting the value of an environment variable is done by using `getenv().

Setting the value of an environment variable is done by using `putenv().

8.   How can a parent and child process communicate?

A parent and child can communicate through any of the normal inter-process communication schemes (pipes, sockets, message queues, shared memory), but also have some special ways to communicate that take advantage of their relationship as a parent and child. One of the most obvious is that the parent can get the exit status of the child.

9.   What is a zombie?

When a program forks and the child finishes before the parent, the kernel still keeps some of its information about the child in case the parent might need it - for example, the parent may need to check the childs exit status. To be able to get this information, the parent calls `wait(); In the interval between the child terminating and the parent calling `wait(), the child is said to be a `zombie (If you do `ps, the child will have a `Z in its status field to indicate this.) 

10. What are the process states in Unix?

As a process executes it changes state according to its circumstances. Unix processes have the following states:

Running : The process is either running or it is ready to run .

Waiting : The process is waiting for an event or for a resource.

Stopped : The process has been stopped, usually by receiving a signal.

Zombie : The process is dead but have not been removed from the process table.

11. What Happens when you execute a program?

When you execute a program on your UNIX system, the system creates a special environment for that program. This environment contains everything needed for the system to run the program as if no other program were running on the system. Each process has process context, which is everything that is unique about the state of the program you are currently running. Every time you execute a program the UNIX system does a fork, which performs a series of operations to create a process context and then execute your program in that context. The steps include the following:

Ø  Allocate a slot in the process table, a list of currently running programs kept by UNIX.

Ø  Assign a unique process identifier (PID) to the process.

Ø  iCopy the context of the parent, the process that requested the spawning of the new process.

Ø  Return the new PID to the parent process. This enables the parent process to examine or control the process directly.

After the fork is complete, UNIX runs your program.

12. What Happens when you execute a command?

When you enter ls command to look at the contents of your current working directory, UNIX does a series of things to create an environment for ls and the run it: The shell has UNIX perform a fork. This creates a new process that the shell will use to run the ls program. The shell has UNIX perform an exec of the ls program. This replaces the shell program and data with the program and data for ls and then starts running that new program. The ls program is loaded into the new process context, replacing the text and data of the shell. The ls program performs its task, listing the contents of the current directory.

13. What is a Daemon?

A daemon is a process that detaches itself from the terminal and runs, disconnected, in the background, waiting for requests and responding to them. It can also be defined as the background process that does not belong to a terminal session. Many system functions are commonly performed by daemons, including the sendmail daemon, which handles mail, and the NNTP daemon, which handles USENET news. Many other daemons may exist. Some of the most common daemons are:

Ø  init: Takes over the basic running of the system when the kernel has finished the boot process.

Ø  inetd: Responsible for starting network services that do not have their own stand-alone daemons. For example, inetd usually takes care of incoming rlogin, telnet, and ftp connections.

Ø  cron: Responsible for running repetitive tasks on a regular schedule.

14. What is ps command for?

The ps command prints the process status for some or all of the running processes. The information given are the process identification number (PID),the amount of time that the process has taken to execute so far etc.

15. How would you kill a process?

The kill command takes the PID as one argument; this identifies which process to terminate. The PID of a process can be got using ps command.

16. What is an advantage of executing a process in background?

The most common reason to put a process in the background is to allow you to do something else interactively without waiting for the process to complete. At the end of the command you add the special background symbol, &. This symbol tells your shell to execute the given command in the background.

Example: cp *.* ../backup&                (cp is for copy)

17. How do you execute one program from within another?

The system calls used for low-level process creation are execlp() and execvp(). The execlp call overlays the existing program with the new one , runs that and exits. The original program gets back control only when an error occurs.

execlp(path,file_name,arguments..); //last argument must be NULL

A variant of execlp called execvp is used when the number of arguments is not known in advance.

execvp(path,argument_array);  //argument array should be terminated by NULL

18. What is IPC? What are the various schemes available?

The term IPC (Inter-Process Communication) describes various ways by which different process running on some operating system communicate between each other. Various schemes available are as follows:

Pipes:

One-way communication scheme through which different process can communicate. The problem is that the two processes should have a common ancestor (parent-child relationship). However this problem was fixed with the introduction of named-pipes (FIFO).

Message Queues :

Message queues can be used between related and unrelated processes running on a machine.

Shared Memory:

This is the fastest of all IPC schemes. The memory to be shared is mapped into the address space of the processes (that are sharing). The speed achieved is attributed to the fact that there is no kernel involvement. But this scheme needs synchronization.  

            Various forms of synchronisation are mutexes, condition-variables, read-write locks,          record-locks, and semaphores.

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Verizon FIOS Bundles

By Colleen Wagner

How to Get the Best Deal on Verizon Fios Services

High Definition TV

Take Verizons FIOS for example Verizon FIOS is probably the best one out there because they come in a number of bundles and packages that can really save you a lot more money in the long run. It actually pays for itself if you really think about it. But lets not get into accounting, lets focus on how to get the best deal on Verizon FIOS bundles.

VerizonFiOS services also feature multi-room DVRs which allow you pause and record live TV. Multi-room features mean that you can pause your favorite show in one room, then pick up where you left off in another. Additional features allow you to watch one show while recording up to two others. When you use FiOS HDTV services and mulit-room DVR, youll get the most feature packed experiences out of your high definition television. Heres another reason youll want to check Verizon FiOS availability in your area. Your services will also include over 4000 flex View titles from Verizon. This allows you to view these shows online or on your mobile multi-media devices anywhere that you have a wi-fi or internet connection.

Thing is, promotions serve a third function for companies, and that is to help keep customers. Verizon does very well to keep their customers as they give out promotions at almost every chance and occasion they get. So start off your deal with a promo and you might just get a whopper of savings in the long run.

Customer Service - This is where the two differ. Comcast has a history of negative reviews of their customer service. In fact, they are sometimes held responsible for the bad reputation that cable companies have been given when it comes to customer care. Verizon has received top marks from both customers, and from independent reviewers. Outages - Verizon is a newer provider, and there have been some outages as they work out the kinks in new locations.

Try to maximize on a bundle Apart from being an ISP, Verizon does a lot more. Verizon has bundle deals to make sure their customers can get the most out of their services. People can choose from the Verizon FIOS triple play which includes their cable TV service, a phone line, and broadband internet.

If your looking to enrich your phone, internet and TV experience with multi-media content at faster speeds, youll want to get the reliability and speed of a highly advanced 100% fiber optic, high speed network. Plus youll be able to bundle these three great service for one low price. Once you do, youll be glad that you stopped here to check Verizon FiOS availability in your area.

About the Author:

This particular publisher is very knowledgeable on fios promo code. Please have a glance at their website to know even more.

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What Characters And Weapons Are Contained In AC4

By James Polinsky

The unveiling concerning the upcoming AC4 Black Flag is pretty much here. Ubisoft has presented quite a few video game trailers, showcasing the numerous personas, gameplay, and weaponry. Im going to quickly cover the several weapons plus storyline characters in this ground breaking video game title.

Assuming you have been keeping up with all the current AC4 news, well then you have in all likelihood already heard of the newest personas that are likely to be provided, and weaponry like hidden blades, flintlock pistols, and swords. I would perhaps like to take this subject one step more and get into a tad bit more info in relation to these particular weapons, in addition to the storyline characters you will surely run across.

Take a look at this short list of weapons and game characters below.

Weaponry:

Blow Pipe: This is in fact the newest addition to the AC franchise. The blow pipe has several unique means of stopping your adversaries. When using crazy darts, your competition will commence to maneuver around nervously till he inevitably passes on. This is just a single example. Conversely, your enemy is likely to die a very gradual and excruciating death if you utilize toxic darts.

Double Blades: These are destined to be one of my top picks, I just know it. Double swords can be utilized to chop your opponent to smithereens, assuming you happen to be into that kind of thing just like me. I think this is seriously brilliant.

Flinging Knife blades: You can use flinging blades whenever youre wanting to execute your adversaries in a second. A very important thing you may want to be aware of is that the instantaneous killings exclusively work on less strong foes. Youll have to toss a couple of blades to pull off the killing in the event you are going up against a more dynamic adversary.

Protagonist types:

Edward Kenway: Almost everything will focus on the fundamental character referred to as Edward Kenway. You will be actively playing as him as you sail across the countless open-world lands.

Blackbeard: Blackbeard is actually among the most dreaded and infamous pirates throughout the whole video game. His wild methods and absence of mercy help make him a terrific component to the entire plot.

Charles Vane: Charles is quite possibly most recognized for being a really serious troublemaker. Every time he enters into the picture, you know a problem is simply ready to take place.

Anne Bonny: Now heres a mega strong female that handles herself perfectly in a nation packed with males. She doesnt really let herself get controlled inside of a male ruled planet. This is actually the remarkable aspect concerning her.

Calico Jack: Calico Jack is in fact an awfully outgoing individual who is in love with the girls. That is in essence all I can point out with reference to him.

All I could state is everything that Ive viewed thus far looks totally eye-catching. I truly know Im about to put in much time trying to become an authority in it. How about you?

About the Author:

Browse the Assassins Creed Black Flag blog if youd like extra gaming content.

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The Best Ways To Track A Telephone Number Free Of Cost

By Mord Bernheimer

Monitoring on someones cell phone number can be tedious but not a burden. With the help of different complimentary cell phone number search services, you can easily track down the hidden theme of the missed out on caller that is disturbing you for last couple days. It is true that cell phone numbers are aggravatingly difficult to search for. However, the following suggestions can assist you in your cost-download mobile phone search.

Numerous marketers turn to among these types of advertising to get consumers for their company. You may have experienced telemarketing calls or SMS sent out to your mobile gadget. It can be very irritating when some sales personnel do not appear to understand the distinction between regular sales calls and bothering calls. They take it too far by calling potential clients even throughout working hours, even after being told not to do so. Those who wish to focus on work and feel harassed by such dogged online marketers could want to put a total stop to the calls.

Social network. Social network is the very best platform through which you can search for complimentary records. There are hundreds of individuals active on social networking websites like Face book, Twitter, and LinkedIn. In Face book, just type the individuals name in the search bar and check what it reveals. If the person has actually mentioned his phone number in his account of Face book, then it will sure to reflect. You will get a right outcome about the individuals address and e-mail id related to the telephone number in such cases.

Free Cellular phone Directories and Lookup Site. Free Telephone number Search is of prime help as it helps you to get back to the individuals number if you had actually a missed call. Free mobile phone directory sites and numerous lookup sites assist you to search for your aimed telephone number.

When you look for someone with a cell or a name phone number, it is not going to make you a stalker. As long as you utilize this tool with good objectives, you will have no unfavorable impacts from doing so. It can help you reconnect with your past and secure your future.

A complimentary mobile phone lookup service is among those circumstances. If you want to rest assured that your search of a specific cell number is private, select a paid search. The business that charge customers for utilizing their cell phone number directory site typically do not request for a large amount of cash. The amount is normally a couple of United States dollars to ten United States dollars per search. Considering the big amount of money that the companies needed to pay the mobile phone company for their big customer database, it is understandable why they charge individuals of their directory site service a specific sum of money.

This telephone number search is also referred to as Reverse Search for. There are particular Toll download numbers, which are cost-download and can assist you instantaneously into the inner profile of a company. Toll download number directory sites exist on the web which can assist in your respected search.

Simply put, if you wish to discover telephone number, pick a site that provides a paid search. Besides getting a complete report with all the required details associated with the cell number, you do not need to stress over any privacy issue in relation to your search. Usually, you will be asked to pay a few dollars, possibly up to $10 per search.

About the Author:

Discover the best way to track a cell phone that not only gives you GPS locations, but captures both sides of test messages, call information, emails and more. Visit track cell phone number

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Free version of Run BASIC

One thing that has been lacking in our effort to promote our Run BASIC web programming system is a free version. In fact there is no time limited trial either. This has been mostly because we have been unsure what would be the best way to do it.

What weve decided on is when Run BASIC v1.0.1 is released soon for Windows, Mac and Linux we will also release a free version. This free version will be for personal use instead of being a web application server. Users of the free Run BASIC will be able to create projects and use any features of the language, but they will not be able to serve applications. This will allow them to experiment and see if Run BASIC meets their needs. If it does and hosting the application is in the cards then an upgrade to the server version is available for $59.95, or hosting service can be purchased at http://www.runbasicnet.com

Comments and suggestions are most welcome.

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PC TRICKS

Opening A Program With Keystrokes

Did you know you can assign certain keystrokes to open a program?
This way you wont have to stop what youre doing and double click on it with your mouse.
Right click on the chosen program on your desktop and select PROPERTIES. Click on the
Shortcut Tab. In the text box labeled SHORTCUT KEY, type your chosen letter. Ctrl + Alt will
automatically be added. Click OK. Now hit CTRL + ALT + letter.

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