Unpacking and Setup of Garmin Nüvi 2460

It's Been a while since the last post, today's post is going to cover the unpacking and Setup of the Garmin nüvi 2460 GPS device, I have tried to minimize the large bulk text so have a look bellow...

Lets Start with the Specifications:

voice-activated 5'' large screen . It’s hands-free calling compatible. A multi-point route planner automatically sorts multiple destinations into an efficient route. Includes lane assist with junction view, trafficTrends™ historical traffic, myTrends™ predictive routing, and speaks street names.

• Experience nüRoute™ Technology with trafficTrends and myTrends
• Make Hands-free Calls
• Know the Lane Before It’s Too Late
• Plan Ahead
• Get Turn-by-Turn Directions
• Select Fuel-efficient Routes
• Navigate City Transit
• Go Beyond Navigation
• Display Size (WxH): 11.1 x 6.3 cm
• Display Resolution (WxH): 480 x 272 pixels
• Display Type: WQVGA color TFT with white backlight
• Battery: Rechargeable Lithium-ion
• Battery Life: up to 3 Hours
• Unit Dimensions (WxHxD): 13.7 x 8.3 x 1.5 cm
• Weight: 192.0 gr

Package and contents:

Package

 City Navigator Maps SD card (Bought Separately)

Package Contents (Manual, Suction Cup, Car holder, car charger, USB cable)

Front View

Back View

Front View 2

Setting up

I will guide you through the Major points of setting up this device, errors I faced any quick info that Might be useful , Connect the device to your computer using the cable provided and wait for it to install its drivers. Launch your Browser (Avoid Google Chrome as I faced Problems with it ) and go to gamin.com/dashboard to install the Garmin Communicator Plugin

Plugin Installation on Firefox

If the page is loaded again after plugin installation searching for device starts

Dashboard where you can manage your device, register it and update the software

The info. on Garmin page is outdated as I was informed by Customer Support when I called them .. It is ok to Manually turn on the device even if your device doesn't restart automatically

I still didn't test its software thoroughly but after using it for 3 hours its pretty good much better than my older Tomtom Sat.Nav ... there is no lag while browsing through the device and the big Screen is an amazing advantage.

Hope you find it useful :)

25/5/2011 Jordan's 65th Independence Day

Happy Independence day :) The Hashemite Kingdom Of Jordan Celebrates its 65th year of independence 

25/5/2011

25 May 1946 marked the End of British League of Nations Mandate.

If you are interested in knowing more about the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan please feel free to visit the official site of the Jordan Tourism board  visitjordan.com

or visit Jordan's Wikipedia page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan

Once Again Happy Independence Day to All Jordanians.

 May God Bless Jordan, His Majesty King Abdullah II, Her Majesty Queen Rania and The Jordanian People 

www.kingabdullah.jo/ 

www.queenrania.jo

http://twitter.com/#!/queenrania

Gmail Motion !

Gmail has introduced a New feature called Gmail Motion, a technology that allows you to control Gmail with your body will keep it short have a look at the video and link bellow 

 Link Bellow...

http://mail.google.com/mail/help/motion.html

Happy April Fool's Joke 

We all love Google :)

Skype is Down UPDATED 5X

Some of Skype users have problems signing – Skype has confirmed the news and sent an apology through their twitter page  and are currently  investigating,

This issue started surfacing about at 6:40 PM GMT 22/12/2010 , at the start it was announced that 8 Million skype users got affected by this outage but news say that all 560 million registered users can't access their accounts, this is a major outage just like the one that occurred in 2007

Last year Skype accounted for 12% of All international calling minutes 

This is a Global Outage and Twitter is going insane, A river of tweets about this issue

The last tweet by Skype engineers thats 45 min ago :

"Our engineers and site operations team are working non-stop to get things back to normal – thanks for your continued patience" 

Will keep you updated..

UPDATE 1> 7:05 PM GMT  New Skype Tweet                

Some insight into Skype downtime today: http://bit.ly/edtjxB – thanks for your continued patience while we return things to normal

UPDATE 2 >7:05 PM GMT  Details of tweet                     

Skype downtime today

Earlier today, we noticed that the number of people online on Skype was falling, which wasn’t typical or expected, so we began to investigate.
Skype isn’t a network like a conventional phone or IM network – instead, it relies on millions of individual connections between computers and phones to keep things up and running. Some of these computers are what we call ‘supernodes’ – they act a bit like phone directories for Skype. If you want to talk to someone, and your Skype app can’t find them immediately (for example, because they’re connecting from a different location or from a different device) your computer or phone will first try to find a supernode to figure out how to reach them.
Under normal circumstances, there are a large number of supernodes available. Unfortunately, today, many of them were taken offline by a problem affecting some versions of Skype. As Skype relies on being able to maintain contact with supernodes, it may appear offline for some of you.
What are we doing to help? Our engineers are creating new ‘mega-supernodes’ as fast as they can, which should gradually return things to normal. This may take a few hours, and we sincerely apologise for the disruption to your conversations. Some features, like group video calling, may take longer to return to normal.
Stay tuned to @skype on Twitter for the latest updates on the situation – and many thanks for your continued patience in the meantime.


UPDATE 3> 08:30 PM GMT                                                
Skype is now gradually returning to normal – we expect it may take several hours for everyone to be able to sign in again, however
UPDATE 4> 08:40 PM GMT                                                
More insight into what happened today – http://bit.ly/fGzJ05 – Skype now returning to normal


UPDATE 5 >6:46 AM GMT  New Tweet                           

Thanks for your continued patience while we get everyone back online – sorry especially to those of you who are still waiting

Confusion over Saudi Blackberry ban (UPDATE 1X)

Updates added to the end of the Article  (1update) 

 Saudi Arabia is one of a number of countries expressing concern that the Blackberry device is a security threat because encrypted information sent on the phones is impossible for local governments to monitor.


The Kingdom Announced that Blackberry ban will start on Friday the 8th, But Users have reported that The service is still working and as I checked all operators' sites still have blackberry plans and offers.

The Service had a slight disruption on Friday Morning that lasted for 4 hours.

Operators when asked about this confusion by AFP said that they have not been officially notified about the ban date and time! Therefore they didn't ban the service.

If Operators do not follow any service ban they will be fined  5 Million SAR thats about 1.3 Million $US compared to a reported profit of  900 Million SAR/year so that's a very tiny proportion, and it's easy to understand why they didn't follow the law.

The Blackberry manufacturer and the Saudi government have been meeting to discuss how the dispute over access to data could be resolved, They have reportedly  agreed on providing data to the TRA when needed.



The Confusion still didn't clear up and things don't make sense, I personally was amazed yesterday by all the offers that operator had running on their sites and that shows in the video added to the previous article as a quick update.

Saudi Arabian BB users are reported to be around 1.2 Million of the 41 Million BB users worldwide, the last couple of days had a negative impact of RIM's shares they slipped on Thursday by $1.2 (2.2%) to $52.2, on the Nasdaq Stock Market.


UPDATE 1                                                                                                                                           
**************
 Saudi's telecoms regulator has said it postponed a ban on BlackBerry until Monday so that suggested solutions to the kingdom's security concerns offered by the Canadian maker can be tested.

UAE to suspend Blackberry service on security fears (UPDATE 3X)

Updates added to the end of the Article  (2 text updates+1 video added) 

The United Arab Emirates Will suspend the use of the Blackberry Services in October, due to security risks, this ban will affect an estimated half a million users in the country.


As mentioned by the "Mr.Mohammed Al Ghanem" the director of the TRA , censorship is not the reason but its all about compliance with the TRA Rules.


The objection is because Blackberry service is the only service that requires data to be exported offshore and that data is managed by "Foreign, commercial operation"


This is shocking news to all nationals and residents in the UAE and we hope to see both the TRA and Blackberry reach a common ground and solve this issue.


Link to TRA article: CLICK ME!

Ban will start on October the 11th.


Etisalat, The leading Wireless provider said on a notice on the site:  

"Etisalat was informed on August 1, 2010 by the UAE Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) to suspend BlackBerry services providing email, web browsing, instant messaging and social networking from October 11, 2010 until an acceptable solution can be developed and applied which brings the BlackBerry services in line with the UAE’s telecommunications regulations. This is an important decision made by the Regulatory Authority and we fully understand the legal and social considerations behind the decision.

Etisalat has an obligation to act within the law and the regulations of the TRA, while at the same time, providing our customers with the best service. It is very important for us to ensure our customers enjoy continuity of services.

Etisalat's focus at the current time is to make sure its valued customers experience continuity of mobility services. In line with its commitment towards its customers, Etisalat will soon be announcing a range of alternative mobility products and services for its existing blackberry customers.

"

UPDATE 1                                                                                                                                           
**************
*Etisalat The leading telecommunication provider in the UAE announced plans and offers as a replacement to the Blackberry these include 

• Bundled SMS, MMS
• Bundled data usage
• Bundled Voice minutes to choose from
• Alternative Smartphones

Full offer details available at http://www.etisalat.ae/blackberry/alternative.html

*Du (another provider) is expected to offer similar offers in the coming days.

UPDATE 2                                                                                               

**************

* The kingdom of Saudi Arabia Announced that Its banning the Blackberry Messenger Service, I check The Saudi TRA site and found no press release about this. but this is from a BBC Article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10860491

UPDATE 3                                                                                             

**************

This is a Quick Update .Today Friday the 8th of August the Law is KSA should take effect, but when visiting the operators sites there doesn't seem to be any Ban notice its just the opposite They have BB offers. watch the video.
pardon me for any mistakes in the editing or narration its a quick one.

What's new in iTunes 9.2.1 ?

I have been noticing a lot of iTunes updates being release lately and was wondering if they are adding anything thats worth the headache of downloading and installing iTunes that seems to me to be the slowest installation time. Here is what's New in the new edition of iTunes 9.2.1

iTunes 9.2.1 provides a number of important bug fixes, including:

• Addresses minor issues with dragging and dropping items

• Addresses a performance issue when first syncing to some devices with iTunes 9.2

• Addresses an issue upgrading to iOS 4 on an iPhone or iPod touch with encrypted back-ups

• Addresses other issues that improve stability and performance

iTunes 9.2 came with several new features and improvements, including:

• Sync with iPhone 4 to enjoy your favorite music, movies, TV shows, books and more on-the-go

• Sync and read books with iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4 and iBooks 1.1

• Organize and sync PDF documents as books. Read PDFs with iBooks 1.1 on iPad and any iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4

• Organize your apps on your iOS 4 home screens into folders using iTunes

• Faster back-ups while syncing an iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4

• Performance improvements make scrolling much faster

Youtube Now supports 4K content

It hasn't been long when we all felt amazed by YouTube supporting Full HD and now what, its 4K! At VidCon 2010 YouTube announced that it now officially supports 4K videos that 4096 x 3072.

There aren't many people who currently own a camcorder that can shoot at this resolution and am sure an even less number of people have screens that support this resolution but anyways am very happy that YouTube is staying ahead in this and I congratulate them for speeding the advancement of technology.

Here is a link to YouTube's official 4K playlist choose any video and enjoy make sure you choose the quality as original  http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=5BF9E09ECEC8F88F

Enjoy!

iPhone 4 stainless steel band and reception issues

You have all heard the buzz of the Iphone 4 and new "wow" features, I personally didn't bother writing about it because it just doesn't compare to some other touch screen phones such as the  HTC EVO 4G.

To be fair I have to mention that I found great improvements in the new iPhone compared with the older iPhones ...Just to be fair :)

I am writing this article to point out the issue that has lately circulated among tech sites about the iPhone 4 's antenna reception problem and Signal Indicator problem.

The first issue was about the stainless steel band that goes all round the iPhone giving it structural firmness and acts as an antenna and here comes the problem when the iPhone is held from the place pointed out in the picture bellow, the signal almost dies and that's a hardware problem  that no one is really sure what Apple is going to do about.

Cnet TV made a video to test phone calls' quality to point out how serious this issue is Watch bellow

video not playing watch here Click ! 

The second issue is the Signal bars indicator, Apple issued a statement that saying that the bars indicator isn't working and they will be issuing a software update soon to fix this, thats software therefore easy to solve but not really sure about the first hardware issue.

Lets see what happens, but if you want my opinion I would say buy an HTC!