VirtualBox 3.1.0 Final Released

Monday, November 30, 2009

Mac OS X users encouraged to update to the latest version

Last week, Sun Microsystems announced a new beta release of its open source virtualization program, VirtualBox. Bringing Teleportation, a feature that allows for the live migration of a VM session from one machine to another, VirtualBox 3.1.0 can also restore VM states from arbitrary snapshots instead of just the last one. New snapshots can also be taken from other snapshots.

As usual, a lengthy list of changes is offered up with the release. Sun notes these key additions and tweaks:

- Teleportation (aka live migration); migrate a live VM session from one host to another;
- VM states can now be restored from arbitrary snapshots instead of only the last one, and new snapshots can be taken from other snapshots as well ("branched snapshots");
- 2D video acceleration for Windows guests; use the host video hardware for overlay stretching and color conversion;
- More flexible storage attachments: CD/DVD drives can be attached to arbitrary storage controllers, and there can be more than one such drive;
- The network attachment type can be changed while a VM is running;
- Complete rewrite of experimental USB support for OpenSolaris hosts making use of the latest USB enhancements in Solaris Nevada 124 and higher;
- Significant performance improvements for PAE and AMD64 guests (VT-x and AMD-V only);
- Experimental support for EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface);
- Support for para-virtualized network adapters.

For many of the changes included with VirtualBox 3.1.0, Sun advises users to check with the app’s help menu / user guide. In the latest beta release, the makers of the Java platform also added support for Parallels version 2 disk image (HDD) files. This feature should also make its way into a stable version soon enough. Download links are available below for getting the latest version of Sun Microsystem’s VirtualBox, or the VirtualBox Software Development Kit.

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

-[Read more>>]- VirtualBox 3.1.0 Final Released

Tiny Core Linux 2.6 Is Now Available for Download

Many improvements, fixes and more

Robert Shingledecker, founder of the Tiny Core Linux project, announced last evening (November 26th) the immediate availability of the Tiny Core Linux 2.6 distribution, a version that brings updated applications and scripts, various improvements and, of course, a couple of bug fixes. But let's take a closer look at some of the most important changes brought by the new Tiny Core Linux 2.6 operating system:

· Added select utility instead of dialog;
· The blkid, libuuid and libblkid tools were updated;
· rebuildfstab was updated to reflect removals and to drop additional mount points;
· The xsetup.sh script was updated using select;
· The mktclocal tool was updated using select;
· The tc-terminal-server script was updated using select;
· A missing link was updated in the libpng.so library;
· Support for cryptohome was removed;
· The tc-config script was updated to reflect new changes;
· The rc.shutdown script was updated to support the BusyBox syntax;
· The tce-load script was updated to support the BusyBox mount utility;
· Replaced the GNU versions of the losetup, mount, lsmod, rmmod, insmod, modprobe tools with the BusyBox ones;
· Support for the cramfs and ziofs filesystems was removed (all extensions uses squashfs);
· The ed, fsck, eject, expand and unexpand applets of BusyBox were removed;
· The flwm_topside_restart script was fixed to correctly update the system menu;
· flwm menu .wmx was updated to reflect new changes;
· The restore boot option of tc-restore.sh was updated to override the default backup location;
· The .xsesion and xsetup.sh scripts were updated for better redirection of error messages;
· The tiny ASCII penguin was restored in MOTD.

About Tiny Core Linux

Tiny Core Linux aims to be an extremely lightweight core desktop upon which users can install their choice of applications. It can operate in four modes: Cloud/Internet – the default boot mode where the system boots entirely in the RAM, PPR/TCE mode – the user has to specify a persistent storage partition and can use the TCE repository, PPR/TCZ mode – the same as PPR/TCE, except it uses the TCZ extension type, and the PPI/TCE mode – installs extensions on a Linux partition or a loop back file.

Download Tiny Core Linux 2.6 right now

	Tiny Core Linux 2.6 (ISO) [iso] [10.30 MB]
	MD5 [md5] [0 KB]

-[Read more>>]- Tiny Core Linux 2.6 Is Now Available for Download

Available Now: Mandriva Flash 2010

Mandriva Linux 2010 in your pocket

Mandriva announced yesterday in a press release that a new version of its portable USB Mandriva Flash Drive was available for purchase. The new edition is based on the recently released Mandriva Linux 2010.0 operating system, with the KDE4 flavour. Mandriva Flash 2010 is available on an 8 GB USB flash drive.

Think of Mandriva Flash 2010 as your personal and private 3D mobile desktop, which empowers you to perform your daily computer tasks from anywhere. It offers a fully secure and protected environment that allows anyone to store their personal data on the same device. No software will be installed on the PC,
because everything works off the USB flash drive. Mandriva Flash 2010 includes the powerful Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird applications for a safe and secure web browsing and effective e-mail communication, respectively, as well as the popular OpenOffice.org office suite and the Google Toolbar.

Highlights of Mandriva Flash 2010:

· Mandriva Smart Desktop technology;
· Latest KDE4 desktop environment;
· Windows launcher;
· Microsoft Windows migration utility;
· Amazing 3D desktop effects;
· OpenOffice.org office suite;
· Mozilla Firefox web browser;
· Mozilla Thunderbird e-mail client;
· Adobe Flash Player 10;
· Java Runtime Environment;
· Google Toolbar;
· Boot and restore CD.

Mandriva Flash 2010 has localization in English, German, French, Italian, Finnish, Spanish, Swedish, Portuguese and Dutch. It doesn't require an installation, you can boot directly from the USB stick and most hardware configurations are supported.

Mandriva Flash 2010 is available right now from the official Mandriva Store at the price of $59.90 or 49.90 euros. All orders will be delivered in two weeks from the time of purchase. The USB flash drive has a 5-year warranty period.

About Mandriva

Mandriva, formerly known as Mandrakesoft, is the publisher of Mandriva Linux, an easy-to-use and innovative operating system, and one of the most popular Linux distributions in the world. Dedicated to making open-source technologies accessible to all users, Mandriva offers a full range of products and services to enterprises, individuals and government organizations. Mandriva products are available online, in 80 languages and in more than 140 countries through dedicated channels.

-[Read more>>]- Available Now: Mandriva Flash 2010

iPhone Lands in Korea, Sees Great Demand

Seen as a bargain on the Korean market

Cupertino-based Apple has just got its highly popular iPhone device launched on the Korean market. In the already known launch style, the iPhone has seen a very warm welcome in Korea, with a large number of people lining up to purchase the handset from KT, the carrier that has exclusivity on the Apple device for the time being.

The main reason for iPhone's fast adoption on this market seems to be its relatively lower price, when compared to how much other mobile phone makers ask for their smartphones in Korea. For example, the 32 GB iPhone 3GS is priced at $317 upon the signing of a two-year contract agreement with KT on a $38 per month plan, and goes for free on a $112 monthly plan, while devices from other vendors are priced significantly higher.

According to the news around the Internet, KT has already received a number of more than 60,000 orders for the Apple iPhone, something that might determine companies like Samsung and LG Electronics to operate price cuts for the smartphones they currently sell in the country. The iPhone has been already estimated to be able to start a price war on the mobile phone market in Korea, and the high demand it already sees might prove that very soon.

According to Dan Butterfield from iPhonAsia, Korea “has a sophisticated group of consumers who are eager to take full advantage of iPhone’s superior user interface and application offerings.” This represented a great opportunity for Apple to showcase some capabilities that are reportedly specific to the iPhone.

It should be interesting to see how the iPhone will perform on the Korean market. Samsung and LG, as many of you might already know, as South Korean-based companies, so they might come up with great offers to counterattack iPhone's take up on the market. Moreover, other companies are also present with devices in Korea, including Nokia and HTC, which means that a price war might start in no time.

-[Read more>>]- iPhone Lands in Korea, Sees Great Demand

Free Silverlight 4 Beta Offline Documentation Now Live

Intended audience: developers

Among the resources that accompanied the first Beta release of Silverlight 4 is documentation aimed specifically at developers looking to get a head start on the next generation of Microsoft’s alternative to Adobe Flash. After all, Silverlight 4 Beta is a development milestone designed for devs to start building and testing content for the successor of Silverlight 3, but not much else, and certainly not for end user “consumption,” in the absence of a go-live license.

The Silverlight 4 Beta documentation comes in two flavors, being accessible either via MSDN, or as a standalone download for offline viewing. The MSDN documentation is available via the Silverlight Developer Center along with the resources still offered for Silverlight 3. Developers will, of course, need an Internet connection in order to take advantage of what the MSDN Silverlight Developer Center has to offer.

Not the same is valid for the Microsoft Silverlight 4 Beta Offline Documentation. Just as the title implies, once the download is complete the documentation can be accessed via the CHM (Compiled HTML Help file) even in offline scenarios. The download delivers a packaged .ZIP archive containing the CHM file. Users will first have to extract the contents of the archive in order to get the documentation. Microsoft additionally informs that unblocking the CHM file might also be necessary. Customers will need to right click the file and select Unblock from the options at the bottom.

“Microsoft Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform implementation of the .NET Framework for building and delivering the next generation of media experiences and rich interactive applications (RIA) for the Web. Silverlight unifies the capabilities of the server, the Web, and the desktop, of managed code and dynamic languages, of declarative and traditional programming, and the power of Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF),” Microsoft noted.

Silverlight 4 Beta is available for download here.

	External Mirror 1 - 4.0.41108.0 Beta [EXE]
	External Mirror 2 - 3.0.40818.0 [EXE]
	External Mirror 3 - 2.0.40115.0 RTW [EXE]
	External Mirror 4 - 1.0.30109.0 [EXE]

-[Read more>>]- Free Silverlight 4 Beta Offline Documentation Now Live

Office 2010 RTM Drops in June 2010

Microsoft has yet to confirm the information

Microsoft is right on track to deliver the next iteration of the Office System in June 2010. It appears that the Redmond company has scheduled the general availability deadline of Office 2010 in mid-2010, although this piece of information is unconfirmed at the time of this article. Microsoft has yet to offer any comment, be it to confirm or to deny, reports from third party sources that Office 2010 will be made available for purchase to customers no later than June 2010 (via Neowin).

The software giant has stated previously that the successor of Office 2007 will be offered to the public in the first half of 2010. Of course, Microsoft did not specify in any way a General Availability deadline or even a release to manufacturing date. According to the Redmond company, customers should look to 1H 2010 for the moment when Office 2010 will hit store shelves. Still, ahead of GA, Microsoft will have to RTM the next generation of its productivity suite.

Taking into consideration a June 2010 GA deadline, the company will have to wrap up the code for Office 2010 months before the official launch, which means that some customers, such as MSDN and TechNet subscribers will be able to run the RTM bits earlier in the first half of 2010. The RTM date for Office 2010 continues to be kept under a tight lid at this point in time.

At the Professional Developers Conference 2009 (PDC 2009) in Los Angeles, earlier this month, Microsoft released the first public development milestone of Office 2010. Users can now grab various versions of Office 2010 Beta 14.0.4536.1000 along with the product keys to activate the release from Microsoft. Early adopters will be able to run Office 2010 Beta 14.0.4536.1000 until October 2010, the software giant explained, at which time the product, which is time-bombed, will expire.

Office 2010 comes in a variety of flavors including Office Web Apps, Office Mobile, Office Home and Business 2010, Office Professional 2010, and Office Professional Plus 2010, all of which can be tested in Beta. When it will be released on the market, Office 2010 will feature additional SKUs, some reserved for Volume Customers, some for those buying new OEM computers, such as the Starter edition which will come free of charge, but will be ad-supported.

“Microsoft Office 2010 offers you rich and powerful new ways to deliver your best work - at work, home or school - on your computer, from a Windows Mobile-based Smartphone or via a Web browser. Quickly and creatively grab your audience’s attention and inspire them with your ideas by using enhanced and easy-to-use tools, customizable templates, color schemes, and photo-editing capabilities. With a new co-authoring experience, you can work with people from different locations at the same time. And by offering more ways to access your files from almost anywhere, Office 2010 puts you in control of getting things done according to your schedule. Simplify your tasks and create amazing results with Office 2010 — wherever life takes you,” Microsoft explained.

-[Read more>>]- Office 2010 RTM Drops in June 2010

Twitter Trends Battle It Out Locally with GeoMeme

An interesting application of the Twitter geolocation API

Location is one of the major trends online and, in a few years time, most services will include some sort of functionality based on location information. Ever the trend setter, Twitter has jumped on the bandwagon and has implemented a geolocation API for third-party services, meaning that users can choose to send their location with their tweets and it will show up in apps which support the feature. The API hasn't been live for that long and already
people are starting to do interesting things with it, like GeoMeme which pits two trends against each other to see what the local Twittersphere has to say about it.

“Visitors to GeoMeme choose a location on the map, and two search terms to compare. GeoMeme then measures and compares the number of matching tweets within the bounds of the map, based on public data from a number of mobile twitter apps,” the site's creator, Bob Hitching, writes.

Using the site is as easy as it gets. GeoMeme determines your current location and centers the map, powered by Google Maps, to where you are at the moment. You can then enter any two search terms and the site will count the number of mentions it gets in the tweets coming from the area you selected. Depending on how accurately the site can determine your location, the map starts out with just your neighborhood, but you can zoom out as far as you'd like and the search area will adjust accordingly.

Not exactly visionary but there's definitely potential here. The main setback for the moment is the fact that most Twitter clients don't support the geolocation features just yet, but also the fact that people are still reluctant to reveal their locations when sending out a tweet. The site also has a mobile version and Hitching said he opted for this rather than a native app for development and deployment speed. “GeoMeme is a desktop web application and also a location-aware mobile web app for iPhone and Android phones,” he wrote. “Implementing the mobile version of GeoMeme as a web app has some advantages and disadvantages, compared to building native iPhone &/or Android applications.”

-[Read more>>]- Twitter Trends Battle It Out Locally with GeoMeme

Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) Early Preview Demo

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Video from PCD 2009 available

Much to everyone’s surprise, Microsoft shared details about Internet Explorer 9 very early on in the browser’s development process. Dean Hachamovitch, general manager, Internet Explorer, explained that the first IE9-related information offered via official channels was simply the Redmond company joining the discussion of browsers. The software giant choose its Professional Developers Conference 2009, in Los Angeles, to showcase a preview of IE9, but no bits were released as the browser is merely just weeks old.

“The topics that we’re going to talk about pretty much choose themselves, when you look at the conversations that happened throughout IE8,” Hachamovitch noted. More specifically, Microsoft touched three topics, in particular, standards support, performance progress, and the introduction of graphics hardware acceleration.

You will be able to watch the first public demonstration of Internet Explorer 9 via the video embedded at the bottom of this article, courtesy of Microsoft. Obviously the company did not single out the content focused only on IE9, so the video covers the entire PDC 2009 Day 2 Keynote, featuring such Microsoft executives as Steven Sinofsky, president, Windows and Windows Live Division, and Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president, .NET Developer Platform. It will be Sinofsky demoing IE9, as along with the Windows project, the Microsoft president is also responsible for the development of the next iteration of the Internet Explorer browser.

As far as I’m concerned, the entire PDC 2009 Day 2 keynote is well-worth watching, but I do realize that you have to dedicate a consistent portion of your time in doing so, as the video goes on for about two and a half hours. So, for those that just want to skip directly to the IE9 demo, just go ahead and jump to minute 40 in the presentation and take it from there (spoiler alert – IE9 has no GUI as of yet).

Standards

“The primary focus for our team is providing rich capabilities, the kind that developers really want and use in an interoperable way,” said John Hrvatin, program manager for the IE team.

Acid3 is one of the tests designed to assess the browser performance when it comes down to standards support. At the time of this article, Internet Explorer is lagging rival browsers in relation to the Acid3 test score, being inferior in the level of modern standards adoption. With the advent of Internet Explorer 8 Microsoft choose to simply ignore Acid3, and focused exclusively on acing the Acid2 test, arguing that it would not provide support for standards that were incomplete at the time such as HTML5 and CSS3.

The IE9 demo indicates that Microsoft has now had a change of heart and that it considers passing the Acid3 test one of the priorities in developing the next version of Internet Explorer. Already, IE9 is faring better than IE8 in the Acid3 test, obtaining a superior score. “Developers need not just a strong platform that’s got great performance and great capabilities, but they also have expectations around how the code will work,” Hachamovitch noted.


But in all fairness, embracing HTML5 and CSS3 is a move that Microsoft is doing largely to close the gap separating IE from Firefox, Chrome, and Opera, while also attempting to tone down the level of criticism from web developers which can’t leverage modern web standards simply because of lack of IE support for them. As far as end users are concerned, the benefits they will be able to enjoy won’t be extremely evident to them. Fact is that the vast majority of users won’t be able to tell which websites use CSS2.1 for styling and formatting and which leverage CSS3. But inherently, advantages will be offered through the simple evolution of the user experience.

“We want to focus on those capabilities that developers are really most interested in, but doing it in an interoperable way, and standards are really one of the ways in which we achieve that. But it’s still people building the standards, and there could be places where parts of the specification aren’t clear, and different browser vendors interpret them in different ways,” Hrvatin added.

Performance

“So there’s performance, and we’re going to talk about the progress that we made. Everybody cares about performance, everybody benefits from performance improvements. And performance is a super complex problem. I mean, there are so many subsystems in the browser,” Hachamovitch said.

With Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft lost the race on performance, simply because it failed to play the same game as its rivals. While Mozilla and Google were running to benchmarks such as the SunSpider test, the Redmond company attempted to convince the world that benchmarking results are in no way representative of actual browser performance. Instead, the software giant argued that its approach, to target IE8 performance to real world scenarios, and to increase IE8 speed in situations most common for its end users, had delivered superior results to Firefox and Chrome. Needless to say the world failed to agree with Microsoft.

Consequently, the Redmond company will, with IE9, play the same game as competitors, namely pour additional horsepower into the next version of IE’s script engine, and ensure that script performance for IE9 is at least on par with rivals, if not even better. Nothing short of an excellent move from Microsoft, the IE9 performance boost needs to be not only consistent, but also continually updatable. The Redmond company has to understand that performance, much like standards support and interoperability is an ongoing effort, but one that requires fast pace upgrades.

“We’ve been working on performance optimizations around the JavaScript engine for the next version of Internet Explorer. One of the things we’ve heard pretty clearly from customers is we need to get better there, so we.ve done a bunch of work in the core JScript engine,” revealed John Montgomery, general product manager.

A change is needed either in the frequency at which Microsoft delivers major versions of Internet Explorer, or in the introduction of minor updates, after the model v9.1, v9.2, v9.3, and so on and so forth, in order to keep Internet Explorer 9 at least on par with rivals in terms of the performance level. In short, IE needs to evolve faster, and appear less out of breath when playing catch up with the likes of Firefox and Chrome.

“Performance is just one dimension. Ultimately it’s about the users that are running the browser to do more of their work on the web and developers who are building those experiences. Performance is one element of that, to make the experience better for users and developers,” said Shanku Niyogi, Microsoft GM.

Hardware Acceleration

“The power of modern hardware with Windows and all the energy that goes into the ecosystem to make PCs great, and how all of that can make the PC better. All the improvement around modern PCs and Windows shows up in the browser available for web developers. Developers who write the web can get all the goodness of DirectX [DirectX 11], all the goodness of the GPU, and all this amazing acceleration using the patterns that they already have and that they already use,” Hachamovitch said.

Hardware Acceleration is about Windows, DirectX 11 Windows APIs and the GPU (the computer’s graphics processing unit), and IE9 will take advantage of all these resources in concert. Microsoft’s PDC 2009 IE9 demonstration involves technologies such as Direct2D and DirectWrite for text rendering, and as the video shows, the improvements are amazing. Essentially, in the evolution from Internet Explorer 8 to IE9, Microsoft has swapped the rendering engine from leveraging GDI to DirectX.

The graphics cards on computers running IE9 will no longer simply sit unused, as the browser will turn to the GPU for webpage rendering. By embracing the GPU, IE9’s performance will get a boost, but as the demo unveiled, the fidelity of the rendering is unmatched. Ultimately, IE9 will deliver a superior users experience to IE8, and to all current competitive browsers available on the market. However, in all fairness, Mozilla has also been flirting with hardware acceleration for a future version of Firefox that is planned for availability following the release of v3.6.

-[Read more>>]- Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) Early Preview Demo

Linux Mint 8 Released

Based on Ubuntu 9.10

Clement Lefebvre, the father of the Linux Mint project, proudly announced a few minutes ago the immediate availability of the final release of the Linux Mint 8 operating system. Dubbed Helena, the new Linux Mint 8 is based on the recently released Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) operating system and is powered by Linux kernel 2.6.31, X.org 7.4 and GNOME 2.28.1. Above all that, the 8th release of Linux Mint includes brand-new artwork, updated applications and many, many other amazing features for all its fans out there!

"The 8th release of Linux Mint comes with numerous bug fixes and a lot of improvements. In particular Linux Mint 8 comes with support for OEM installs, a brand new Upload Manager, the menu now allows you to configure custom places, the update manager now lets you define packages for which you don’t want to receive updates,the software manager now features multiple installation/removal of software and many of the tools’ graphical interfaces were enhanced." - Clement Lefebvre said in the official release announcement.

Highlights of Linux Mint 8:

· Based on Ubuntu 9.10;
· Linux kernel 2.6.31;
· EXT4 filesystem;
· X.Org 7.4;
· GNOME 2.28.1;
· Improvements to the Menu;
· Improvements to the software manager;
· Improvements to the update manager;
· New Upload manager tool;
· Lots of bugs fixed.

On top of that, the Linux Mint team is proud to present the second edition of the Linux Mint Universal Edition, a customized version of Gloria, available as a Live DVD. The Universal Edition contains the following features:

· Available as a Live DVD;
· Installs all the available audio and video codecs;
· Offers support for English, Spanish, French, German, Swedish, Italian, Danish, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese/Pt, Portuguese/Br, Arabic, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Galician, Russian, Dutch, Polish, Japanese, Norwegian, Ukrainian, Slovenian, Romanian, Catalan, Czech, Greek, Slovak, Norwegian, Marathi, Croatian, Turkish, Bulgarian, Hindi, Hebrew, Finnish, Serbian, Belarussian, Bosnian and Basque languages;
· Text-based GRUB.

Recommended system requirements:

· A 32-bit processor;
· 512 MB of RAM;
· 2.5 GB free hard disk space (for installation);
· VGA video card capable of at least 800x600 resolution;
· A CD-ROM drive.

What is Linux Mint? Linux Mint is an elegant, easy-to-use, up-to-date, 100% free and comfortable Linux desktop distribution based on the very popular Ubuntu operating system. It offers paid commercial support to companies and individuals. Also, free community support is available from the forums and the IRC channel.

Download Linux Mint 8 right now

	Linux Mint 8 (ISO) [iso] [688 MB]
	Linux Mint 8 (torrent) [torrent1] [688 MB]
	Linux Mint 8 (ISO) Universal Edition [iso] [1 GB]

-[Read more>>]- Linux Mint 8 Released

Nokia X6 Already Available in Select Markets

Priced at EUR 450, before taxes and subsidies

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia announced today that its recently unveiled flaghip device, Nokia X6, is now available for purchase in select markets around the world. The new handset comes to the market with the company's Comes With Music service on board, offering users the possibility to enjoy unlimited song downloads over a limited period of time.

According to the worldwide leading handset vendor, the new mobile phone is aimed at changing the manner in which users around the globe experience music on their handsets. The price tag for the new phone has been set at around EUR 450, before taxes and subsidies, the mobile phone maker also announced, though both the pricing and availability of Nokia X6 will vary according to the market in which it is sold.

“The Nokia X6 Comes With Music edition is a stellar offering, that gives music fans the power to download all the music they could ever want - quickly, easily and for free,” said Ole Feddersen, vice president, smartphones, Nokia. “We are giving people a handy access to and ownership of a vast music library and a great new touchscreen device to play their music on.”

The new Nokia X6 hits the shelves with a slick 3.2-inch touchscreen display, which also delivers a high degree of finger friendliness, along with a 5-megapixel photo snapper with Carl Zeiss lens, 32GB of on-board memory, support for the main digital music formats, and the possibility to enjoy up to 35 hours of music playback, a great feature for an entertainment device like this one.

Not to mention that users will also be able to enjoy great social networking capabilities with the new phone, as its 16:9 widescreen display has been optimized for photos, videos, and browsing, and it can deliver great connectivity to communities like Facebook and others. Additionally, the handset also comes with three embedded games, aimed at offering a complete entertainment experience to all users: Spore by EA, Asphalt4, and DJ Mix Tour by Gameloft.

Those who would like to enjoy an even greater amount of applications and content with the Nokia X6 will find it at the Ovi Store, while the favorite songs can be found via the Nokia Music Store. Europe, Eurasia and Middle-East and Africa are the markets where Nokia X6 will initially arrive, the handset maker added. However, users will also find the phone available through the Nokia Online Store.

-[Read more>>]- Nokia X6 Already Available in Select Markets

Black Friday Discounts Go Live at Apple

Time to shop

As expected, Apple’s online store is back up featuring Black Friday discounts. The Mac maker not only slashed prices for its computers, iPods, and Apple TV, but also for creative tools, cases and bags, software, speakers, iPhone accessories, headphones, chargers, and more.

As soon as Apple’s store was back online, the first thing we could spot was the 21.5-inch iMac now selling for $1,098.00. The same $101 discount applies for the 27-inch configurations. Customers can also save $101 on Apple’s newest MacBook Pro 13-inch (from $1,098), as well as on 15-inch and 17-inch models.

Moving on to the iPods, a fifth-gen nano can now be ordered online for $138 (save $11) for the 8GB version, and $168 for the 16GB SKU. iPod touch models available in 8GB, 32GB, and 64GB form will now set you back just $178, $268, or $358, depending on the storage included with your choice. Black Friday now allows customers to save as much as $41 on an iPod touch.

An Apple TV with 160GB of storage is now $208.00 (was $229), while AirPort Express base stations with 802.11n and AirTunes go for $88 at Apple’s online store. The Multi-Touch-capable Magic Mouse retails for $69 since it was introduced earlier this month. Today, it’s just 5 bucks cheaper - $64. Not very impressive, may we add. Other accessories, including Time Capsules, Wireless keyboards and Apple In-Ear Headphones can also be acquired at a discount. Third-party items sell for some pretty good prices. A Sanyo Dual Camera Xacti VPC-FH1ABK is now $71 cheaper than before.

If you’ve been saving to buy a Mac, iPod, accessories, or just wanted to put some Apple goodness under the tree this year, today is probably the best time you could shop. So, go ahead and browse around the store. There’s an endless amount of options to be had. Knowing Apple, these are the best prices you’ll be getting for quite a while, so don’t waste any time.

-[Read more>>]- Black Friday Discounts Go Live at Apple

Acronis True Image Home 2010 13 Build 6053

Acronis True Image Home 2010 meets home user needs with a simple, yet comprehensive, backup and disaster recovery solution. This is a unique consumer software, providing a full set of advanced features in an affordable and easy-to-use solution. With Acronis True Image Home 2010, rest assured that all your important data including images, music, documents and applications are well protected and can easily be recovered in the event of any disaster.

Acronis True Image Home is an integrated software suite that ensures security of all information on your PC. It can back up the operating system, applications, settings and all of your data, while also securely destroying any confidential data you no longer need. With this software, you can back up selected files and folders, Windows applications' settings, settings and messages of Microsoft e-mail clients — or even the entire disk drive or selected partitions.

Acronis Online Backup will allow you to store your most important files on a remote storage, so they will be protected even if your computer gets stolen or your house burns down. Acronis Nonstop Backup continuously saves changes in your system and files (as often as every five minutes) allowing you to rollback easily to any point in time if the need arises.

Download : Acronis True Image Home 2010 13 Build 6053

-[Read more>>]- Acronis True Image Home 2010 13 Build 6053

nVIDIA GeForce / ION Driver 195.62 WHQL

nVIDIA ForceWare software unleashes the full power and features in nVIDIA's desktop, gaming, platform, workstation, laptop, multimedia, and mobile products. Delivering a proven record of compatibility, reliability, and stability with the widest range of games and applications, ForceWare software ensures the best experience with your nVIDIA hardware.
• Incredible 3D and video performance for all of your applications.
• Rock-solid system stability, greater compatibility, and reliability with nVIDIA® Unified Driver Architecture (UDA).
• Industry-leading features for graphics, audio, video, communications, storage, and security.
• Robust product support for over ten unique operating systems.
• Continual product performance and feature updates for the life of your nVIDIA hardware.

Official, WHQL Certified Drivers for nVIDIA GeForce graphics cards, for Windows XP/ 2000/ Windows XP Media Center Edition and Windows XP x64/ Server 2003 x64 OS.
nVIDIA ForceWare Drivers has the following other editions available: nVIDIA ForceWare Drivers for Windows 9x/Me, nVIDIA ForceWare Drivers for Windows NT, nVIDIA ForceWare Drivers for Windows Vista (32-bit), nVIDIA ForceWare Drivers for Windows XP/2003 (64-bit), nVIDIA ForceWare Drivers for Windows XP Media Center and nVIDIA ForceWare Drivers for Windows Vista (64-bit).
New in Version 195.62:
* Adds GPU-acceleration for smoother online HD videos with the new Adobe Flash 10.1 beta. Learn more here.
* Adds support for GeForce GT 240.
* Adds support for OpenCL 1.0 (Open Computing Language) for all GeForce 8-series and later GPUs.
* Adds support for CUDA Toolkit 3.0 features and performance enhancements. See CUDA Zone for more details.
* Adds SLI and multi-GPU support for many top new gaming titles including Borderlands, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, FIFA Soccer 10, and more.
* Includes numerous bug fixes including improved performance for Need for Speed: Shift. Refer to the release notes on the documentation tab for information about the key bug fixes in this release.
* Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here.

Download : nVIDIA GeForce / ION Driver 195.62 WHQL For WindowsXP (32-Bit)
Download : nVIDIA GeForce / ION Driver 195.62 WHQL For WindowsXP / 2003 (64-Bit))
Download : nVIDIA GeForce / ION Driver 195.62 WHQL For Windows Vista / WIndows 7 (32-Bit)
Download : nVIDIA GeForce / ION Driver 195.62 WHQL For Windows Vista / Windows 7 (64-Bit)

-[Read more>>]- nVIDIA GeForce / ION Driver 195.62 WHQL

RealPlayer SP 1.0.5 Build 12.0.0.343

The RealPlayer is the first product that integrates Real's revolutionary new Harmony technology. RealPlayer enables consumers to buy and download music that plays on more than 100 portable devices, including the Apple iPod. RealPlayer is the only digital-media player you need for finding and downloading new music, playing and managing audio and video clips, and taking your digital entertainment with you. RealPlayer offers a streamlined interface that allows you to keep your media library close at hand. Keep all your digital-media clips organized in one place; save CD tracks with one click; pause and rewind live streams; transfer music to CDs and portable devices effortlessly; and enjoy clear, smooth video playback and multichannel, surround-sound support. Helix Powered RealPlayer is the all-in-one digital media player that lets you find anything and play everything. This popular streaming-media player offers improved video controls and access to 3200 radio stations.

RealPlayer also includes an option during setup to install the Real Toolbar for Internet Explorer. With RealPlayer you get an improved graphic equalizer and media services, including a radio tuner and an artist and music guide. Meanwhile, the Take 5 news service can offer you daily sports updates. A contextual video search helps you find interviews with your favorite artists. The RealPlayer music store lets you buy music files. Finally, you can use the software to transfer files to CDs and portable devices.

Download : RealPlayer SP 1.0.5 Build 12.0.0.343

-[Read more>>]- RealPlayer SP 1.0.5 Build 12.0.0.343

Just Cause 2 Will Arrive on March 23

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Rico Rodriguez rides the rail of righteousness, ready to redeem the rights of the ravaged

After the game was first announced for a Christmas 2008 release, Eidos pushed it back initially to 2009, and later it ended up as a 2010-projected title. Now, an exact date for this 2010 release has been given, and Square Enix, the one that bought Eidos this year, has announced that Just Cause 2 will arrive on the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 23 in North America. The game will arrive in Europe, the Middle East, and Australasia three days later, on March 26. So, all those looking for more outrageous gameplay will have to be patient for just a little while longer.

Just exactly how Avalanche Studios plans to outdo the performance of Just Cause remains to be seen. In the first title, players got to do some really outlandish and completely ridiculous things, which only started with hijacking an helicopter in mid-flight. If you think that's pretty awesome, learn that thwy did that during the “plummeting towards that fast-approaching ground” part of skydiving.

Gamers will once again fill the shoes of Rico Rodriguez, a special government agent that has been sent this time to track down his mentor. What's installed for the pupil and his teacher is not a heartwarming reunion, as they find themselves on different sides of the battle. To get to Tom Sheldon, Rodriguez will have to first deal with the evil dictator Baby Panay. The game will take place on the fictional tropical island of Panau in Southeast Asia.

Trailers of the title have already revealed that aerial acrobatics will be a main gameplay mechanic, but, this time around, there's going to be less free-fall and more gliding. Gameplay in JC2 seems to be focused on the grappling gun and parachute that comes as an added bonus. Grappling and crossing from moving car to moving car will be an everyday occurrence, while gratefully gliding with your parachute will get you to safety when you've grabbed on to something that leaves you hanging.

-[Read more>>]- Just Cause 2 Will Arrive on March 23

Nokia N86 Already Available from Rogers

Priced at $99.99 on a three-year contract

Canadian mobile-phone carrier Rogers Wireless announced recently the launch of yet another high-end handset, the Nokia N86 8MP, a dual sliding device that comes around with an 8-megapixel photo snapper. The new phone has been named the best camera phone by CTIA–The Wireless Association and also the winner of the 2009 Best Mobile Imaging Device by the Technical Image Press Association, the wireless operator notes.

“The Nokia N86 8MP has image capabilities so powerful it is the only digital camera you will ever need,” Richard White, general manager, Nokia Canada, said. “Having one device that can connect you to your social network, navigate you from place to place and capture life around you means the mobile phone is more than just a device, but an integral part of our lifestyles.”

The new Nokia N86 sports a great deal of imaging features, as well as music and Internet capabilities. The internal memory of the phone is of 8GB, where users can store a number of up to 3,000 high-quality photos taken with a camera that includes Carl Zeiss optics, auto focus and flash. An OLED screen display, Nokia’s Ovi Maps and access to social networking are also included in the package.

The feature list of the new, 8-megapixel behemoth also includes:
- Up to 6.3 hours of talk time and up to 13 days standby time;
- Rogers Music Player and access to Rogers Wireless’ urMusic service, giving Canadians access to over a million songs;
- Dedicated camera, media, volume, zoom and gaming keys;
- Built-in FM radio transmitter and stereo FM radio;
- Text messaging, multimedia messaging, instant messaging, and e-mail.

The handset has been included in Rogers' offering with Canadian maps on board, proving itself to be a great companion for those on the move. Users can enjoy the phone's navigation capabilities for free for ten non-consecutive days, the carrier has announced. The new Nokia N86 8MP is now available from Rogers with a price tag set at $99.99 upon the signing of a three-year contract agreement with a voice and data plan.

-[Read more>>]- Nokia N86 Already Available from Rogers

Microsoft Patents In Game Hint System

Only for the Xbox 360

Microsoft has apparently filled for a patent for a hint system which will be used by videogames released on the Xbox 360 home gaming console. The aim is to allow players who have trouble getting past tough sections of the game to get hints provided by other players. It's not clear whether all the players will be automatically enrolled in the system or whether an opt in system will be integrated.

The patent has been developed by Siliconera and the specifications are talking about a searchable database for which the entire content will be offered by users. It's not clear whether whole walkthroughts will be made available or whether only small hints are part of the concept. Microsoft apparently is not only aiming to offer text based help but also the possibility of taking screenshots of tough areas, providing videos or using tags and keywords to make it easy to get through difficult areas.

Microsoft is not saying when the new in-game help system will be introduced or whether it will be linked to something like Xbox Live. More details will probably be made available once the project crystallizes enough. The more hardcore gaming crowd which uses the Xbox 360 as their main gaming console might not react too warmly to a hint system which makes the gaming experience on the console easier.

Microsoft seems to be walking in the footsteps of Nintendo, which recently unveiled its own Super Guide concept. The system is designed to allow players who get stuck at some point during a game to see a video solution for the whole level. The Guide can also be used to get through some difficult areas automatically, without any input from the player himself. The first high profile game to use the Super Guide is New Super Mario Bros for the Nintendo Wii.

-[Read more>>]- Microsoft Patents In Game Hint System

LG Unveils GW880 OPhone for China Mobile

With a 3.5-inch WVGA full touch display

South Korean mobile phone maker LG Electronics has just unveiled the LG GW880, a handset that should soon become available for purchase in China via the country's largest wireless carrier, China Mobile. The new device is running under China Mobile's OPhone operating system which, most of you should know already, is an in-country developed flavor of the popular Google Android platform.

The new handset is expected to arrive on the market in China with a series of appealing capabilities, among which we can count a large 3.5-inch display that boasts an 800 x 480 (WVGA) resolution and sports full touch capabilities, a 5-megapixel photo snapper, as well as support for the carrier's 3G network, based on the TD-SCDMA proprietary standard, and support for CMMB (China Multi Media Broadcasting) for mobile TV tuning.

Other specifications of the new device are reportedly including a built-in GPS receiver, Bluetooth connectivity options, support for widgets, support for up to 24 icons directly on the home screen, mobile Internet, email, media player for enjoying photos, videos, and music, as well as access to China Mobile's application store.

For what it's worth, it seems that China Mobile will soon have in store a wide range of appealing mobile phones for its users. The carrier already announced officially the launch of Dell's Mini 3i, another device based on its operating system, and now it unveils the LG GW880, which, one should agree, seems to be more appealing than the LG GW620, the mobile phone maker's first Android-based handset, aimed for global availability.

One way or the other, the competition on the smartphone in China is believed to become fiercer in the near future, as all three major carriers there are just ramping up for offering 3G services to Chinese users on various appealing handsets. Unfortunately, no exact details on the availability of the new LG GW880 emerged for the time being, so stay tuned to learn more

-[Read more>>]- LG Unveils GW880 OPhone for China Mobile

Samsung Galaxy and Forever A886 to Come to Canada

One at Bell, the other at Rogers

Canadian mobile phone carriers are currently undergoing through a little battle over what 3G network is better than the other, something that, hopefully, will result in better services and phone offerings for users in the country. Bell and Telus have launched, at the beginning of this month, their 21Mbps HSPA networks, which was accompanied by a series of very appealing high-end devices, and are expected to soon release more such phones, while Rogers is also adding new handsets to its lineup to counterbalance the new offering from its competitors.
According to some of the latest news around the web, one should expect for at least two new mobile phones from Samsung to make an appearance on the Canadian market, one bundled with Bell's services, namely the Samsung Galaxy, while the other will surface on Rogers' airwaves, in the form of Samsung Forever A886. The former will boast Google's Android operating system, while the latter should be a simple device that sports Samsung's TouchWiz UI.

It would make sense for Bell to add the Android-powered mobile phone to its offering, considering the fact that both Rogers and Telus have already made this move. The guys over at Mobilesyrup managed to snag the image that you can see attached to this article,in which the Galaxy can be seen beside the Omnia II and Impact, already launched in Canada. Basically, this suggests that it might not be too long before Bell announces the launch of its first Android phone, so stay tuned.

As for the Samsung Forever A886, there are no details on when it might arrive at Rogers, but carrier's users will be able to enjoy a 3-inch touchscreen display that boasts a 240 x 400 pixel resolution when it will be put on sale. The handset will also sport A-GPS, HTML browsing, a 2-megapixel photo snapper, a microSD memory card slot with support for up to 32GB of additional storage space, dual-band HSDPA 850 / 1900 MHz connectivity, and a music player.

-[Read more>>]- Samsung Galaxy and Forever A886 to Come to Canada

Fix Windows 7 RTM DirectX 10.1 Incorrect Reports

For DirectX 11 devices

A default diagnostics tool included in Windows 7 can incorrectly report DirectX 11 devices as DirectX 10.1, Microsoft has revealed. At fault is the DirectX Diagnostics Tool, the Redmond company explains. The Erroneous reporting of DirectX 11 devices as DirectX 10.1 devices is a problem that also affects Windows Server 2008 R2, the software giant discloses. However, the issue is by no means severe, and in fact easy to fix.

“When you run the DirectX Diagnostics Tool (Dxdiag.exe) on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2, the diagnostic tool incorrectly reports a DirectX 11 device as a DirectX 10.1 device. This incorrect version information is shown in the DDI field on the Display tab. This problem is only a reporting error. This problem does not affect the DirectX 11 hardware or software functionality of the graphics card,” Microsoft explains.

The Redmond company is already offering a hotfix designed to deal with the problem. The fix can be grabbed from Microsoft Support, but the company stresses that only customers affected by this specific issue should apply the resolve. Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 users that are in no way impacted by the problem described here should wait for the first update that will contain the hotfix, which will most probably be Service Pack 1.

With the evolution from Windows Vista to Windows 7, Microsoft also kicked up a notch the graphics technology of the operating system. Vista, with Service Pack 2 integrated, allows users to take advantage of DirectX 10.1, while in Windows 7 DX jumped all the way to version 11. Still, Microsoft has backported DirectX 11 from Windows 7 to Vista, and is currently serving the technology to all Vista SP2 users. Customers should make sure that Automatic Updates are enabled in order to receive the RTM version of the Platform Update for Windows Vista, which contains DirectX 11.

-[Read more>>]- Fix Windows 7 RTM DirectX 10.1 Incorrect Reports

WinZip 14.0 Build 8688

WinZip® is the original and most trusted file compression software for Windows. No other compression utility is as easy-to-use or offers the comprehensive feature set and productivity-enhancing approach that has made WinZip the gold standard in file compression tools. The new WinZip 14 provides deep integration with Windows, including Microsoft’s latest operating system - Windows 7 - as well as innovative features that improve zipping security and simplicity.

With WinZip 14 you can quickly zip and unzip files to conserve storage space, speed up e-mail transmission, and reduce download times. In addition to state-of-the-art file compression, WinZip 14 offers strong AES encryption for securing sensitive data, the ability to bundle files into convenient, compressed packages, and an automated data backup facility to prevent data loss. WinZip creates Zip, LHA, and Zipx files - the smallest Zip files ever - and it opens Zip, Zipx, RAR, 7Z, BZ2, CAB, JAR, IMG, and most other compressed file types.

WinZip 14 even supports photo and image compression. Now you can compress your digital photographs and graphic images by 20 to 25% with no loss of photo quality or data integrity. This lets you send pictures faster and fit more on your flash drive, CD/DVD, or hard disc than ever before.

Use WinZip for all your compression, encryption, file packaging, and data backup needs. WinZip 14 starts at only 29.95 for a single user license and is available in three product editions: WinZip Standard edition, the new WinZip Backup edition, and the full-featured WinZip Pro edition.

Download : WinZip 14.0 Build 8688

-[Read more>>]- WinZip 14.0 Build 8688

Feedly Launches Google Chrome Extension

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Introducing an alternative way of exploring your feeds

Google hasn't even launched the extensions gallery for Chrome and the excitement is already building. Extensions have been supported to some extent by the browser for several months now, but only recently has Google gotten close to launching the feature to a wider audience. The company is now weeks, maybe days, away from introducing extensions to the Chrome beta channel and launching the online gallery, so developers are gearing up to get in early. Feedly, a feed reader - social networking aggregator hybrid, isn't wasting any time and has just launched support for Chrome.

Feedly is a service which aims to change the way you read and explore your feeds. It's not a dedicated feed reader in its own rights, it uses the feeds you already have in Google Reader, but, then again, it doesn't have to be. The interesting part comes from the way it presents the items in a magazine-style interface, making it actually feasible to read the entries inside the reader in a way that is also visually appealing.

Every action is synced back to Google Reader and almost all of the options available from Google are available in Feedly as well. It isn't a complete replacement for hardcore feed users, but for everyone else it makes an interesting option. It also integrates with other services like Twitter and FriendFeed allowing you to publish the story to those outlets. In addition, it pulls the comments around the entry from Digg and FriendFeed. Up till now though, the only way to use the service was by installing the Firefox add-on.

Now, with Google Chrome becoming increasingly popular and extensions getting the full support from the company, Feedly made the jump and launched a version for Chrome users. The Chrome extension offers pretty much the same functionality as the Firefox one, though a few features are missing for the moment. The extension is available from the Feedly website, but will no doubt be available from the extensions gallery once it's up and running. For now, you will need a developers build of Google Chrome, though the beta build should be getting extensions soon enough. After that, just click on the “Get Feedly for Chrome” button and the Feedly icon should be available in Chrome's toolbar on the right.

-[Read more>>]- Feedly Launches Google Chrome Extension

BlackBerry Bold 2 Already Available from AT&T

Priced at $199.99 on contract

Canadian mobile-phone maker Research In Motion announced not too long ago the release of a new handset to the market, namely the BlackBerry Bold 9700, which is also known as the Bold 2, and now the handset is already available for purchase via various carriers around the world, including T-Mobile and now AT&T in the United States.

Wireless operator AT&T has just put the new BlackBerry device on sale for its users, and has it available for a price tag of $199.99 upon the signing of a two-year contract agreement and after a $100.00 mail-in rebate, which will be received in the form of an AT&T Promotion Card. Those who would like to acquire the new device without committing to a service agreement with the carrier would also be able to enjoy the Bold 2, only that they would have to pay $449.99 for the device.

The only color available with the new BlackBerry Bold 2 at AT&T is black, yet users will certainly have a wide range of features to enjoy with it. The sequel comes to the market with a 3.2-megapixel photo snapper with a 2x zoom, auto focus and image stabilization, with a full 26-key keyboard for fast typing, and a 2.44-inch display that boasts a 480 x 360-pixel resolution and support for 65K colors.

In addition, the BlackBerry Bold 9700 also includes support for GSM/GPRS 1900/850/900/1800 MHz and UMTS: 2100/1900/850/800 MHz frequencies, Bluetooth 2.0, a USB connectivity, a speakerphone, voice dialing and voice commands, 256 MB of internal memory, a MicroSD memory card slot with support for up to 32GB of additional storage space, and a 1500mAh Lithium Ion battery that can deliver up to six hours of talk time or up to 19 days of standby time.

On the features side, the second Bold comes with support for Mobile Email (Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, Yahoo! Mail, AOL, Windows Live, and more), MusicID, media player, access to a wide range of office and entertainment applications through the BlackBerry App World, support for AT&T Mobile Music, and others more. The device can be purchased online from AT&T's website, here.

-[Read more>>]- BlackBerry Bold 2 Already Available from AT&T

Motorola i410 Now Available from Boost Mobile

With nationwide Walkie-Talkie capability

Boost Mobile, the Sprint subsidiary that offers wireless services with no required contract, has recently announced the launch of another handset for its customers, namely the Motorola i410. The new device is added to the growing mobile-phone offering from Boost Mobile as a classic clamshell that sports both durability and an affordable price tag.

According to the carrier, its handset offering, which started with only three devices at the beginning of the ongoing year, has seen the addition of five new phones including the high-end Motorola Stature i9, or the Motorola Clutch i465.
The new Motorola i410 handset is now available for purchase at all Boost Mobile Exclusive Retail Stores, as well as via independent wireless dealer locations all around the country, the carrier adds.

The features list of the new Motorola i410 includes the nationwide Walkie-Talkie capability (where the coverage is available, of course), the Bluetooth connectivity, a built-in GPS receiver, SMS and MMS capabilities, a speakerphone with Voice-Activated Dialing, access to downloadable Games, Wallpapers and Real Music Ringtones, and the Wireless Web Enabled.

The specs of Motorola i410 also include a 1.79-inch internal display that boasts a 128 x 160-pixel resolution and support for 65k colors, a 0.97-inch external display delivering a 96 x 32-pixel resolution, the iDEN 800/900 MHz connectivity, a Micro USB port, a 2.5mm 5-pole Audio Jack, support for MP3, Midi, AU,WAV audio formats, and a BT60 High Performance battery that can deliver up to 3.5 hours of talk time or approximately seven days of standby time, all within a device that measures 98 x 48 x 19.6 mm (3.8 x 1.9 x .7 inches) and weighs 128g (4.5 oz).

“When a quick response is all that’s needed, Motorola i410 eliminates back-and-forth with zippy Walkie Talkie1. There is no need to repeat yourself with the ability to text up to 20 friends at once and a large, dedicated PTT key on the outside makes quick work of potentially long conversations. Motorola i410 keeps you plugged in with multiple wireless features and services. Use Bluetooth wireless capabilities to hook up with your favorite phone accessories or use GPS and wireless Web to stay casually connected,” is what Motorola says about the device.

-[Read more>>]- Motorola i410 Now Available from Boost Mobile

Windows 7 RTM - Enable the Quick Launch Bar

Via Microsoft

There’s no disputing over the fact that Windows 7 brings a consistent overhaul of the graphical user interface that has become synonymous with the Windows operating system. One critical aspect of the Windows 7 GUI redesign is the revamping of the Taskbar, which is now affectionately referred to in some circles as the Superbar. Microsoft aimed to deliver a more user-friendly design, less crowded, less redundant. In this regard, the Superbar comes with an evolved mechanism to deal with pinned items and opened programs, new functionality such as Thumbnail Previews and JumpList, with an upgraded Notifications Area, and without Quick Launch.

Now in all fairness, the Superbar has inherited all the functionality of the Quick Launch area. In this sense, users can now pin program icons right to the Taskbar, essentially making Quick Launch useless. However, there will always be users that enjoy a tad of redundancy. Especially for these types of customers, Microsoft has documented the steps necessary to bring back Quick Launch for the Windows 7 Taskbar.
Customers must understand that the disappearance of the Quick launch area from Windows 7 is default behavior and a part of the Windows GUI evolution.
As far as I’mconcerned, customers should first off all give the Superbar a chance, as they will notice they have no reasons at all to miss Quick Launch. But if the new Windows 7 Taskbar simply doesn’t cut it for them, then they will be able to bring back Quick Launch even in Windows 7 RTM, following the steps outlined below, courtesy of Microsoft.

“1. Right-click an empty area of the taskbar, point to Toolbars, and then click New toolbar.
2. In the dialog box, copy and then paste the following folder name to the Folder box, and then click Select Folder: %AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
3. Now you see the Quick Launch bar with the text on the rightside of the task bar. To hide the Quick Launch text and program titles, right-click Quick Launch, clear Show Text and Show title.
4. Drag the Quick Launch bar to the leftside of the task bar. If you cannot move the Quick Launch bar, right-click the taskbar again, and make sure that the Lock the taskbar option is cleared .
5. If you prefer big icons in the Quick Launch bar, right-click an empty area of the Quick Launch bar, point to View, and then click Large Icons.
6. To add a program in the Quick Launch bar, drag the desired icon to the Quick Launch bar.”

-[Read more>>]- Windows 7 RTM - Enable the Quick Launch Bar

IE7 0-Day Vulnerability Published in the Wild

Monday, November 23, 2009

Also affects IE6

Details on a zero-day vulnerability affecting Internet Explorer are currently available in the wild, having been published to the BugTraq mailing list last week. So far, Microsoft has not commented on the exploit code made available in the wild, but security company Symantec has confirmed that it is fully functional. According to the security outfit, the exploit successfully targets a vulnerability in both Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 6. Apparently the flaw can be better exploited in the context in which attacks use IE7 and IE6 on older versions of Windows, pre-Windows Vista, as avenues for attacks.

“The exploit currently exhibits signs of poor reliability, but we expect that a fully-functional reliable exploit will be available in the near future. When this happens, attackers will have the ability to insert the exploit into Web sites, infecting potential visitors. For an attacker to launch a successful attack, they must lure victims to their malicious Web page or a Web site they have compromised. In both cases, the attack requires JavaScript to exploit Internet Explorer,” Symantec noted.

According to details shared by Symantec’s Security Intel Analysis team, the new 0-day IE vulnerability is associated with the way Microsoft’s browser handles Cascading Style Sheets. CSS is an extremely popular style sheet language that web developers can leverage in order to control the look and feel, as well as the formatting for websites.

“Symantec currently detects the exploit with the Bloodhound.Exploit.129 antivirus signature and is working on new signatures now. Symantec IPS protection also currently detects this exploit with signatures HTTP Microsoft IE Generic Heap Spray BO and HTTP Malicious Javascript Heap Spray BO. A new IPS signature, HTTP IE Style Heap Spray BO, has also been created for this specific exploit. To minimize the chances of being affected by this issue, Internet Explorer users should ensure their antivirus definitions are up to date, disable JavaScript and only visit Web sites they trust until fixes are available from Microsoft,” Symantec added.

-[Read more>>]- IE7 0-Day Vulnerability Published in the Wild

Spotify Gets Launched on Symbian

Compatible with Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson phones

Mobile phone users that own a Symbian-based device can now enjoy a new feature on their handsets, namely Spotify Mobile. The mobile version of the popular app is now available on a wide range of phones from Nokia, Samsung, or Sony Ericsson, offering users the possibility to access a large library of music directly from their handsets.

“Today’s release means that Spotify Mobile is now available on millions more phones, such as the Nokia 6220 Classic, E71 and 5800 XpressMusic models. The application will also run on some of the more popular Sony Ericsson and Samsung smartphones, such as the Samsung GT-I8910 Omnia HD and Sony Ericsson Satio. Symbian is our third launch for Spotify Mobile, along with previously released iPhone and Android versions,” the company states in a blog post.

Spotify Mobile for Symbian will not work on all mobile phones running under the OS, yet the company provides a list with the currently supported devices on its website and those willing to try out the app should head there to learn more. 21 Nokia handsets are currently compatible with the Spotify app, including the 5320, 5530 and 5800 XpressMusic phones (which are compatible with Nokia's own Comes With Music service). Samsung GT-I7110, i8910 Omnia HD and the Sony Ericsson Satio also support the app.

Users should know that a premium account is needed for using the Spotify Mobile application, as well as a data plan for Internet access directly from the smartphone. Users can learn more and access the app either through pointing the browser on their handset to m.spotify.com, or through entering their phone number on the Spotify website.

Those of you who would like to learn more details on the application should take a look at the video below to see it at work. Since “Symbian is the world’s most popular smartphone platform, used by millions of smartphones across the globe," as the company states on its website, the launch enables it to reach a much larger number of users than before.

-[Read more>>]- Spotify Gets Launched on Symbian

Official and Unofficial Tweaks to Left 4 Dead 2

The single-player campaign from the first game, and from Valve a series of multiplayer fixes

Left 4 Dead 2 was launched just a week ago and the game already has two new additions, one fan-made and the other official. The fans put their heads together and managed to get the single-player campaign for the original one unlocked in the sequel. It wasn't actually included by the developers in the game, so, if you want to pull this one out, you'll need both the first and the second L4D, as well as a little know-how and that will do it.

The official Source Developer Kit hasn't been released yet by the guys over at Valve, so tinkering with the game is a bit of an elaborate task. But some people managed to do it anyway, and L4DMods.com has a guide on how to do it. To give a quick overview of the process, you'll have to manually edit some files, move them around from the original L4D folder to another one and finally apply the changes via the developer console.

If that made your head spin, you're better off waiting for the official import of the campaign, if it will ever come, or wait for some pre-made mod when it's done. The end result will be that you'll be able to play through the original No Mercy, Death Toll, Dead Air, and Blood Harvest levels of the original with the additional infected and the baseball bat as the melee weapon.

The official content release for the game is the first L4D2 patch and is meant to bring several fixes to the multiplayer. These changes will automatically be applied to the game as soon as you restart your Steam client. The exact modifications are listed below.

Fixed performance problem when rendering lots of decals, notably when fighting tanks with shotguns.
Fixed rcon response not working on Linux dedicated servers.
Fixed matchmaking problem matching into Advanced and Expert games.
Fix bug that would cause other specials to try to pummel a player, a Charger to disconnect or reconnect.
Fixed versus mode results in the panel being cut off in transition stats screen in non-English.
Found games: fixed non-player entries drawing the wrong type of icon in the selected item name label.
Game mode selector on main menu now takes keyboard input.

-[Read more>>]- Official and Unofficial Tweaks to Left 4 Dead 2

Phil Schiller Defends App Store Approval Process

Apple’s SVP of product marketing says devs are actually happy with its practices

In an exclusive interview, Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior VP for worldwide product marketing, outlined the numerous factors that took their toll on the application-approval process. Schiller went as far as claiming developers were happy with its way of doing things, although many would say that was not entirely true.

Suggesting that Apple acted as a retailer regarding its iTunes App Store, Schiller said that the company wanted nothing but the best-of-breed products finding their way onto its shelves. Apple’s SVP of product marketing revealed that nearly ten percent of apps with notable technical flaws and “inappropriate content” were rejected. However, Apple also has to ensure that, upon download, an app will work as expected, let alone potential trademark issues that may miss the eyes of Apple’s reviewing staff during tests.

“We've built a store for the most part that people can trust,” Schiller upheld. “You and your family and friends can download applications from the store, and for the most part they do what you'd expect, and they get onto your phone, and you get billed appropriately, and it all just works!”

And while that’s a statement we can all live with, the one to follow may not appeal all that much to developers.

“Most are approved and some are sent back to the developer,” Schiller is said to have added in the BusinessWeek interview. “In about 90% of those cases, Apple requests technical fixes—usually for bugs in the software or because something doesn’t work as expected,” the publication reveals, based on Schiller’s statements. “Developers are generally glad to have this safety net because usually Apple’s review process finds problems they actually want to fix,” Schiller actually suggested, according to BusinessWeek.

If you’re an iPhone developer (or have a relationship with Apple), and don’t agree with what was said in this interview, share your thoughts in the comments. It wouldn’t be the first time a developer vehemently dismissed Apple’s point of view.

-[Read more>>]- Phil Schiller Defends App Store Approval Process

China Mobile Goes Official with Dell Mini 3i

Powered by its own Ophone platform

Today Wireless carrier China Mobile officially announced the launch of Dell Mini 3i, a new touchscreen mobile phone that comes to the market with the operator's OPhone and Mobile Market platforms. According to the company, the new handset is set to become available for purchase in the country in Red Passion and Oiled Bronze, and should hit the shelves through China Mobile’s nation-wide channels before the end of the ongoing month.

The OPhone open source platform that runs on the Mini 3i is packed with a wide range of entertainment features, including 139Mail e-mail, Fetion chat and digital maps for navigation, all of which are already pre-loaded on the device. Moreover, the new mobile phone is compatible with various other applications, e-mail platforms, and office productivity software, and also boasts a 3.5-inch widescreen for an enhanced user experience.

“People today want to carry their lives with them – they want to discover, capture and share new content as they roam around the world,” said Michael Yang, vice president and general manager for Greater China Consumer of Dell. “We believe Dell’s year-long development collaboration with China Mobile will amplify those experiences better than anyone else in the industry.”

The Mini 3i comes to the market through the long term partnership between China Mobile and Dell, which also resulted in the embedding of 3G technology in the Dell Mini 10 netbook. The handset will offer features like access to China Mobile’s Mobile Market suite of services and content, a series of personalization features, GPS navigation, search through contacts, email and appointments directly from the home screen, a 3-megapixel photo snapper with auto-focus, flash and video recording capabilities, as well as support for e-mail, IM, MMS and SMS.

The specs list of Dell Mini 3i also includes a 640 x 360 pixel resolution for the display, Quad band GSM/EDGE capabilities, Bluetooth connectivity, Mini USB connector, and a microSD memory card slot with support for up to 23GB of additional storage space, all within a device that measures 58.35 x 122 x 11.7 mm and weighs 105g.

“This signals an important milestone in the long term partnership between China Mobile and Dell,” said a China Mobile spokesperson. “We are excited for Dell to be among the first manufacturers to introduce new technology based on the OPhone platform. We look forward to working with Dell as it brings innovative new products and services to add value to our customers’ lives.”

-[Read more>>]- China Mobile Goes Official with Dell Mini 3i