Microsoft Windows 8 for Developers has been released. It is a pre-beta release meaning that it should not be installed in a production environment. Here are some of the features of Windows 8:

Metro Style UI

Windows 8 introduces a beautiful new user interface (UI) designed specifically for touch. From typography to animations, Windows 8 allows you to experience your PC effortlessly and simply.

Powered by Apps

Immersive apps in Windows 8 are the focal point of your PC experience. Apps are clean, beautiful, dynamic, and effortlessly keep you up-to-date on the latest news, weather, social media updates and more.

Enhanced Fundamentals

Windows 8 is built on the rock-solid foundation of Windows 7, and it features many improvements in performance, security, privacy and system reliability.

Developing for Windows 8

Great apps start with great developers. Windows 8 gives developers a modern platform and wealth of tools to create rich app experiences that come alive with vibrant, dynamic content. Apps truly take center stage, allowing for fluid, lively experiences.

A New Generation of Hardware

Windows 8 works beautifully across a wider choice of devices and chipsets.

Download Windows 8 Developers Edition

Windows Developer Preview with developer tools English, 64-bit (x64)

DOWNLOAD (4.8 GB)

Finally Facebook updated its iPhone App, which has new features and privacy controls.

Facebook for iPhone 3.5 now make it easy to use Facebook and let users tag friends and places in posts. Now you can control easily who can see your posts.

Facebook also fixed numerous bugs and made some performance enhancements. Facebook’s new privacy option tour is very impressive, that appears when we launch facebook App first time after update.

Maybe the biggest piece of Microsoft news this week was about Windows 8 startup times. For good reason. It’s one of those nuts-and-bolts issues that affects (plagues?) every Windows user. But Windows 7 startup can be pretty snappy too with the right hardware, and it should improve later this year.

Let me begin by saying I am also a little skeptical of Microsoft’s claims of eight-second bootup times for Windows 8 (see: Microsoft promises faster startup for Windows 8). My third-generation MacBook Air with a solid-state drive takes about 16 seconds from power-up to the main OS X screen. And even my flash-drive-equipped iPad 2 takes about 30 seconds from a hard shutdown to startup.

That said, for Windows 7 laptops that I use, startup times can be pretty quick with the right storage tech. (Note that I am not going to address manually tweaking MSCONFIG and other settings here, because the average Windows computer user is oblivious to these settings.)

My Dell Adamo (again, without any software tweaking) running Windows 7 Home Premium boots up in less than 30 seconds. And an HP EliteBook 2560p that I’m using (temporarily) with Windows 7 Professional boots up in about 40 seconds.

The Adamo boots faster than the EliteBook for one simple reason: it has an SSD. How critical is the SSD? The “slower” (but newer) EliteBook has a new Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5 2520M processor but a run-of-the-mill 7200RPM 320GB hard disk drive. The “faster” (but older) Adamo has a dated Core 2 Duo SU9400 processor but a zippy 128GB SSD. Which makes me wonder how quickly the EliteBook would boot up with an Intel 160GB SSD–which is an option HP offers on the 2560p. I’m guessing it would be a lot closer to my MacBook Air’s 16-second bootup time than the Adamo.

(And it’s not just startup times. The 2009 Adamo often feels snappier on a variety of disk-dependent tasks than the 2011 EliteBook. But, again, that comparison would flip if the EliteBook had an SSD.)

And we can look forward to even faster startup tech for Windows 7 later this year. Intel has a technology, due by the holiday season, called Rapid Start Technology. Think of it as instant-on from hibernation. The terminology, in fact, sounds very similar to what Microsoft blogged about this week. But that can be confusing because the Windows 8 changes are all about emulating a complete shutdown and hibernating kernel sessions (more details here) while Intel’s Rapid Start is about Windows 7 hibernation mode and hardware.

Here’s how Umesh Shah, an Intel engineer, described it to me in May when he demonstrated the technology on a Samsung Series 9 laptop. Hibernation mode is used today to put a PC in a deep sleep state, which uses very little power and extends battery life way beyond the standard standby mode. The problem is that it can take as long as a minute to bring a laptop out of hibernation. With Rapid Start this can be accomplished in about five seconds–which Shah demonstrated. The system must have either a solid-state drive or an ancillary flash drive that works in conjunction with a standard magnetic HDD.

I’m guessing Rapid Start will be used on more than a few Ultrabooks. This, coupled with the SSD that many Ultrabooks will be equipped with, should make Windows 7 startup no slouch.

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Sonim Technologies, which is known for manufacturing world’s most rugged, water-submersible mobile phones, has launched the world’s toughest phone, Sonim XP3300 Force. With the launch of this handset, Sonim has secured its entry into the Guinness Book of World Records. The phone was tested in the presence of independent judges from the Guinness World Record by dropping it from a height of 25 metres. This handset beats the world record of 3.25 metres set by the JCB Toughphone in 2008.

Bob Plaschke, CEO, Sonim Technologies, said, “We wanted to stamp Sonim’s name on the world record, confirming that the Sonim XP3300 Force is the toughest phone in the world. Most phones are drop tested to a metre, which just isn’t enough in extreme environments such as the construction sites, oil rigs or in the forest.” This phone can withstand tough conditions like industrial and construction areas. It is dust and water resistant handset as well. It can remain under water at a depth of 2 mts for 1 hour without any damage.

This macho handset weighs 185gms and is 25mm thick. It features 2-megapixel camera with LED flash, Java enabled OS (supports apps like Opera Mini), GPS, Noise cancellation, and a 23mm speaker. The handset has a 3.5mm jack and a 1750 mAh battery that gives a talk time of over 20 hours. The handset is available in two colors, yellow and black. Bundled with such unique features Sonim XP3300 Force comes with a price tag of USD 525 (Rs23, 000 approx.).

Source: Geo.TV