Adobe AIR 2.0 to Add Multitouch Support and Significantly Improve Memory Use

Saturday, October 31, 2009

The improved performance should help AIR apps become more popular

Adobe is betting hard on its AIR platform and despite being far less popular than some of Adobe's other technologies, certainly nothing like Flash, it is beginning to see more traction as it's becoming more popular with developers. And now developers and users have something to look forward to with AIR 2.0 that promises to bring some big new features like multitouch support, which is all the rage right now, but also a lot of improvements under the hood making for lighter loads on the processor and the memory footprint.

The company has come out with an extensive list covering most of the planned changes, improvements and new features, and several of them stand out. First and foremost, multitouch and gesture support. Multitouch is really hot right now with Apple supporting it on the hardware level almost across the board but especially because Windows 7, which touts multitouch as one of its most interesting features, has come out. Adobe AIR already offers multitouch support for Mac but the new version will also implement the feature on Windows.

Related to multitouch, AIR 2.0 also ads support for gestures like two-finger tap, press and tap, pan, rotate, swipe and zoom on both Windows and Mac. The features are great for portable devices, but have proven less useful and more gimmicky on desktops and even laptops. Still, as more hardware makers integrate the features, usability should improve.

Another feature that could prove interesting is Local Audio Recording. The changes continue under the hood and developers will be able to take advantage of several new features related to cross-platform compatibility but also improved networking support. Users though will be much more interested in the performance improvements AIR 2.0 promises. Many have complained about the amount of memory AIR apps gobble up and Adobe claims that the new version will be a lot more frugal. It remains to be seen whether Adobe will be able to make good on these claims; if it does, it could help AIR apps become a lot more popular.

-[Read more>>]- Adobe AIR 2.0 to Add Multitouch Support and Significantly Improve Memory Use

Windows 8, and So It Begins

Revolutionary vs. evolutionary

Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22, and hit the shelves on October 22, generating obvious questions about what’s next for Microsoft’s proprietary operating system. And the answer is rather simple: Windows 8. This time around, the Redmond-based company made little efforts to hide the moniker associated with the next generation of the Windows client. Not that it could, given that the codename aspect of Windows development efforts is the only transparent aspect of the otherwise translucent communication strategy set in place by Steven Sinofsky, President, Windows and Windows Live Division.

Back in early 2007, after Windows Vista shipped to customers worldwide, Microsoft shifted its focus on what was at the time referred to as Windows codename Vienna, and which ended up as Windows 7. The company delivered a taste of early plans, noting that it was aiming for a release ahead of 2009, but nothing more after that. In fact, it wasn’t until August 2008 that Sinofsky started sharing crumbs from the development process of Windows 7, at a time when the operating system was between the Milestone 2 and Milestone 3 development stages.

In this regard, it is interesting to understand just how early Microsoft actually started building the successor of Windows Vista. According to Larry Osterman, Microsoft Principal SDE, the Windows team was hard at work coding for Windows 7 within 4-5 months after the general availability of Vista. “In June of 2007, we started working on actual feature planning – the planning team had come up with a set of tentative features for Win7 and we started the actual design for the features – figuring out the user experience for the features, the internal implementation details, etc.,” Osterman noted.

With Windows 7 wrapped up, Sinofsky was upgraded to the President position from senior vice president of the Windows and Windows Live engineering group, but just as it was the case for Windows 7, Windows 8 will be developed in accordance with his vision. With Sinofsky at the helm of the Windows 8 project, Osterman could even expect the same development experience as for Windows 7.

“The remarkable thing about Win7 development was that it was almost friction free. During the Vista development process (and in every other product I’ve worked on) development was marked by a constant stream of new issues which were a constant drain on time an energy. It felt like we moved from one crisis to another crisis,” Osterman recalled. “For Win7 it was different. I think it was some time during the second milestone that I realized that Win7 was ‘special’. The newer development process that was deployed for Win7 was clearly paying off and my life was far less stressed. In fact I don’t think I worked late or came in on weekends once during the entire 3 years that Win7 was under development – this was a HUGE change. Every other product I’ve ever worked on has required late nights and weekends (sometime it required all-nighters). But for Win7 it just didn’t happen. Instead we set a set of goals that were reasonable with achievable schedules and we executed on those goals and delivered the features we promised.”

Revolutionary vs. evolutionary

When it moved forward from Windows Vista (version 6.0) and Longhorn (Windows Server 2008) to Windows 7 (v6.1) and Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft chose the path of evolution rather than build a revolutionary OS. Another legitimate question about Windows 8 is whether the platform will continue to evolve, or whether Microsoft is ready for a revolution in Windows, even though the memory of what revolutionary meant for Vista is still fresh for customers. While only time will tell whichever way Microsoft will take Windows 8, one thing is clear, the Redmond-based company started planning for the next generation of Windows long before Windows 7 was finalized.

In addition, the software giant is also hiring people to start coding for Windows 8. If the development process described by Osterman still applies, Microsoft will begin building Windows 8 early in 2010, if not even earlier. However, just as is the case with all Windows platforms, the successor of Windows 7 will too have to go through a planning phase, where coding is left in the background, and the priority is putting together the actual feature set for the operating system. Still, don’t expect Microsoft to start talking Windows 8 until well into 2010, if not even 2011. After all, it took over a year since the Windows 7 coding had started for Sinofsky to share the first details on the engineering process of the project.

Just in October, Microsoft mentioned Windows 8 in a number of job posts:

- “IIS team is looking for an experienced PM to join our core platform team. Your role will span across driving key features into Windows 8 as well as owning several out-of-band modules, including web analytics that will bring business intelligence for the customers that host applications and contents on IIS. Your work will help differentiate IIS and Smooth Streaming from Apache and Flash. You should also be ready to work in a fast-paced environment and have a strong desire for quality, security, and performance. Your feature will be used by millions of customers,” for the position of Senior Program Manager.

- “The Windows Live Mail team is looking for a seasoned Lead Program Manager to drive our next generation Mail client, and manage five stellar PMs. Our client has over 40M users world-wide, and serves as a key component of our Windows Live “light up Windows” strategy. Our current release is centered on hot new consumer features & better synergies with Hotmail & Windows 7, and our future releases will likely be tightly designed to work best with new Windows 8 platform technologies. We will also work closely with the Outlook team on ways to bring Windows Live to Outlook,” for the position of Principal Lead Program Manager.

- “The TAG team provides the foundation services and infrastructure to support a unified test and dev workflow. This team’s charter includes - developing and running a unified test submission and execution system for Windows 8, Automating Test pass scheduling & execution, results analysis & automated triage, Windows code coverage services, Developing and running the eBVT quality gate, supporting WinSE’s Windows 7 sustained engineering test needs,” for the position of Test Lead 2.

- “The Application Experience Bug Investigation Team, AEBit, is looking for passionate SDETs that want to make an impact on Windows 8. On the AEBit team you will get the unique opportunity to challenge and grow your debugging skills on issues that span the entire OS. You will have the opportunity to engage with software vendors, OEMs, as well as internal component teams. You will also be applying and enhancing your knowledge of system internals. As part of the AEBit team you will be responsible for driving and ensuring compatibility in Windows by engaging with component teams, root causing application bugs, and authoring mitigations,” for the position of Software Development Engineer in Test.

-[Read more>>]- Windows 8, and So It Begins

Happy 40th Birthday, Internet

Friday, October 30, 2009

The Internet got started with just two computers linked together in 1969We take it for granted today and it's easy to forget just how new it really is, but the Internet is a very different beast than it was just five years ago. It's now evolving at an amazing pace and soon one third of the world's population will be online. Its beginnings 40 years ago though were a lot more humble.

The actual birth date of the Internet isn't exactly set in stone but one date that is largely regarded as the day it all started is October 29, 1969. Back then computers were the size of rooms and mostly relegated to universities, big companies and military use. And 40 years ago researchers at two universities were trying to connect two of these computers, hundreds of miles away.

This first link was between the University of California, Los Angeles and the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) and the goal of the first test was a very simple one, just logging into the SRI machine. Charley Kline had the task of typing the “login” command. Unfortunately the “interface message processor” crashed on the first attempt and he only got to the 'g' so the first message ever transmitted was “lo.”

This was just the beginning though and a couple of months later the “Internet,” or rather its precursor, Arpanet, reached four nodes as two more universities joined. Twelve years later the number of connected machines jumped to an impressive 213. After that though things started picking up and there was no stopping the phenomenon. By the mid eighties 16 million people were using email but it would be until the early nineties that the Internet as we know it was created with the advent of the World Wide Web followed by the first web browser Netscape.

The Internet boom followed as everyone was suddenly interested in the online landscape. By the year 2000 there were half a billion people using the Internet and the number has more than tripled since. It's hard to find any part of life that hasn't been influenced or affected by the web in some form or another and at the rate at which it is evolving it's hard to predict where it will be in five years’ time, not to mention 40.

-[Read more>>]- Happy 40th Birthday, Internet

Leaked Motorola DROID Launch Kit and User Manual

Available one week before the official launch

Motorola DROID, Verizon Wireless' first ever Android mobile phone and the first device that was announced to come to the market with the 2.0 flavor of Google's operating system, will become available for purchase in about one week from now. There are many enthusiasts already waiting for November 6 to come so that they would be able to grab their own DROID from Verizon, but, until that will happen, they can now take a look at the handset's launch kit and user manual, which already leaked into the wild. Both documents have emerged courtesy of a forum member over at the Android Central Forums, and those interested in the matter can head over there to learn more on the device, or can follow this link to view the DROID User Manual, or this link for the DROID Launch Kit (both PDF links). We're pretty sure that a lot of people out there were waiting for something like this to happen so that their curiosity about the Motorola DROID would have something to feed on.

The Android 2.0-powered mobile phone is shaping up to be one of the nicest handsets that came to the market during the ongoing year. The phone in itself is reportedly very well built and can offer a great user experience due to its large touchscreen display and the side-sliding QWERTY keyboard it has been packed with, and the same applies to the Android 2.0 flavor (Eclair), which arrives to the market for the first time on DROID.

At the same time, both Motorola and Verizon seem to have high hopes for the device. Motorola has been through a series of bad quarters lately, and the launch of DROID, along with the previously released CLIQ, should help it gain some of the lost ground. As for Verizon, the DROID is said to help it better compete against AT&T and its exclusivity on the iPhone. In Verizon's opinion, DROID should deliver a better experience than the iPhone, and it expects for great sales of the handset.

-[Read more>>]- Leaked Motorola DROID Launch Kit and User Manual

Download Dock Spaces with Mac OS X 10.6 Support

Dock Spaces is a small Mac app that allows you to have up to ten different docks and swap anytime you want from the menu bar. By providing options to select whether or not icons bounce in one Dock, or by setting another to automatically hide itself while the rest are in Tiger-style 2D, with different alignment and positioning, you can tailor your Mac's application launcher to your exact needs.

Dock Spaces also works side by side with OS X Leopard's own Spaces feature, while each Dock is customizable. As noted in our extensive review of Dock Spaces, there are numerous applications that allow Mac users to modify the looks and the works of their Dock, but none offers the many advantages of Dock Spaces, from a functionality point of view. The Dock Spaces main features include:

- Up to ten Different docks;
- Task-specific / context-focused Docks;
- Set the name of the Dock;
- Spaces integration;
- Growl support;
- Software update;
- Completely Free!

The new version, 3.01 Beta, attempts to resolve overwriting issues, according to Patrick Chamelo, the developer of Dock Spaces. Support for Snow Leopard is also included in this release, the developer says. Chamelo is the founder of NSCoding, his company, and his main priority is to learn new methodologies, improve his programming skills and gain experience in software design and development, according to the About Us page at nscoding.co.uk.

“NSCoding is a small software development group located most of the time in England and occasionally is taking place from Greece. We create useful and beautiful apps for Mac OS X and the iPhone. Most of the applications are free but donations are accepted,” the company continues to reveal on its website. “We are available to be contacted through a number of social media networks to provide our users with the quickest and easiest support possible.”
External Mirror 1 - Beta [ZIP]
External Mirror 2 - Stable [ZIP]
Download Dock Spaces (Free)

-[Read more>>]- Download Dock Spaces with Mac OS X 10.6 Support

Twitter Lists Now Live

The grouping feature has been in beta for several weeks and is now being rolled out to all users

Twitter is finally rolling out the Lists feature to everybody and the site is abuzz with the news. This time though, it's for good reason, as the feature could prove one of the biggest improvements Twitter has seen at least since it hit the mainstream. Lists is still in beta and there have been some hiccups with the rollout but, by now, it should be available to most users.

The announcement was made on Twitter obviously, as the site's Nick Kallen tweeted: "We’re releasing lists to even more people. Don’t get your panties in a bunch, Twitter." At the time 25 percent of the service’s users had the feature enabled but as things got underway, Twitter suddenly disabled Lists for everyone after experiencing some performance issues. "We're going to temporarily turn off lists for all users for 30 minutes or so while we investigate a performance issue," Kallen tweeted. This is Twitter after all; this kind of thing doesn't faze anyone anymore.

The feature was soon restored though as it turned out that the issues were not related to Lists. The last update from Twitter was when the Lists feature was available to half of the Twitter users but by now most should see the big announcement on top of the regular homepage. Lists could be the thing Twitter needed at this point as traffic was begging to level off especially in the US.

The feature serves two main purposes, which many have been asking for a while. First, it allows users to organize the people they follow into groups based on whatever criteria they see fit. They could have their friends in one group, their family in another and their coworkers in yet another. Not only that it makes it easier to focus on the discussion, it also clears up the stream of any messages that may not be relevant to the user at that point. But perhaps even more useful, at least for some Twitter users, the Lists are shareable, meaning that anyone can follow a public List that you've created if they find it relevant. This allows users to follow a group of Twitterers in one move, but also makes it a lot easier to discover good users to follow, solving one of Twitter's biggest problems at the moment.

-[Read more>>]- Twitter Lists Now Live

Opera vNext, Resources Shift Beyond Opera 10

But no details are available for the time being

The next iteration of the Opera browser is slowly starting to take shape, even though the Norwegian browser maker is in no way ready to share details with the general public just yet. Approximately two months after it released its latest major version of Opera, Opera Software has officially confirmed that it is starting to focus on the upcoming version of the browser. Of course, information on Opera vNext is almost inexistent at this point in time, as the company hasn’t even made public the major build upgrade it is aiming for. But make no mistake about it, the next iteration of Opera, beyond Opera 10.0, is coming into focus, already grabbing the vast majority of resources available.

On October 29th, 2009, a new Beta development milestone of Opera 10.10 with Unite was made available for download. One member of the Opera Desktop team explained that there were reasons why the changelog was not more consistent, blaming in part the resource shift to the successor of Opera 10.0.

“The changelog [for the latest Build of Opera 10.10] isn't very big this time around. This is partially due to a seminar we attended last week, but a lot of the desktop resources have been moved to the next "major" version of Opera as well. We are not quite ready to share any details about this yet, but stay tuned,” the Opera Desktop team member stated. (emphasis added)

And apparently Opera Software is not only working on the evolution of Opera beyond version 10, but even further. “I won't go into too much detail about the seminar either, but among the subjects that were covered were some plans for the next couple of major versions of the desktop browser, and some pretty awesome news for Opera Mobile and Opera Mini users,” the opera Desktop team representative added. “Work on Unite in 10.10 will continue, so expect more Unite builds in the near future.”
Opera 10.01 is available for download here.

-[Read more>>]- Opera vNext, Resources Shift Beyond Opera 10

Facebook Awarded $711 Million in Damages in Spam Lawsuit

The social network doesn't expect to see much of the money anytime soon

Facebook has won a second huge judgment in a spam-related case, being awarded $711 million in damages by a US court. The judgment is against self-described Spam King Sanford Wallace, a man who has seen his fair share of spam lawsuits and who already owes MySpace $234 million in a similar case. The man used a phishing scheme to get unauthorized access to Facebook users' accounts and then post false Wall messages.

“While we don't expect to receive the vast majority of the award, we hope that this will act as a continued deterrent against these criminals. Most notably, the judge referred Wallace to the U.S. Attorney's Office with a request that Wallace be prosecuted for criminal contempt, which means that in addition to the judgment, he now faces possible jail time. This is another important victory in our fight against spam. We will continue to pursue damages against other spammers,” Sam O'Rourke, Facebook's lead counsel for litigation and intellectual property, wrote on the Facebook blog.

Sandford Wallace is a notorious figure in the spam world, with a long record of spam-related offenses. In the nineties he led the CyberPromotion company, which, in its heyday, was pushing as much as 30 million spammy email messages every day. In the recent years though he moved to social networks, leading to him being ordered to pay MySpace $234 million.

Now he is being accused of taking over people's Facebook accounts and using them to push ads for various sites. Facebook sued him and two others back in February and the lawsuit ended with the record ruling. Surprisingly though, it isn't the highest sum ever awarded as Facebook won another case a year ago against Adam Guerbuez and Atlantis Blue Capital, in which it was awarded $873 million.

Facebook obviously doesn't expect to see much of the money as the man has failed to pay any of the money owed to MySpace and to several ISPs, which also won cases against him. Of course, he couldn't pay even if he wanted to as even spam isn't that profitable. If Facebook was to get the money though, it would be quite a nice way to make a living as the social network is expected to bring in just half a billion dollars in revenue this year.

-[Read more>>]- Facebook Awarded $711 Million in Damages in Spam Lawsuit

Windows 7 RTM Support, the Evolution

In 1975, customer support consisted of Bill Gates and Paul Allen

Windows 7 is an evolutionary Windows client release, according to Microsoft, and it was also fit that support for the OS would also be an evolution compared to what was available for Windows Vista. And Windows 7 comes in a world where Microsoft Support is much different from what it was when the company made its debut.

According to the software giant, “Microsoft Corp. was founded in 1975 to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800. Customer support in 1975 consisted of Bill Gates and Paul Allen.” The focus on customer support has grown tremendously for Microsoft, as the Windows operating system became ubiquitous, and as the company started offering additional products.

Official statistics from the Redmond company reveal that this year alone traffic to Microsoft online support exploded to approximately 1.2 billion. “Microsoft Customer Service and Support now manages 30 million support requests online, through e-mail and phone each year in 29 languages across a range of products around the world. There are more than 7,000 agents in over 60 locations available to help Microsoft customers,” the company explained.

And precisely in order to simplify support, Microsoft has included a variety of enhancements into its latest Windows client, designed to let users deal with the most basic of problems virtually on their own. In order to help customers resolve Windows 7 issues on their own, and reduce the weight experienced by Microsoft Support, the company has focused on taking support to Twitter, providing a comprehensive library of software “Fix its” automatic fixes, and even build diagnostic and repair tools into Windows 7.

“Windows XP had little built-in support, and Windows Vista included some diagnostics to assess network connectivity issues,” Lori Brownell, general manager of Product Quality and Online Support at Microsoft, stated. “But Windows 7 truly reflects broad customer feedback that has enabled us to build a comprehensive set of resources that solve customers’ most pressing problems and even keep them ahead of potential problems. For example, Windows Update searches for updates, like driver updates, automatically.”

For the latest iteration of its Windows client, Microsoft has embraced social media, offering the @MicrosoftHelps handle on Twitter. The goal of @MicrosoftHelps is designed to help customers access support that is neither costly, nor technically complex.

“Our social media agents are experienced and have extensive knowledge about searching and using resources to get answers to customer questions,” Brownell explained. “They will also bring customers with more complex issues into the support forums for help from customer support and Microsoft MVPs.”

In addition to Twitter, the company is also leveraging the now-traditional forum formula to offer Windows 7 support via Microsoft Answers. “Microsoft Answers makes it much easier for consumers to find simply written information about their PCs,” Brownell noted. “People can go there to find, use and share information that helps them get the most from their software.”

But ahead of anything else, Microsoft is most proud of the Windows 7 native support, included in the box. From the Windows Action Center, users can easily take advantage of over 20 automated troubleshooters designed to resolve basic problems with Windows 7. “These troubleshooters can diagnose and solve the most common problems reported by Windows users, including set-up and compatibility issues, hardware defects and the like,” Brownell promised.

-[Read more>>]- Windows 7 RTM Support, the Evolution

Google Maps Gets a Real-Estate Layer

Making the feature more visible

Over the summer, Google introduced the Real Estate listing to Google Maps and, since then, it has been working on improving the feature. When it was first introduced, it proved somewhat useful, but it was still lacking and couldn't really be seen as a real alternative to real-estate search engines. But Google doesn't do huge product launches very often, rather it gets a feature out the door and then starts building on it until it shapes up to be a complete product. This is the case here too, and Google is now ready to make the feature more visible by adding it as an option in Google Maps under the “More” tab.

“First of all, we've made it easier to find real estate listings. Now, you can simply select "Real Estate" from the 'More' button on the top right of any Google Map to discover listings. From there, it's a simple matter to refine your search using the left hand panel – price, bedrooms, bathrooms, and so on. Of course, you can still pan the map to search for the perfect neighborhood and it'll automatically update with more listings,” Andrew Foster, product manager, wrote.

Along with the real-estate layer, Google is also enabling real estate-related search options in Google Maps when the layer is selected, but this feature is only available in the US for now. It allows users to specifically search for real-estate listings and to refine their search by selecting a price range, as well as other related options.

This may seem like a trivial change, but there are only four more options in the More menu and all of them rather generic layers like Photos or Wikipedia. It shows that Google is committed to turning real-estate entries into another revenue generator and a real business for the search giant. And, while it may not be a threat to the established services just yet, it won't be long until Google becomes a serious competitor in the sector.

-[Read more>>]- Google Maps Gets a Real-Estate Layer

Sony Ericsson Aino Now Available in the US

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Priced at $599.99 unlocked

Sony Ericsson Aino is one of the attractive handsets Sony Ericsson announced a while back to come to the market before the end of the ongoing year, and now it is available for purchase in various countries around the world, including the United States, where it can be purchased from SonyStyle stores for a price tag of $599.99 unlocked.

Those of you who haven't encountered the device just yet might be interested in what it has to offer, and we should mention here a 3-inch touchscreen display that boasts a 432 x 240 pixel resolution, as well as the 8.1-megapixel photo snapper that sports 16x digital zoom, auto focus and flash capabilities, as well as geo-tagging functionality. A microSD memory card slot with an 8GB memory card included are meant to offer additional storage space support.

In addition, the phone also includes 3G connectivity options, Wi-Fi capabilities, Stereo Bluetooth, USB connectivity, built-in GPS receiver with Google Maps support, 3D navigation, Music player and Music Recognition capabilities, DLNA support, a keypad with dedicated keys, and a charging base, as well as a 1000mAH Lithium Polymer battery.

Other features of the handset include PlayStation3 Remote Play capabilities, offering users the possibility to access music, videos and photos stored on their PS3 or to remotely control the PS3 from wherever they are. The Sony Ericsson Aino can also be connected through Wi-Fi so that content is downloaded to it wirelessly, while the Media Go application is a simple solution through which one can organize media on a PC and transfer it to the phone.

Here's how Sony Electronics describes the handset: “For unlocked purists and style seekers, the Sony Ericsson Aino phone is a 3G-enabled mobile phone that offers on-the-go entertainment and rich multimedia features. Entertainment options are nearly limitless – capture photos, listen to music, view videos and access content from your PlayStation3 console and home PC with its unique Remote Play, Media Home, and Media Go features.” The handset can be seen on SonyStyle here.

-[Read more>>]- Sony Ericsson Aino Now Available in the US

Endian Firewall 2.3 Includes Lots of New Features

An open source firewall distribution

On October 27th, Christian Graffer from the Endian team proudly announced the immediate availability of the Endian Firewall Community 2.3 Linux-based operating system. The new version includes a lot of bug fixes, improvements and many new and breathtaking features. We, at the Softpedia Labs, took the 2.3 release for a test drive and, among the new features, we noticed the support for backups, a dashbord, the VPN support, the SNMP support, e-mail notifications, policy routing, QoS, intrusion prevention, and many more.

Highlights of Endian Firewall 2.3:

· USB backups;
· Encrypted backups via email;
· Scheduled backups;
· Dashboard (with live graphs and system/services statistics);
· E-mail notifications for upcoming events;
· Time-based access control lists for HTTP proxy;
· New HTTP proxy web interface (with user-based and group-based content filtering);
· Intrusion prevention (with configurable Snort rules);
· Policy routing rules;
· Better port forwarding;
· QoS (Quality of Service) – replaces the Traffic Shaping feature;
· Added support for SNMP;
· A better and easy-to-use SMTP proxy web interface;
· Support for VLAN (IEEE 802.1Q trunking).

What is Endian Firewall?

Endian Firewall Community is a "turn-key" GNU/Linux distribution that turns every system into a full-featured security appliance. Endian Firewall is very easy to install, flexible, easy to manage and use.

Its features include:

· A stateful packet inspection firewall;
· Application-level proxies for various protocols (HTTP, FTP, POP3, SMTP) with antivirus support;
· Virus and spam filtering for email traffic (POP and SMTP);
· Content filtering of Web traffic and a "hassle free" VPN solution (based on OpenVPN).

Endian Firewall's main advantage is that it is a pure open source solution sponsored by Endian. Its goal is to work with the open source community to build a secure, complete and stable firewall exclusively from open source software.

Download Endian Firewall Community 2.3 right now Endian Firewall Community 2.3.0 (ISO)[iso] [124 MB]
MD5
[md5] [0 KB]

-[Read more>>]- Endian Firewall 2.3 Includes Lots of New Features

Download VirtualBox 3.0.10 for Mac OS X

Sun pulled the new version soon after posting it online, but the download is still available

Sun Microsystems has released a new version of VirtualBox, the company’s virtualization program that allows users to create virtual machines / environments for guest operating systems. Although version 3.0.10 has somehow been pulled from Sun’s website, the file is still available for download. Our guys were also able to grab the release notes before Sun re-posted version 3.0.8 as the latest available.

As the official release notes show, version 3.0.8 delivered one security fix, addressing a vulnerability that allowed to execute commands with root privileges
X11-based hosts received support for additional function keys on Sun keyboards, while Mac OS X hosts saw two fixes: one for a problem starting headless VMs without a graphical session (on Snow Leopard) and one for listing host-only adapter names with trailing garbage (attached VMs won't start).

According to the changelog for VirtualBox 3.0.10 Build 54077 (now pulled from Sun Microsystem’s site), Mac-specific changes include fixed memory leaks and a resolved redraw problem in a dual-screen setup. VMM changes include:

VMM: guest SMP stability fixes;
VMM: fixed guru meditation with nested paging and SMP guests;
VMM: changed VT-x/AMD-V usage to detect other active hypervisors; necessary for Windows 7 XP compatibility mode (Windows & Mac OS X hosts only);
VMM: guru meditation during SCO OpenServer installation and reboot (VT-x only);
VMM: fixed accessed bit handling in certain cases;
VMM: fixed VPID flushing (VT-x only);
VMM: fixed broken nested paging for 64 bits guests on 32 bits hosts (AMD-V only);
VMM: fixed loading of old saved states/snapshots.

Unlike Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion, VirtualBox is free to download and use for anyone packing the necessary hardware. The software is a feature-rich, high-performance product for enterprise customers. Available as Open Source Software, VirtualBox is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). Use the first link below to download the latest version of Sun Microsystem’s VitrualBox, or the second link to grab the VirtualBox Software Development Kit.

Download VirtualBox for Mac OS X (Free)
External Mirror 1 [DMG]
Download VirtualBox SDK (Free)

-[Read more>>]- Download VirtualBox 3.0.10 for Mac OS X

Mozilla Firefox 3.5.4 Final

Mozilla Firefox - faster, more secure, easier to use and sporting a new look, this latest Firefox release sets a new standard for web browser innovation. Mozilla Firefox project (formerly Firebird, which was formerly Phoenix) is a redesign of Mozilla's browser component, written using the XUL user interface language and designed to be cross-platform. It is small, fast and easy to use, and offers many advantages over other web browsers, such as the tabbed browsing and the ability to block pop-up windows. Firefox has the most ways to customize your online experience specifically for the way you use the web. There are more than 6,000 Add-ons (little extras that augment Firefox to meet your unique needs) just waiting out there to help you do more, have more fun and be more creative online. Firefox keeps your personal info personal and your online interests away from the bad guys. Simply put, your security is our top priority.

What makes Firefox different? Most importantly, we’re open. That means anyone around the world (and we have thousands of experts watching our back) is able to look into our code and find any potential weak spots in our armor. And when we hear about a problem, we roll up our sleeves and get to work fixing it right away. It’s in your best interest (and ours) to take care of the issue, even if it means admitting we’re a little less than perfect.

The TraceMonkey javascript engine brings screaming fast performance to Firefox 3.5. With javascript that's more than twice as fast as Firefox 3 and 10x faster than Firefox 2, you’ll be able to see the difference without breaking out your stopwatch.

Download : Mozilla Firefox 3.5.4 Final
Link : Other Languages

-[Read more>>]- Mozilla Firefox 3.5.4 Final

EVEREST Ultimate Edition 5.30.1924 Beta

EVEREST Ultimate Edition is an industry leading system diagnostics and benchmarking solution for enthusiasts PC users, based on the award-winning EVEREST Technology. During system optimizations and tweaking it provides essential system and overclock information, advanced hardware monitoring and diagnostics capabilities to check the effects of the applied settings. CPU, FPU and memory benchmarks are available to measure the actual system performance and compare it to previous states or other systems. Furthermore, complete software, operating system and security information makes EVEREST Ultimate Edition a comprehensive system diagnostics tool that offers a total of 100 pages of information about your PC.

Download : EVEREST Ultimate Edition 5.30.1924 Beta

-[Read more>>]- EVEREST Ultimate Edition 5.30.1924 Beta

Download Yahoo! Messenger 9.0

Instant messaging allows you to quickly exchange messages with your online friends
Yahoo! Messenger - Instant messaging allows you to quickly exchange messages with your online friends. Unlike e-mail, instant messages appear as soon they`re sent. By downloading the Yahoo! Messenger application to your computer, you can send instant messages to other people from around the globe, send them files or have a voice conference.

Other features include voice chat, file transfer, mail and stock quote alerts, sports scores, news, and much more.

NOTE: The Yahoo! Messenger Vista Preview works only on Vista OS.

This download is marked as adware because it displays advertisement banners or other type of commercials while running.

Here are some key features of "Yahoo! Messenger":

Photo Sharing:
· Drag-and-drop photos into your IM windows and talk about them like you're there.

LAUNCHcast Radio:
· Make your own radio station and listen to music you like!

Yahoo! Games:
· Challenge your friends to classic Yahoo! Games in the IM window.

IMVironments:
· Use interactive themed backgrounds in your IMs.

Find, Add, Share Friends:
· Easily get connected with the people who matter most.

Yahoo! Search:
· Search from your IM window, and get results both you and your friend can see.

File Transfer:
· Drag-and-drop files for real-time sharing and instant notification that they've been received.

Address Book:
· Synchronize all your contact information.

Stealth Settings:
· Make yourself appear online to some and offline to others.

Audibles:
· Let these animated characters say it out loud for you!

Emoticons:
· Express your feelings with these animated smiling faces.

Yahoo! Avatars:
· Represent yourself with a stylized graphical image.

Display Images:
· Select an image to represent yourself to your friends.

Skins:
· Select new visual designs or disable them altogether.

Voice:
· Make free worldwide PC-to-PC calls and enjoy great sound quality and voice mail.

Take Yahoo! with You:
· Stay connected to Yahoo! Messenger on your mobile phone.

Webcam:
· Share live video with friends and family around the world.

Conference:
· Exchange text messages with multiple people in one IM.

Home

Download Yahoo! Messenger 9.0

-[Read more>>]- Download Yahoo! Messenger 9.0

Yahoo Microsoft Search Deal Signing Delayed Until 2010

The two companies need more time to work out the details

Nobody expected the Yahoo Microsoft deal to go that smoothly and it's already seeing the first delays. When the deal was initially announced on July 29 the two parties said that a finalized agreement would be signed by October 27 but that date has come and passed and the two companies are now saying they need more time to work out all the details. The deal is still definitely going through and it should close sometime in early 2010. The delay was revealed in a SEC filing from the two companies.

“Microsoft and Yahoo! are committed to this agreement and believe this is a highly competitive deal that is good for consumers, advertisers and publishers. We have made good progress in finalizing the definitive agreements. Given the complex nature of this transaction there remain some issues that need some additional clarity and definitive details. So, the teams at Yahoo! and Microsoft are continuing to work on the remaining details, and we have mutually agreed to extend the period to negotiate and execute the agreement,” Yahoo said in a statement.

So what does this mean for the deal? Not much actually, the agreement is one of the biggest deals in web history and working out all the details is taking a little longer than the companies first anticipated. The deal would have Yahoo using Microsoft's search engine Bing for the underlying technology but will retain its own interface for the search result pages. Likewise, the advertising for both engines will be served through Microsoft's Ad Network but Yahoo will handle the big accounts.

The deal involves a small amount of money upfront for Yahoo over the course of the first three years to cover the transition costs but the bulk of the financial reward will come from revenue sharing. This too has a complicated scheme that stretches for 10 years. These are just the broad details of the deal and they don't cover any of the more technical aspects so it is easy to see why all of the details haven't been finalized yet.

-[Read more>>]- Yahoo Microsoft Search Deal Signing Delayed Until 2010

Download New Mozilla Firefox 3.5.4 / 3.0.15 for Mac OS X

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Both releases contain important security fixes, as well as stability improvements

Mozilla has released two new versions of its popular, cross-platform web browser, Firefox. Branches 3.5 and 3.0 have been updated with security fixes, stability tweaks, as well as new abilities and other enhancements. Mozilla Firefox versions 3.5.4 and 3.0.15 are immediately available for download right here, on Softpedia.

According to the release notes for Firefox version 3.5.4, Mozilla has been able to fix several security issues, most of which are labeled as “Critical” – the vulnerabilities can be used to run attacker code and install software, requiring no user interaction beyond normal browsing. Moderate vulnerabilities that would otherwise be High or Critical, except they only work in uncommon, non-default configurations (or require the user to perform complicated and/or unlikely steps), are also addressed in the 3.5.4 release. With the exception of a crash with recursive web-worker calls, all the issues listed below are addressed in both the 3.5 and 3.0 branches of Firefox for Mac OS X.

- MFSA 2009-64 Crashes with evidence of memory corruption (rv:1.9.1.4/ 1.9.0.15);
- MFSA 2009-63 Upgrade media libraries to fix memory safety bugs;
- MFSA 2009-62 Download filename spoofing with RTL override;
- MFSA 2009-61 Cross-origin data theft through document.getSelection();
- MFSA 2009-59 Heap buffer overflow in string to number conversion;
- MFSA 2009-57 Chrome privilege escalation in XPCVariant::VariantDataToJS();
- MFSA 2009-56 Heap buffer overflow in GIF color map parser;
- MFSA 2009-55 Crash in proxy auto-configuration regexp parsing;
- MFSA 2009-54 Crash with recursive web-worker calls;
- MFSA 2009-53 Local downloaded file tampering;
- MFSA 2009-52 Form history vulnerable to stealing.

Mozilla also claims to have added the ability to re-submit crash reports. Developers were also able to address an issue where, after using Clear Recent History, some SSL sites would not load all images and styles without pressing reload.

Download Mozilla Firefox for Mac (Free)
External Mirror 1 - 3.6 Alpha 1 [DMG]
External Mirror 2 - 3.5.4 [DMG]
External Mirror 3 - 3.0.15 [DMG]
External Mirror 4 - 2.0.0.20 [DMG]

-[Read more>>]- Download New Mozilla Firefox 3.5.4 / 3.0.15 for Mac OS X

Google Launches Full-Blown Navigation Software for Android Devices

Google Maps Navigation offers one of the best experiences for any GPS navigation device

Google has been pushing hard in the mobile space with its Android operating system for smartphones, which is now mature enough to tackle the best phones out there. The devices running Android are also getting more competitive especially with the new Motorola Droid announced today. But being just as good wasn't going to allow Google to take the iPhone's crown; what it needed was a big feature that the Apple phone lacked and it may have finally arrived today with a full blown GPS navigational system powered by Google Maps.

“Today we're excited to announce the next step for Google Maps for mobile: Google Maps Navigation (Beta) for Android 2.0 devices,” Keith Ito, a software engineer at Google, said. “This new feature comes with everything you'd expect to find in a GPS navigation system, like 3D views, turn-by-turn voice guidance and automatic rerouting. But unlike most navigation systems, Google Maps Navigation was built from the ground up to take advantage of your phone's Internet connection.“

Google Maps has been very popular for mobile phones and rightfully so, a mapping service is right at home on a mobile device. But the navigational service launched today, dubbed Google Maps Navigation, is taking it to the next level by taking full advantage of everything Google has to offer.

Unlike most GPS devices or applications, the Google app gets all the mapping information from Maps meaning that it is constantly updated and improved. Along with the mapping data, Google Maps Navigation also pulls business directory listings straight from Google, again leveraging one of the company's assets to offer features that most competitors couldn't.

The interface also has some unique features that its years in the search business have made possible. Navigating to a location doesn't require an exact address, instead users can search for the place using its name or any piece of information related to it and Google will figure out where they want to go. What's more, with the voice search feature, users don't have to type anything, a welcomed addition, as typing on a phone isn't exactly the funniest and easiest thing to do, especially in a car.

For the actual map view, the search giant also digs deep into every aspect of Google Maps to bring unique features to the app. Besides the usual graphical map and 3D views, Maps Navigation also features a Satellite view and, even more interesting, Street View images. Google Maps Navigation will be available for all Android 2.0 phones and, in true Google fashion, it will be completely free.

-[Read more>>]- Google Launches Full-Blown Navigation Software for Android Devices

Dell's Rugged Latitude XT2 XFR Officially Announced

Goes for a starting price of US$3,599

Round Rock, Texas-based Dell, one of the world's leading vendors of computer systems, has recently announced the expansion of its line of Latitude laptops, with the introduction of the new 12.1-inch rugged convertible tablet, featuring multi-touch capabilities, the Latitude XT2 XFR. The new system has been designed to meet the requirements of users working in extreme environments, where laptops have to withstand extreme temperatures and harsh handling.

“The Latitude XT2 XFR is more than a laptop, it's a key part of our mobile command and data-center solutions for field service, defense and first-responder customers,” said Paul Bell, president, Dell Global Public-Sector Business. “These unique solutions, coupled with our service model, make those communities more effective, enabling them to focus on their core missions instead of managing technology.”
The new laptop has been designed with a 12.1-inch touchscreen display and can support a maximum resolution of 1280 by 800 pixels. Inside the system's configuration you will find a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo ULV SU9600 processor, coupled with up to 5GB of RAM, a 160GB HDD and the Intel 4500MHD integrated graphics solution. The Latitude's storage solution can also be replaced with a choice for a 64 or 128GB SSD, while additional features include an 8x DVD writer, a multi-gesture touchpad, Gigabit Ethernet and WiFi, as well as a necessary Bluetooth option. The XT2 XFR also ships with a built-in fingerprint reader, a Smart Card reader, a 3MP webcam and a design that is shock, dust and moisture resistant.

Available with a choice for a 4-, 6-, or 9-cell battery pack, the new Dell Latitude XT2 XFR will run either on Microsoft's Windows Vista or Windows 7 operating systems. Backed by a three-year warranty, the system will be available with a starting price tag of US$3,599 and can already be configured and purchased from Dell.

-[Read more>>]- Dell's Rugged Latitude XT2 XFR Officially Announced

Motorola DROID Now Official, Available Come November 6

Priced at $199 on contract

Wireless carrier Verizon has announced officially today the launch of Motorola DROID, the first smartphone that reaches the operator's offering with Google's Android operating system on board. The new mobile phone is the first handset to come to the market with Android 2.0, the newest flavor of Google's OS, and also sports great performance levels and impressive speeds, as well as an attractive design. The handset is expected to become available for purchase on Verizon's airwaves as soon as November 6 is here, the carrier announced.

“We’re proud to work with Verizon Wireless and Google on the first smartphone to feature Android 2.0,” said Sanjay Jha, co-chief executive officer of Motorola and chief executive officer of Motorola Mobile Devices. “DROID by Motorola delivers a rich consumer experience with warp-speed Web browsing, a mammoth screen, and Motorola’s expertise in design and voice quality. Combined with Android’s open, flexible graphical user interface and the power of Verizon Wireless’ 3G network, DROID is a smartphone that simply doesn’t compromise.”

The new smartphone is one of the thinnest full-QWERTY slider phones available on the market at the moment, which also sports GPS navigation capabilities, as well as over-the-air updating and multi-tasking features. The handset will deliver a 3.7” high-resolution screen, a 5-megapixel camera, multi-window HTML browser, Google Maps Navigation, included 16 GB memory card, and access to various services like YouTube, Gmail, Android Market, Amazon MP3 Store or Verizon Wireless Visual Voice Mail.

“This is an exciting announcement for Verizon Wireless, as the DROID by Motorola is the first device that we are bringing to market under our ground-breaking strategic partnership with Google,” said John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless. “DROID by Motorola gives customers a lifestyle device with access to more than 12,000 applications that will help them stay in touch, up to date and entertained, using the best 3G network in the country.”

Verizon Wireless announced that the new Motorola DROID would become available for purchase starting with November 6, priced at $199.99 upon the signing of a two-year contract agreement with the carrier and after a $100 mail-in rebate. Users will be able to acquire it from all Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online on the company's website.

-[Read more>>]- Motorola DROID Now Official, Available Come November 6

iPhone on Orange UK Come November 10

Monday, October 26, 2009

The next day after O2 loses the exclusivity

It's a common fact that wireless carriers in the UK have long waited for O2's exclusivity on the Apple iPhone to come to an end, and that two of them already announced a while ago that they would soon offer the device to their users. One of these carriers, Orange, is now reported to prepare the iPhone for launch starting with November 10, only about two weeks from now.

According to a recent article on guardian.co.uk, the mobile phone carrier will have the device available on its airwaves the very next day O2's agreement with Apple will come to an end. Moreover, it seems that both the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS models will become available for purchase from the company that day, and the carrier will have it available for purchase both via its stores in the country as well as via Phones4U.

Not only that O2 has lost the exclusivity deal on the iPhone, but it seems that it also remains without some of the retailers that stocked the iPhone for it, including Carphone Warehouse, the only retailer that had the Apple device available during O2's reign, which is now said to plan on selling the device for Orange. According to the news site, Orange refused to comment on the availability of the iPhone.

One thing that should be noted here is that Vodafone, another large carrier in the UK, is also expected to start selling the iPhone in the near future, something that should happen only at the beginning of next year, as the distribution agreement between Vodafone and Apple states. Basically, this means that Orange and O2 will have to race head to head to win as many users as possible for the iPhone during the Christmas shopping season.

The Apple device is also expected to become available next year via another carrier in the country, 3, which already announced plans to have the handset on its airwaves sometime in 2010. As for T-Mobile UK, the carrier is expected to include the iPhone in its offering based on the recently announced partnership with Orange.

-[Read more>>]- iPhone on Orange UK Come November 10

Download .NET Framework 4 Beta 2

Opened to the general public

Microsoft has opened access to the second Beta development milestone of the next iteration of .NET to the general public. After it was released initially only to MSDN subscribers, .NET Framework 4 Beta 2 is currently up for grabs for all users and developers, independent of an MSDN subscription. .NET Framework 4 Beta 2 accompanied the release of Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2, and together the two make up the next-generation Microsoft developer platform and tools, both intimately connected with any development efforts targeting Windows 7.

Nicholas Allen, program manager at Microsoft working on Windows Communication Foundation, Windows Workflow Foundation, Silverlight, and other projects for the .NET Framework, announced the availability of .Net 4 Beta 2 to the public on the same day that Microsoft gave the green light to the retail channel launch of Windows 7. “You will see a number of new WCF features changed or moved around since the first beta release, but what you see now is almost everything planned for .Net 4,” Allen promised.

Both developers and end users will be able to get their hands on the Microsoft .NET Framework 4 redistributable package, which is designed to deploy the .NET Framework runtime and also install the associated files that permit .NET 4 applications to be developed and run. Devs already familiar with past versions of the .NET Framework will undoubtedly notice CLR and BCL enhancements, but also improvements in the Visual Basic and C# languages, in ADO.NET, ASP.NET, WPF, in Windows Workflow and in Windows Communication Foundation. In addition, Microsoft has introduced enhancements designed to streamline development for parallel processors in .NET Framework 4.

“If you're planning to test .Net 4 for compatibility, then I highly recommend doing that as soon as possible using this beta, preferably in the next few weeks. It's virtually impossible to address any but the most severe issues once the release date gets close. Waiting to test can delay getting your feedback addressed for years until the next service pack or release comes out,” Allen added.

.NET Framework 4 Beta 2 is available for download here.

Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional Beta 2 and Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate Beta 2 are available for download via this link.

-[Read more>>]- Download .NET Framework 4 Beta 2

Kingston Intros 40GB SSD for Desktop Users

Offers alternative for OS partition

Kingston, one of the world's leading vendors of Flash-based storage solutions and memory products, has announced today the expansion of its new family of SSD V series drives with the debut of the SSD 40GB accelerator drive. According to the company, this new product has been designed as a cost-effective way to accelerate the performance of a desktop computer system, by improving boot times and application load times. While it doesn't provide the highest capacity in its class, the new SSD does deliver an impressive read performance, making for an ideal choice for PC users looking to boost the performance of their PCs in an affordable manner.

“The SSDNow V Series 40GB Accelerator Drive offers instant performance enhancement and lower power consumption on existing systems at a fraction of the cost of a new system,” said Ariel Perez, SSD business manager, Kingston Digital. “In real-world numbers this means that by upgrading with an SSDNow 40GB drive, you can speed up open and close times of web browsers such as Internet Explorer or Firefox, and programs like iTunes or Photoshop by almost 4 times over existing regular desktops hard-disk drives.”

According to the technical specifications of the new drive, users will be able to take advantage of read speeds of up to 170MB/s, while write speeds have been rated at 40MB/s. The drive comes in a 2.5-inch form factor and is bundled with 3.5-inch brackets and mounting screws, making it a reliable upgrade for desktop PC users. The bundle also provides users with SATA data and power cables, as well as a cloning software that will enable the user to clone the content of a hard drive to the new SSD, thus eliminating the need to go through a new OS installation process.

Said to become available starting early next month, the new drives will be priced at a suggested US$123 for the desktop bundle kit and US$117 for the standalone SSD. For a deeper look at what this new SSD has to offer, be sure to check our review of Kingston’s SSDNow V 40GB SSD.

-[Read more>>]- Kingston Intros 40GB SSD for Desktop Users

NOD32 Antivirus 4.0.468 + Update Key

Sunday, October 25, 2009

ESET NOD32 Antivirus System - Integrated, Real-Time Protection against viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, adware, phishing, and hackers. Best detection, fastest performance & smallest footprint. NOD32 Antivirus System provides well balanced, state-of-the-art protection against threats endangering your PC and enterprise systems running various platforms from Microsoft Windows, through a number of UNIX/Linux, Novell, MS DOS operating systems to Microsoft Exchange Server, Lotus Domino and other mail servers.

ESET solutions are built on ESET’s one-of-a-kind ThreatSense technology. This advanced heuristics engine enables proactive detection of malware not covered by even the most frequently updated signature-based products by decoding and analyzing executable code in real time, using an emulated environment.

By allowing malware to execute in a secure virtual world, ESET is able to clearly differentiate between benign files and even the most sophisticated and cleverly-disguised malware.

Users of Microsoft® Windows® can experience the power and elegance of NOD32's ThreatSense Technology with ease and comfort. Our single optimized engine offers the best protection from viruses, spyware, adware, phishing attacks, and more. Keep tomorrow's threats at bay with our proactive detection technology.

If you are interested in computer security and would like to get a chance to influence the development of ESET's security systems, we invite you to join our Early Access program. Gain early access to the latest technology in beta and release candidate stages.

Download : NOD32 Antivirus 4.0.468 (32-Bit) |
Download : NOD32 Antivirus 4.0.468 (64-Bit) |

NOD32 Update Key:

Username: EAV-23225002
Password: 5e2k3kmvj2

Username: EAV-23176119
Password: bfm5nkutma

Username:EAV-23225002
Password:5e2k3kmvj2

-[Read more>>]- NOD32 Antivirus 4.0.468 + Update Key

Yahoo Board Member Carl Icahn Resigns

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Ending his turbulent stay at the company

Yahoo is still far from recovery and, despite a very important deal with Microsoft, it's beginning to look that it wasn't enough to sway the general opinion about the company's future. And that deal itself is looking worse and worse as time goes by, with many believing that Yahoo could have gotten better terms or that it should have stuck with the search business. Now, the grumblings from inside may be rising again as board member Carl Icahn is leaving his chair after quite a turbulent tenure.

He thinks it's now time to move on and pursue other more attractive interests in other companies saying, "There was not a need at this time for an activist investor" at Yahoo. The lack of time and the focus on other companies is the official reason for his departure, but, considering his troubled stay at the company, the motivation may be a little different. At the same time, it's likely that many at Yahoo are glad to see him gone, as Icahn didn't exactly make a lot of friends at the company.

Still, Yahoo had an official and standard canned response thanking the shareholder for his input. "Carl has been an important member of our Board and has helped us through some significant transitions. We are all grateful for his active role shaping the future of Yahoo," the company said in a statement.

Icahn created a lot of turmoil last year during the Microsoft takeover negotiations. When he failed to raise the interest of Microsoft directly, he managed to get a board seat thanks to his five-percent stake in the company. His plan was to reignite the talks between the two giants, but, by that time, Microsoft had become, obviously, uninterested. He then changed his strategy and supported the search deal, which was eventually finalized and announced last summer.

Yahoo's current CEO, Carol Bartz, and Icahn haven't been on the best of terms, but it's unclear if he is just giving up the fight or whether he is confident that Yahoo is headed in the right direction. In any case, he probably realized that nothing big was going to happen at Yahoo in the immediate future and, with the stock price going up, he is moving on to other, potentially more profitable, ventures.

-[Read more>>]- Yahoo Board Member Carl Icahn Resigns

Facebook Now Serves 25 Percent of the Pageviews in the US

The battle between Google and Facebook is heating up

Facebook is huge, the biggest social network and one of the largest websites on the planet. It's also growing at a hefty pace with no slowdown in sight. It has 300 million users worldwide and is one of the top five sites in terms of traffic in many countries. Yet, despite all this, some stats still manage to surprise us, like the fact that Facebook is now getting one in every four pageviews in the US. That's right, a quarter of the webpages served in the US come from Facebook, quite a feat for a company that, a year ago, wasn't even a threat to the then-dominant social network, MySpace.

Looking at numbers from Compete, researcher Perry Drake found that Facebook had grown to be the biggest website in the US in terms of pageviews, trumping giants like Google. While Facebook manages to get 25 percent of the page views, Google only gets about eight percent of the total monthly pageviews in the US, or one in 12. The numbers, of course, may not be precisely accurate, but they do serve as a good guideline.

Only traffic to Google's homepage at google.com and related sub-sites is counted, leaving out some properties that are hosted under their own URL, but this is still an impressive feat for Facebook and probably a cause for worry for Google. Facebook's dominance doesn't translate into the number of total visits where Google still has the upper hand, but the social network is closing fast. The discrepancy between visits and pageviews is easy enough to explain, users tend to spend a lot more time at Facebook and to navigate through a lot more pages, whereas at Google users tend to stay in one place to get the job done.

But the biggest worry for Google may be in the number of unique visitors where Facebook is again catching up. The social network is over 90 million unique visitors in the US at the moment and the number is still rising. These stats may be a bit surprising at first, but only because Facebook has grown so fast in the past year, while Google has been dominating the landscape for several years now. Everyone is looking at the search-engine brawl or the battle between social networks, but there is just one real war on the horizon and it's going to be between Facebook and Google.

-[Read more>>]- Facebook Now Serves 25 Percent of the Pageviews in the US

Nokia Messaging Headed to France via Orange

Friday, October 23, 2009

With the Origami Plus and Origami Jet monthly plans

Espoo, Finland-based mobile phone maker Nokia and wireless carrier Orange France have announced today that the handset vendor's Nokia Messaging, a user-friendly push email service designed specifically to fit the needs of mobile phone users, will soon become available in the country on the airwaves of Orange France.

According to the two companies, the availability of the new service will offer Orange France customers the possibility to access email accounts from thousands of webmail providers all around the world, all directly from their handsets, while also benefiting from the push email capabilities Nokia Messaging comes around with.

As many of you might already know, the email service from Nokia offers users the possibility to mobilize a number of up to ten personal email accounts at the same time. Moreover, Nokia Messaging will also offer them the possibility to read, send, forward and reply to emails from their mobile phones, as well as to download, read and attach files to the emails.

Those who would like to benefit from the features of the new service only need to enter their email address and password on the handset. Orange France customers can this way configure the ten email accounts on their Nokia handset, mobilizing inboxes from Orange, Gmail, Yahoo!Mail, Windows Live Hotmail, and other supported sites.

“We are delighted to be launching this 'push email' service with Orange. This is a clear demonstration that mobile messaging isn't just for big companies. Thanks to this solution, private and professional users alike - SMEs, freelancers, young professionals and students - can receive their emails instantly,” said François Bornibus, general manager, Nokia France.

Orange France has announced that the Nokia Messaging push email service will soon be introduced with its Origami Plus and Origami Jet monthly plans, and that the service will come at launch on handsets like Nokia 5230, Nokia E71, Nokia N97 and the new Nokia N97 mini. Moreover, the carrier has also announced that Nokia Messaging will be available with the Orange email option.

-[Read more>>]- Nokia Messaging Headed to France via Orange

New Parallels Desktop Puts Windows 7 on Mac OS X

Beats VMware in adding enhanced support for Windows 7 as guest on a Mac

Parallels has issued a software update for its powerful virtualization solution, Parallels Desktop for Mac. Supported even on Mac OS X 10.4.11 (Tiger), Parallels can now effectively run Windows 7 inside a virtual machine on a Mac, according to the company.

Following the release of Windows 7, Parallels immediately issued an update for its software virtualization solution, noting (PDF) that Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac Update (build 4.0.3848) increased compatibility with Windows 7. Parallels even beats Apple in the race to support Windows 7.

According to a Support document posted by the Mac maker yesterday, Apple is adding support for Windows 7 in Boot Camp, but only on Snow Leopard. As noted above, Parallels’ solution runs on Mac OS X 10.4.11 (Tiger) through Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), provided the Mac is an Intel-based one.

Although VMware also supports Windows 7 guests in its Fusion virtualization tool, the company is yet to issue its own update confirming compatibility with the Windows 7 build having made a public appearance on October 22nd.

According to its makers, Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac addresses two primary user concerns: security and backup. Parallels Internet Security, powered by Kaspersky for the anti-virus, firewall, scanner, recovery, filtering and identity protection, as well as Acronis True Image Home backup and restore and Acronis Disk Director Suite are said to offer users more peace of mind when using their preferred OS.

Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac costs $79.99, while existing users benefit from discounts and even free upgrades, depending on their current status (software version). If you are new to the software, you can try it out for 15 days for free – all features enabled.

Download Parallels Desktop for Mac (Update / Trial / Buy)
External Mirror 1

-[Read more>>]- New Parallels Desktop Puts Windows 7 on Mac OS X

Google and Twitter Sign Search Deal

The search engine will include tweets in the results

The real-time web just got a lot more competitive with two of the largest search engines in the market announcing deals with Twitter. Both Google and Bing will now show tweets from the microblogging platform in their results pages. Both deals have been speculated for a while and now they've been made official. Google and Twitter have just announced the deal and it will be a while before this has any sort of benefit for the users.

“[W]e are very excited to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in our search results. We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months,” Marissa Mayer, vice president of Search Products and User Experience, wrote.

Real-time information is becoming increasingly important but, initially, the big search engines were completely taken by surprise. The fact that it took half a year after Twitter hit the mainstream to reach a deal shows just how little they were expecting this. At the time Twitter began to make a splash, Google did recognize that they were far behind and that the microblogging platform was doing a much better job at distributing the latest information. But since then Google has made strides in real-time search, bringing up the response time from hours to minutes and introducing tools to take advantage of the faster delivery.

“A fast growing amount of information is coursing through Twitter very quickly, and we want there to be many ways to access that information. As part of that effort, we've partnered with Google to index the entire world of public tweets as fast as possible and present them to their users in an organized and relevant fashion,” Twitter cofounder and CEO Evan Williams wrote about the deal.

But it's no use being able to index and return the information in a matter of minutes if there's nothing to return so the Twitter deal is the next logical step. Despite a slump in growth in the past few months, Twitter is still the biggest resource for real-time information and the preferred way of spreading it. But announcing that you will include tweets in the results and doing it in a meaningful way are two different things. A number of startups have popped up to tackle the problem of Twitter search, as the site's own search engine is known to be lacking. But it's proven a much harder thing to do than it first appeared, perhaps because of the less-than-perfect Twitter API but also because of the amount of data. None of the startups have Google's money and resources though, so it should be interesting to see how things develop over the next few months.

-[Read more>>]- Google and Twitter Sign Search Deal

Gmail Notifier 1.0.0.71

Tired of checking your Gmail ? Have more than one account ? Gmail Notifier is the perfect solution for you - and its free !

Gmail Notifier alerts you when you have new email messages in your mailbox. Also, you can read email headers, delete emails or mark them as read. Use Gmail Notifier to check up to 5 Gmail accounts.

Gmail Notifier gives you:

- Account login in one click
- Counter of unread emails
- Sound and tray icon alerts
- Read email headers and body
- Delete emails or mark as read
- IMAP connectivity over SSL
- Support for multiple accounts
- Support for UTF-8 emails
- Support for mailto links
- Support for hosted domains
- Attachment indicator
- 100% Spy and spam free
- Auto version updates
- Save window position
- Make window topmost
- Run at startup

New in this version:
- Added localization for Italian, Russian and Polish

Download : Gmail Notifier 1.0.0.71

-[Read more>>]- Gmail Notifier 1.0.0.71