Google Chrome for Android (beta) is now available in the Android Market Place. The sad part is that it requires you to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich phone or tablet to install it!

Engadget has their hands-on on with Google Chrome on Android! Check it out!

Google Chrome For Android

Introduction
In 2008, we launched Google Chrome to help make the web better. We’re excited that millions of people around the world use Chrome as their primary browser and we want to keep improving that experience. Today, we’re introducing Chrome for Android Beta, which brings many of the things you’ve come to love about Chrome to your Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich phone or tablet. Like the desktop version, Chrome for Android Beta is focused on speed and simplicity, but it also features seamless sign-in and sync so you can take your personalized web browsing experience with you wherever you go, across devices.

Speed
With Chrome for Android, you can search, navigate and browse fast-Chrome fast. You can scroll through web pages as quickly as you can flick your finger. When searching, your top search results are loaded in the background as you type so pages appear instantly. And of course, both search and navigation can all be done quickly from the Chrome omnibox.

Simplicity
Chrome for Android is designed from the ground up for mobile devices. We reimagined tabs so they fit just as naturally on a small-screen phone as they do on a larger screen tablet. You can flip or swipe between an unlimited number of tabs using intuitive gestures, as if you’re holding a deck of cards in the palm of your hands, each one a new window to the web.

One of the biggest pains of mobile browsing is selecting the correct link out of several on a small-screen device. Link Preview does away with hunting and pecking for links on a web page by automatically zooming in on links to make selecting the precise one easier.

And as with Chrome on desktop, we built Chrome for Android with privacy in mind from the beginning, including incognito mode for private browsing and fine-grained privacy options (tap menu icon, ‘Settings’, and then ‘Privacy’).

Sign in
You can now bring your personalized Chrome experience with you to your Android phone or tablet. If you sign in to Chrome on your Android device, you can:

• View open tabs: Access the tabs you left open on your computer (also signed into Chrome) – picking up exactly where you left off.
• Get smarter suggestions: If you visit a site often on your computer, you’ll also get an autocomplete suggestion for it on your mobile device, so you can spend less time typing.
• Sync bookmarks: Conveniently access your favorite sites no matter where you are or which device you’re using.

Availability
Chrome is now available in Beta from Android Market, in select countries and languages for phones and tablets with Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich. We’re eager to hear your feedback. Finally, we look forward to working closely with the developer community to create a better web on a platform that defines mobile.

Google Chrome Blog: Introducing Chrome for Android
Engadget: Chrome Beta for Android hands-on (video)

Firefox 8.0 has been released! Looking back Firefox 7.0 was release one and a half months ago on the 28th September 2011!

What’s New In Firefox 8.0?

• Add-ons installed by third party programs are now disabled by default
• Added a one-time add-on selection dialog to manage previously installed add-ons
• Added Twitter to the search bar for select locales. Additional locale support will be added in the future
• Added a preference to load tabs on demand, improving start-up time when windows are restored
• Improved performance and memory handling when using
• Added CORS support for cross-domain textures in WebGL
• Added support for HTML5 context menus
• Added support for insertAdjacentHTML
• Improved CSS hyphen support for many languages
• Improved WebSocket support
• Fixed several stability issues
• Fixed several security issues

Firefox 8 will be the last release of Firefox for 2011. I am guessing by the end of 2012, we will have like Firefox 15 at the rate Mozilla is going. Currently, Firefox 9.0 to Firefox 11 are already in the roadmap. This will be the last blog post featuring Firefox since it has been updating way too often.

Direct Download Links To Firefox 8.0

• Windows (English US)
• Mac OS X (English US)
• Linux (English US)

Links

• Official Blog Post: Mozilla Firefox Adds Twitter Search and New Features that Make Web Browsing Easier
• Release Notes: Firefox 8.0

Google announce Galaxy Nexus & Android 4.0 yesterday in Hong Kong. The Galaxy Nexus is made by Samsung and will be available sometime in November 2011.

Galaxy Nexus

Galaxy Nexus Specifications

• Network: HSPA＋ 21Mbps/HSUPA 5.76Mbps 850/900/1900/1700/2100 EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900
• Processor: 1.2 GHz Dual Core Processor (OMAP 4460)
• Display: 4.65″ 1280×720 HD Super AMOLED
• OS: Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich
• Main (Rear) Camera: 5 MP AF with LED Flash with zero shutter lag and fast shot2shot
• Sub (Front) Camera: 1.3MP for Video Call
• Connectivity: Bluetooth technology v 3.0, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz/ 5GHz), NFC
• Sensor: Accelerometer, Compass, Gyro, Light, Proximity, Barometer
• Memory: 1GB(RAM) ＋ 16GB/ 32GB Internal memory
• Size: 135.5,, x 67.94,, x 8.94mm, 135g
• Battery: Standard battery, Li-on 1,750 mAh

What’s New In Android 4.0

Beauty and simplicity
With Ice Cream Sandwich, our mission was to build a mobile OS that works on both phones and tablets, and to make the power of Android enticing and intuitive. We created a new font that’s optimized for HD displays and eliminated all hardware buttons in favor of adaptable software buttons. We also dramatically improved the keyboard, made notifications more interactive and created resizable widgets.

The desktop-class browser is significantly faster, featuring a refined tab manager and the ability to sync your bookmarks with Google Chrome. Ice Cream Sandwich also features the best mobile Gmail experience to date, with a new design that lets you quickly swipe through your inbox and search messages even when you’re offline. Calendar boasts a clean new look and you can zoom into your schedule with a pinch.

Connect and share
People are at the heart of Ice Cream Sandwich. We rethought how you browse your contacts with the new People app, which combines high-resolution photos and updates from Google+ and other social services. It’s also easier to capture and share your life with family and friends. Galaxy Nexus sports a high-end camera with zero shutter lag, automatic focus, top notch low-light performance and a simple way to capture panoramic pictures. Shoot amazing photos or 1080p video, and then edit and share them directly from your phone.

Beyond smart
Galaxy Nexus isn’t just a smartphone—it’s beyond smart. Ice Cream Sandwich gives you complete control over the amount of mobile data you use by helping you better understand and manage it. We’re also introducing Android Beam, which uses near field communication (NFC) to instantly share webpages, YouTube videos, maps, directions and apps by simply tapping two phones together. Face Unlock uses state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to unlock your phone with nothing more than a smile.

Links

• Official Site: Android 4.0 Highlights
• Official Site: Galaxy Nexus
• Official Blog Post: Unwrapping Ice Cream Sandwich on the Galaxy Nexus
• Press Release: Samsung and Google introduce GALAXY Nexus
• Engadget: Samsung and Google’s Ice Cream Sandwich event liveblog!

I was invited to the blogger event for the launch of ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5 & ESET Smart Security 5 last week at Screening Room.

I am a huge fan of ESET NOD32 and have been using it since v2. All my computers and even my mom’s office computers are protected by NOD32. It is fast, real fast and does not take up much disk space at all because of the use of assembly language in the products.

Other competitors started with a bloated antivirus software and try to un-bloat it because these days no one wants a bloated antivirus software to bog down their computer while ESET starts off with a lightweight antivirus. This give ESET a significant competitive advantage.

The CTO of ESET, Pavol Luka, was there as well. He was working for ESET since the 1990s before he entered university. He left ESET to pursue his education and joined back again upon graduation. He does coding and did some coding for NOD32 Antivirus v2. So he know his stuff well!

Pavol Luka (ESET CTO) and I

If you are wondering how the company got its name ESET, it is named after an Egyptian goddess, Isis.

NOD32 got its name from a TV medical drama series in Czechoslovakia back in 1977, titled, Nemocnica na Okraji Disku (Hospital at the End of the City) and 32 means 32-bit which they release it back in 2003 for Windows (before that it was just named NOD for MS-DOS).

ESET Smart Security 5 and ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5 offer various new and improved features including:

• ESET Live Grid, cloud-based reputation and protection technology
• New Removable Media Control, with more granular control of external devices
• Parental Control (ESET Smart Security 5 only)
• Advanced Host-based Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS)
• Gamer Mode

ESET Smart Security 5 Box

ESET Smart Security 5 Box Contents

Another reason why I am using NOD32 AntiVirus for my mom’s office because the prices are very reasonable.

The prices of ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5 & Smart Security 5 are as follows:
ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5

• 1 User, 1 Year- SGD$29
• 1 User, 2 Years – SGD$45
• 3 Users, 1 Year – SGD$49
• 3 Users, 2 Years – SGD$75

ESET Smart Security 5

• 1 User, 1 Year- SGD$39
• 1 User, 2 Years – SGD$59
• 3 Users, 1 Year – SGD$59
• 3 Users, 2 Years – SGD$89

You can get 1 user (for 1 or 2 years) and 3 users (for 1 or 2 years) off the shelves at most computer stores, but if you need more customization like 5 users for 2 years, you need to get them from the distributor which is Version 2 in Singapore via their online store.

Official Sites

• ESET
• ESET NO32
• ESET Smart Security
• ESET Online Store

Here are the direct links FROM APPLE itself to iOS 5.0 for various iDevices:

iPhone

• iPhone 4 (GSM) (5.0/9A334)
• iPhone 4 (CDMA) (5.0/9A334)
• iPhone 3GS (5.0/9A334)

iPod Touch

• iPod Touch 4G (5.0/9A334)
• iPod Touch 3G (5.0/9A334)

iPad

• iPad 2 (GSM) (5.0/9A334)
• iPad 2 (CDMA) (5.0/9A334)
• iPad 2 (Wi-Fi Only) (5.0/9A334)
• iPad 1 (5.0/9A334)