Ringtone Expressions

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 (Onyx) won’t officially be released on any particular carrier until some time next month, but you can secure yourself one of the hottest new smartphones before then… and you could get one for free. CrackBerry and Ringtone Expressions have partnered up for a pretty cool contest and the grand prize is worth over $700.

In a nutshell, you make a custom ringtone using the Ringtone Expressions application, the trial version of which is a free download, and then the maker of the winning ringtone will be awarded with a BlackBerry Bold 9700. This is factory unlocked, so you can have your choice of international carriers.

After making the ringtone, you’ll need to compose a Twitter or Facebook update in Ringtone Expressions, including the #CreateRingtonesWinABlackBerry hashtag in there (I didn’t know FB used hashtags) so that they can track the entries. The Bold 9700 sounds pretty sweet and free is even sweeter.

The contest (official page here) starts today and runs until November 3. Even if you don’t win the BlackBerry grand prize, you might be one of the ten finalists to win a $50 coupon to ShopCrackberry.com. If you’re more of an iPhone person, check out our Mophie Juice Pack Air giveaway instead, which ends this Wednesday.

7 Layers

7 layers is a global provider of test services, engineering services and market access services for wireless communications industries. The development of test solutions, certification tools and test software further complements the service portfolio. The 7 layers expertise encompasses technologies such as GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSPA, LTE, W-CDMA, Bluetooth and A-GPS.

7 layers' customers are manufacturers of mobile phones and terminals, as well as manufacturers of products supporting wireless connectivity (M2M industries). Manufacturers of wireless components, modules, chipsets and reference designs benefit from working together with 7 layers, as do network operators, service providers and certification boards.

Wireless communication product testing laboratories

7 layers runs accredited laboratories in North America, Europe and Asia.
The test services include:

• Pre-certification testing
• Certification testing
• Qualification testing
• Regulatory testing
• KPI testing

Test projects are organised within the 7 layers rapid response network. This provides real-time web access, enabling clients to follow and manage their test projects conveniently via the web. The rapid response network allows easy information transfer between the various test laboratories of the 7 layers group.

X-Mini

Hello Folks, I have received my X-Mini 2nd Generation portable speaker a couple of days earlier and have really amazed with what I got for as low as 15 pounds. Let me be a bit more elaborative…

Starting from the package I received, a cool sleek package with the heading “Audio Revolution in a Box”, which really enhances the attention. I have opened the package and yeah I got a bit disappointed since almost all the portable speakers come in a pair. Well I must say this feeling got away as soon as I plugged in the little monster with my iPod. But still, I wish I had 2 X-Mini 2nd Generation speakers to make better comparison with X-Mini Max.

Virtualization: Out With the Old Problems, In With the New

Virtualization projects can help organizations improve key business metrics, but with these benefits also come risks that these projects could cause issues with end-user experience, visibility into application performance , and bandwidth utilization.
While performance issues can impact business metrics, more than 20 percent of organizations surveyed for Aberdeen Group's December study, "Virtual Vigilance: Managing Application Performance in Virtual Environments," experienced significant improvements in the performance of business-critical applications after conducting virtualization projects.
"The potential benefits from virtualizing an enterprise infrastructure go beyond cost savings and improved flexibility," said Bojan Simic, research analyst, Network and Application Performance at Aberdeen Group. "Benefits could also include business goals such as responsiveness to customers' needs, employee productivity, and the creation of new business opportunities."

Spreadsheets Out, Rolling Budget Forecasts In

"Not to beat about the bush, but the budgeting process at most companies has to be the most ineffective practice in management. It sucks the energy, time, fun and big dreams out of an organization. In fact, when companies win, in most cases it is despite their budgets, not because of them."
These are the words of Jack Welch, the former General Electric (NYSE: GE) chairman, in his best-selling book, Winning. He is not alone. More and more CFOs at American companies are reaching the same conclusion.
As a result, they are following their European brethren in adopting rolling forecasts while moving away from the traditional budgeting process that many view as flawed and counterproductive.

Microsoft Opens New Sluice for Celebrity Juice

Microsoft launched a beta version of a new celebrity gossip site Thursday called "Wonderwall.com."
The new site is loaded with pictures of celebrities that visitors can click on to read news stories, features and commentary about the stars.
For example, Wonderwall.com on Thursday displayed a zany photo of "The Dark Knight" actor Christian Bale wielding a knife, which, when clicked on, led to a story about the top 10 celebrity meltdowns caught on video and audio.
Bale and other celebrities such as "30 Rock" actor Alec Baldwin, Michael Richards of "Seinfeld" fame and eccentric actor Gary Busey could be seen and heard profanely berating those around them.