It’s no surprise that users are seriously not happy with the new Digg homepage. Just run a search on Twitter and you’ll get a nice dose of “Digg Displeasure”. Which is why it’s utterly humorous to find that a majority of links on Digg’s homepage link to rival site Reddit (which I personally love, love, love).

It’s fair to say that the message is hardly subtle. Reddit, for better or for worse is a Digg competitor, or at least it was for the old Digg, even if the two sites weren’t exactly the same.

People are also enraged over the new publisher accounts that basically let media organizations take over the Digg homepage – traditionally the home to power diggers, the folks who discover and share interesting stories and links.

Seeing those issues persist and the Reddit attack on its homepage, Digg temporarily prevented both end-users and publishers from submitting new content, except for the auto-submit via RSS feeds feature. But as writing this articles, as many as 8 out of the top 16 stories on the Digg Top News section are from Reddit and one of the others is a sponsored entry. It’s also an apparent statement that the new Digg quite blatantly sucks (at least according to a majority of comments I’ve read on the internet).

Remember the times when a Digg hit could bring your site down? Those days are gone now, at least temporarily, because Digg dropped the ball. The first big mistake was the removal of shouts, later replaced with Facebook sharing. Prior to that, Digg was basically a popularity contest. The more original content you discovered, the more power went to you. Shouting cool sites to followers was key to growing your popularity and it gave popular diggers the power to catapult an unknown site or a buried site to stardom.

The question remains though, will this actually accomplish anything. Digg has been known to listen to its users, or at least the really loud ones, in the past. But it has already promised to bring back some of the features and change others and a complete roll-back is certainly out of the question.

The latest redesign won’t change the fact that sites like Mixx, Reddit and StumbleUpon have taken a lot of steam from Digg, which seems to have lost its direction.

Apparently Digg is yet to make a statement addressing the community’s hate of the new version, though we’re just assuming they’re hoping you’ll like it over time.

UPDATE: Reddit is currently sporting a new logo, the Reddit robot holding a shovel. Get it?

How do I speed up my computer? This is what I usually hear from any PC owners who are just frustrated with the slow computer performance they are experiencing. It may sound like a daunting task but with these five easy steps you can speed up your PC without needing to hire a computer technician. After reading this, you can finally say, I can speed up my computer on my own!

1. Delete unnecessary programs.

If there are programs you can live without, do not hesitate to throw it away. Here is what you should do. From the Control Panel of your computer, click the Remove Programs button to delete anything that you don’t really need.

2. Unload the hard drive of unimportant files.

Check for any data or information that should be deleted like cookies. Put your mouse pointer over Tools then click the Internet Options button. Choose General and remove all cookies.

3. Defragment your computer hard-drive.

It is just easy. Put your mouse pointer over the My Computer icon, then go to Local Disk. Just hit the Tools button and whatever steps that you will read from them, just follow it.

4. Confirm how much space you have in your RAM.

Multiple programs function properly if you have lots of space in your RAM. Otherwise, avoid opening too many programs simultaneously. The speed of your RAM will definitely increase if you do this.

5. Do a registry scan.

There might be errors or computer virus in it that affects how your Windows run. Get a high quality registry cleaning software from a trustworthy company. Scan your registry on a regular basis to identify any damaged or corrupted files hidden in it.

When facing slow computer performance, often people tend to upgrade their memory (RAM) capacity or buy new antivirus software. Although these can also be helpful to speed up computer functions, isn’t it more relieving to know that there are more affordable solutions? You no longer have to ask, how do I speed up my computer? You can also share these tips with a friend who is having similar problem.

Also Read: How to Speed up Your Windows 7 Computer

However, Google Voice isn’t coming to Google Talk, at least for now, because the focus was on the web integration. SMS is available in Gmail as a Labs feature, but isn’t part of this integration. It’s not rolling out in Google Apps today, but it will in the near future.

It’s not clear if Google Voice will be changing, or whether this new service is a completely separate offering. The user interfaces appear the same—for example, the same icons are used to label missed calls or placed calls — but Google Voice is not a VoIP service. Users of the new chat/phone call service aren’t required to have a Google Voice account, and calls placed to U.S. or Canadian numbers will be free, with discounts on international calls as compared to standard rates.

To get this new feature working, you’ll need to download install Voice and Video plug-in. Free calling is available for U.S. nationals to the U.S. and Canada for the rest of the year at least. Users based in U.S. can make calls to the U.K., France, Germany, China, Japan and many more countries at very low rates like $0.06/per minute (Rs. 2.80 approx.) right from their Gmail interface.

Google adds Phone Calling Option to Gmail; How it Works?

We wonder if this feature would be made available to Apple devices that use Gmail’s HTML5 based web interface. Google has already faced a cold war with Apple over Google Voice and we’re sure that all Android phones would be the first ones to get this feature.

While Chang Ma is basically doing what he is paid for, and that includes creating hype around impending product releases from the company, this is probably a statement that borders on the incredible. Or does it?

Incidentally, iPad currently stands on its own as being the tablet device all the others need to beat to claim a space in the emerging tablet market; a market that’s likely to be getting crowded very soon. And LG seems to be confident that it has the answer — “Our Android tablet will be better than the iPad. It’s going to be surprisingly productive. The race hasn’t started yet.“

“The first LG tablet, which will run on Google Inc.’s Android software, will set itself apart from Apple Inc.’s iPad by focusing on the ability to create content, rather than simply display it“, Mr. Ma said in the interview. “LG Optimus tablet is going to be surprisingly productive,” he said.

True to those words, in a marketing release LG has revealed that this tablet will focus on content–creation and have features and benefits which will help you create documents, edit videos and programs.

There aren’t any hardware details for LG’s Optimus tablet yet, but you can expect a screen around 10 inches, and enough power under the hood to run Android 3.0 (to be released later this year). LG expects to launch the tablet worldwide by the fourth quarter.

LG Optimus Android Tablet may also use a screen similar to those found in high end laptops to add to the productivity of the device. This should make it popular across all sections of users.  So clearly LG is aiming at a different market than Apple with their tablet and that’s probably for the best. Rather than focusing on competing directly with the iPad, companies like LG with their Optimus line and HP with the Slate 500 are trying to fill the void left by the entertainment-oriented iPad.

And it’s good that LG is trying to position the product in a manner which will help in fulfilling gaps left by the iPad’s inadequacies. If this tablet also aimed to be a complete entertainer, not only would it be labeled as a ‘me-too’ product but there would also be very little to get excited about.

Is that (LG Optimus Android Tablet) going to be a winning formula? Maybe, maybe not, but LG seems confident it has what it takes to at least compete, if not beat, the iPad. A legitimate rival to the Apple iPad? That would be good.

Also Read: Top 10 Upcoming Android Tablets That Are Better Than Apple iPad

This electricity powered motorcycle has a range of about 30 miles and can hit a top speed of 25mph. Powered by LiFePo4 batteries, the motorcycle is expected to cost about $3500. The motorcycle features high capacity dual DC motors and controller boards, advanced solid-state motion sensors to maintain constant control of balance loop. All the electronic components inside have been sealed to prevent damage due to shocks.

But now the Vancouver start-up faces a new, more daunting challenge: funding! “We’re stuck right now,” said founder Chris Hoffmann, a mechanical engineer with 15 years of experience in the automobile industry. “Investors love the idea but they don’t know who the market is.”

Hoffmann has so far invested about $25,000 of his own money engineering and building the prototype motorcycles with a mishmash of abundant, cheap parts scrounged from the robotics industry. That focus on systems integration, instead of designing his own specialized components, was the key to keeping his initial production costs low.

A variety of software has been included to continuously monitor a set of feedback systems to warn the rider or take control of the bike if it exceeds its maximum performance limits. An auto balance system will prevent the rider from exceeding the max-rated speed and tilt angle by automatically interacting with the rider through a cascading set of warnings before temporarily taking control of the bike.

The battery monitoring system will trigger yellow and red warning lights when the battery level registers 25 percent and 5 percent to full charge. Moreover, an auto kill switch has been included that stops wheel rotation if the rider is dislodged from the bike or the bike tilts outside of its normal operating parameters.

Driving World’s First Ryno One-Wheel Electric Bike

Walking With Ryno Uni-Wheel Scooter

Looking for funding can be a wild, emotional ride that saps an entrepreneur’s creative energy and attention, Hoffmann said. If he focuses too much on attracting investors, Hoffmann is worried that the passion for his invention, the lifeblood of his business, is likely to suffer. “Forget the angel investors,” Hoffmann tells his team, “let’s just build some bikes.”

Over the years, Orange phones have launched a number of advanced mobile phones. Hence, the company rules the heart of its every user. In this post I’m going to present 3 most popular Orange mobile phones in the market today.

Orange Miami:

It is the perfect combination of style and featured sophistication. This exciting handset is available in elegant colors of black and pink. This touch screen TFT display handset is very stylish with 2 megapixel zoom camera, MP3 player and superb Bluetooth connectivity.

Orange Miami is unique because of its excellent video recording capability. It has 34 MB integrated internal memory with expandable micro SD plus Talk time of 290 minutes and standby time of 300 hours. It is a tri band phone and WAP compatible. Orange Miami is featuring not only the FM radio but also 3 fabulous games that come bundled in it.

Orange Rome:

This is an attractive black colored sleek handset in the range of Orange Mobile Phones. It is integrated with TFT display, 2 MP camera, MP3 player plus FM radio. This handset is Tri-band phone too and comes with special installment of WAP instant browser and superb connectivity of Bluetooth.

It has a great talk time of 4.8 hours and excellent stand by time of 12.5 days. Orange Rome is featured with exciting delivery of superb speaker phones and a perfect hands free kit, which can be personalized. Orange Rome is a true entertainer; it is supported by headphone jack to enjoy music invariably and filled with many cool JAVA games.

Orange Vegas:

This is another exceptional handset of Orange Mobile Phone. It’s most essential feature is it is unbelievably light in weight, only weighing 84 grams. It is integrated with marvelous features of 1.3 MP camera, TFT touch screen, MP3 player which delivers it as a super dual band handset.

It has a talk time of 3 hours and standby time of 7 days. It is available in beautiful colors of black, white and pink. Music can be immensely enjoyed with the use of startup kit especially of Orange Vegas plus a stereo handset.

You can find many great deals on a wide range of Orange phones by visiting http://www.phones4u.co.uk.

An ultra responsive, very sleek and highly desirable phone — The Sony Ericson Vivaz provides its users with an 8.1 mega pixel camera with smile detection, GPS and quick and easy connection to there favourite websites all in HD quality.

Vivaz comes with Symbian OS in it with a handful of connectivity features. The sleek and stylish make of the gadget makes it more mobile and appealing. Moreover, the handset offers neat and functional menu screens (however the sub-menus can sometimes appear a little too laden with options). A way of overcoming this is to take advantage of the customizable home screen. The home screen features five widget tabs which you can assign to your favorite functions, i.e social networking sites. And yes, Vivaz is also fully compatible with YouTube.

What’s in Sony Ericsson Vivaz?

- Design: Buttons on the front of the mobile constitutes one traditional Start call and End call with a Menu button in the middle. On the left, there is a micro-USB port which connects to the charger with 3.5mm Jack for audio. The device comes with 75mb internal memory. And can be powered up by an 8GB microSD card which can be found on the back of battery cover. The lens is not with a cover on it. So, next time you park your car don’t keep the keys in the same pocket in which you have this gadget

- Camera: Vivaz comes with an 8 MP camera with a resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels. This camera is designed complicated enough to accomodate some awesome features in it; auto focus, LED flash, geo tagging, video calling, smile detection and touch focus.

- Music player: Sony has been famous for its unbeaten sound clarity. This time, the sound is even better. Vivaz includes an amazing music player with dedicated touch buttons on the home screen. What format of Audio and Video files does vivaz support? You name a format and Vivaz plays it; MP3, WMA, WAV, RA, AAC, M4A, WMV, RV, MP4, 3GP video player. With a huge memory space to engulf a lot of stuff, 3.5mm jack makes Vivaz nicer than its competitors.

- Performance: Vivaz powered with 1,200mAh lithium-polymer battery can give 13 hours of talktime on 2g and 18 hours standby. Sound output is enhanced when the 3.5mm Jack is used instead of the external speakers.

On a closing note, this gadget (Sony Ericsson Vivaz) is good. But… Yeah, a but; even superheroes come with a weak point. Vivaz is no exception. It’s slippery, Camera lens are exposed, non-front facing cameras for video calls (Who said iPhone 4 was not famous?), no DivX support out of the box. But, I do feel, this gadget would come across these barriers to shine high.

You can read a detailed review of Sony Ericsson Vivaz on www.dialaphone.co.uk

If you’ve been wondering why Intel bought McAfee for this hefty price, the reasons could be many. Perhaps Intel feel that there’s good money in buying into a security firm, or possibly the acquisition paves the way to embed security software directly onto processors. Or maybe Intel just had the cash to burn.

According the statement issued by Intel, McAfee will continue to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary, reporting into Intel’s Software and Services Group. Intel says the “acquisition enables a combination of security software and hardware from one company to ultimately better protect consumers, corporations and governments as billions of devices – and the server and cloud networks that manage them – go online.”

However, this deal, the largest in Intel’s 42-year history, sent off shock waves on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley because of a lofty 60% premium and worries that Intel is moving far beyond its expertise in designing computer chips.

“In the past, energy-efficient performance and connectivity have defined computing requirements,” Paul Otellini, Intel’s chief executive, said in a statement. “Looking forward, security will join those as a third pillar of what people demand from all computing experiences.”

The tech industry has been among the busiest for deal-makers over the past year, as the giants in the field have sought to deploy their big war chests to move into new sectors.

The deal is the latest in a series of mergers and acquisitions in the sector, including Dell’s $1.3bn purchase of data storage company 3PAR earlier this week. And has SAP has paid $5.8bn for Sybase.

With its McAfee purchase, Intel is gaining an entrance into the security tech sector, one that is expected to continue growing quickly. Based in Santa Clara, Calif., McAfee reported about $2 billion in revenue last year.

However, some famous companies have gone a less-traditional route and used some pretty unique naming conventions. Usually the company names give an idea about their products, but there are some hugely popular tech companies whose name are so unique that they hardly give any clue about their company’s products and services. Here are some examples of 15 most popular technology company names and the interesting back-stories behind how they were coined.

1. Google – Larry Page and Sergey Brin chose Google which was deliberately mis-spelled and came from the word Googol. It’s the digit 1 followed by one hundred zeroes, and “reflected the company’s mission to organize the immense amount of information.” The name actually had started as a joke about the amount of information the search engine could search, or a “Googol” of information and when founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin gave a presentation to an angel investor, they received a check made out to “Google.” Here are 35 Interesting But Lesser Known Facts about Google.

2. Apple – The Apple was (and still is) the favorite fruit of Steve Jobs (co-founder). And not many knows that he also worked at an apple orchard. So it is no wonder why Steve Jobs chose this name for his dream company. Moreover, at the time of naming, it was chosen because they wanted to distance themselves from the “cold, unapproachable, complicated imagery created by other computer companies such as IBM, DEC,Cincom and Tesseract.”

3. Yahoo! – Stands for Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle. The word Yahoo was invented by Jonathan Swift and was used in his book Gulliver’s Travels. It represents a person who is repulsive in appearance and barely human. Yahoo! founders David Filo and Jerry Yang jokingly considered themselves as yahoos.

4. Hotmail – Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith had the idea of checking their email via a web interface, and tried to find a name that ended in “mail.” They finally settled on hotmail because it had the letters “html,” referencing the HTML programming language used to help create the product.

5. Canon – When Canon was founded in 1933 under the name Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory. Two years later they adopted “Canon” after the company’s first camera, the Kwanon. Kwanon is the Japanese name of the Buddhist bodhisattva of mercy.

6. Skype - The original prototype of the company’s flagship product had the name “Sky-Peer-to-Peer,” which was shrunk down to Skyper, then finally Skype.

7. Digg – Kevin Rose’s friend David Prager originally wanted to call the site “Diggnation”, but Kevin wanted a simpler name. He chose the name “Digg”, because users are able to “dig” stories, out of those submitted, up to the front page. The site was called “Digg” instead of “Dig” because the domain name “dig.com” was previously registered, by Walt Disney Internet Group.

8. Coca-Cola – Coca-Cola’s name comes from the the coca leaves and kola nuts used as flavoring in the soft drink. Eventually Coca-Cola creator John S. Pemberton changed the ‘K’ of kola to ‘C’ to create a more fluid name.

9. Twitter – The name twitter was derived from the original idea ‘Twitch’, which didn’t bring up the right imagery.

10. Compaq – They took the first three letters from computer and added the paq to “denote a small integral object”, or it could also mean “compatibility and quality.”

11. SAP – “Systems, Applications, Products in Data Processing”, formed by four ex-IBM employees who used to work in the ‘Systems/Applications/Projects’ group of IBM.

12. Verizon – Verizon is a combination of the words veritas, which is Latin for “truth,” and horizon.

13. Sony – From the Latin word ’sonus’ meaning sound, and ’sonny’ a slang used by Americans to refer to a bright youngster.

14. Xerox – The Greek root “xer” means dry. The inventor, Chestor Carlson, named his product Xerox as it was dry copying, markedly different from the then prevailing wet copying.

15. Intel – A combination of INTegrated Electronics

The train was stopped in western Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward for eight minutes — quite a long time for Tokyo’s busy train schedule — at around 8:20 a.m. local time. “When a member of staff went to investigate inside the train, a passenger came over showing him that the iPod she was listening to had burst apart,” the spokesman of the rail line operator Tokyu Corp told Reuters. No injuries were reported.

Apple has declined to comment. The debacle may only worsen Apple’s public image in Japan, which has been marred somewhat by a series of incidents in recent years, involving first-generation Nanos overheating and in some cases producing fire or sparks. The Japanese trade ministry now claims that there have been about 60 such cases, including four that caused minor burns; the number is up from a recent tally of 34.

Apple has described the problem as rare, and attributable to a single battery supplier. At the same time, though, the company recently began a replacement program, ordered by the Japanese government. Prior to formal demands, Apple Japan is said to have been unresponsive to pressure to take market steps, such as issuing warnings or a recall. At any rate, it isn’t good news for Apple, considering the recent claims that reported iPhone 4 bursting into flames (with pics to prove)!