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Software RSS FeedsFirefox 4 beta 5 beefs up video, audio, security features - By Tim Conneally, Betanews Tuesday evening, Mozilla pushed out the fifth beta of its Firefox 4 Web browser. With this update, improvements to the browser's audio, video, and security have been added.Two weeks ago, the Beta 4 release of Firefox 4 included new features to help users get organized, Firefox Sync and Panorama. This release focuses less on giving users new features, and more on providing the tools for a better experience down the road.First, Firefox 4 now features hardware acceleration in Windows Vista and Windows 7 machines with DirectX10-compatible hardware. This feature has existed since the very early builds of FF4, but only now is it included by default. What ...Feed Source: feeds.betanews.com To protect trade secrets, HP sues former CEO Hurd after joining Oracle - By Tim Conneally, Betanews
HP filed a civil lawsuit against its former CEO Mark Hurd on Tuesday after the executive was hired by IT giant Oracle. "Mark Hurd agreed to and signed agreements designed to protect HP's trade secrets and confidential information. HP intends to enforce those agreements," HP's statement to the media said. The complaint, which can be downloaded here, says that Hurd has "put HP's most valuable trade secrets and confidential information in peril," by accepting his position at Oracle, a main competitor to HP in the enterprise sector.In the interest of keeping its trade secrets safe, HP has asked for, among other things,... Google aims for Apple with 'Web TV', launching worldwide by 2011 - By Ed Oswald, Betanews
Apple may have the head start on its competitors when it comes to streaming content, but Google is not going to let it get too far ahead. CEO Eric Schmidt said in a keynote at the IFA conference in Berlin this week that it plans to offer its "Google TV" service worldwide by next year.Sony will be the first manufacturer to incorporate Google's technologies into
television sets sold within the US this fall. From there, the service will be expanded worldwide in 2011. Samsung is also considering building televisions based on Google's Android platform, but no final decision has been made.Manufacturers have little to lose by incorporating Google TV into their plans: the platform is offered at no cost to developers, and Google has no plans to charge any kind of fees to those content providers offering content over the service, nor does it plan to extend it... Craigslist takes down adult services section, silent as to why - By Ed Oswald, Betanews
Craigslist shut down its adult services section quietly late Friday, seemingly acquiescing to the demands of child welfare groups. Organizations such as The Rebecca Project had said that Craigslist's policy of allowing sex ads was assisting criminals in sex trafficking, and the site was making a hefty profit doing so.For whatever reason, the site has decided to make it obvious that it was removing the link, placing the word "censored" in white letters with a black background in place of where the link used to be. Cragslist's decision to do so seems to suggest that it may have been pressured to make the change rather than doing it of its own volition.The sit... IDC: Apple iOS market share will decline 26 percent through 2014 - By Joe Wilcox, Betanews
Today, IDC raised its forecast for 2010 global smartphone shipments. Is it any wonder? "Hot" defines an exciting summer of new models, including iPhone 4 and scads of big-screen Android smartphones. Meanwhile, Nokia is ready to pop the N8 (It's almost Nokia World, folks!), and Microsoft has already started marketing Windows Phone 7 even before the first devices release.The analyst firm published a forecast through 2014 that shows Apple's iOS losing market share and Microsoft's mobile OS gaining but not rising from fifth place. Android -- what in a statement Ramon Llamas, IDC senior research analyst, called a "wild card" -- is forecast to make the greatest ... Samsung completes the carrier quadruple-play with Fascinate on Verizon - By Tim Conneally, Betanews
Samsung's Gigaherz class, Android-powered Galaxy S line of smartphones will be available on all four major U.S. wireless carriers this week with the launch of the Fascinate on Verizon Wireless.Verizon Wireless and Samsung today announced the Fascinate will be available tomorrow (September 8) online and the following day in stores for $199 after rebate and two-year service contract.Like the Vibrant on T-Mobile, Captivate on AT&T, and Epic 4G on Sprint, the Fascinate is powered by Android 2.1 with Samsung's ... Personalized feed reader my6sense launches in beta on Android - By Tim Conneally, Betanews
Personalized feed reader my6sense has launched in beta today on Google's Android platform, and can be downloaded freely from the Android Market now.My6sense made some ripples in the vast ocean of iOS apps when it launched last year; because it takes the simple concept of RSS and social feed reader and gives it some "digital intuition" so your feed is more relevant to your interests.The main streams of content in my6sense come from Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz, and Google Reader, and once you enter all your feeds, you start using the app as you would any other feed reader. The first few times you use the... Oracle snatches up ousted HP CEO Hurd, makes him co-president - By Tim Conneally, Betanews
HP's ousted CEO Mark Hurd will be joining Oracle as a co-president and member of the board, statements from the company said Monday.Last month, Hurd left his position as CEO of HP after a sexual harassment investigation uncovered several of his policy violations; including a clandestine personal relationship with an HP contractor, and falsification of expense reports. But Hurd's expunge and subsequent quick rehire at Oracle are somehow befitting of his career of late.During his tenure at HP, the company experienced sustained growth ... 90's game hero Duke Nukem returns after delay of more than a decade - By Tim Conneally, Betanews
Friday, 2K Games and Gearbox Software announced they will be releasing Duke Nukem Forever on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows PC in 2011. The game was first announced in 1997 and has long been considered the most legendary case of "vaporware," that is, hardware or software that is announced but released either too late or not at all.The story of Duke Nukem Forever is so legendary that its delay inspired its own parody game franchise. D3's Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard was released in 2009, and featured a gun-slinging action game hero very similar to Nukem returning to video games after a six-year hiatus."Gearbox has enabled die-hard key Duke Nukem franchise builders and skilled veteran game makers to stand together and deliver," Randy Pitchford, president of Gearbox Software said today. "All gamers deserve a happy ending and after al... Ping off to a rocky start as spam, issues plague service - By Ed Oswald, Betanews
Apple's foray into social music is not going well as its Ping service is experiencing a multitude of problems, including comment spam, a lack of promised functionality, and generally inconsistent user experience.Security researcher Chet Wisniewski at Sophos said Apple is not employing any type of spam or URL filtering, as comments such as those advertising "free iPhones" were already appearing some 24 hours after the site's launch. He also said that Apple has made it easy for those to abuse the service."No credit card or other positive identification is required to participate," he pointed out in a blog post. Without this, a user could create accounts easily simply by creating a bogus iTunes account which in turn would allow a bogus Ping account to be created.Ping is also suffering from a case of overpromising and underdelivering, apparently. ... Company of Heroes Online open beta launches, rewards early adopters - By Tim Conneally, Betanews
Video game maker THQ has opened the beta of Company of Heroes Online, a free-to-play World War II strategy game based upon THQ's critically acclaimed real-time strategy franchise Company of Heroes, originally released for Windows in 2006.The open beta of Company of Heroes Online includes 17 multiplayer maps which can be used in two, four, six, and eight-player modes, and beta testers can play one-player campaign mode from Company of Heroes for free. Users that register on ... Verizon offers prepaid data plans for smart phones - By Ed Oswald, Betanews
Verizon strengthened its prepaid offerings on Thursday, introducing prepay data plans for consumers who wish to use smart phones on a no contract basis. While the acquisition costs for those phones will be significantly higher, a customer would be free to leave at any time.Prepaid data plans would cost the user $30 per month, and include unlimited data access. The company would offer a 250MB data plan for "multimedia" phones, which would be a $10 per month add on. Both offerings would become available beginning immediately in Verizon's own stores, and online on September 28, the company said.Data plans are not mandatory on prepaid phones, but would require a voice plan in order to be added to a user's account. The monthly fee is the same as a postpaid contract holder would pay, although its voice plans start at a $5 premium to the postpaid customer.... Samsung bets on Galaxy Tab in race against Apple's iPad - By Ed Oswald, Betanews
In what could potentially be the first serious challenge to Apple's dominance in the tablet sector, Samsung Thursday debuted the Galaxy Tab, a 7-inch Android powered tablet device. It will initially be available in European markets later this month, with a broader worldwide launch shortly afterward.Although the device's screen size is smaller than the iPad, much of the rest of the specifications are quite similar. The Tab includes a 1GHz processor; up to 64GB of storage space; 3G, Bluetooth, and 802.11 wireless connectivity, and high definition playback of digital content.One thing it does have that the iPad does not is a front and back facing camera: the front one is 1.3 megapixels, while the back camera would support 3 megapixels as well as an LED flash. No announcement was mad... Why can't Apple's Ping sing? - By Joe Wilcox, Betanews
Is Apple going to compel me to write another "I was wrong post?" Yesterday I extolled Ping -- Apple's new social music discovery tool -- based on features and product strategy. Finally, late last night, Apple widely distributed iTunes 10, giving me the chance to finally use Ping. The results aren't good. The discovery tool is simply useless, because Ping doesn't reflect my current music listening habits.One of Ping's most important personal features is "What I Like." It can automatically display 10 popular songs, allowing friends to see what the Ping user (hereafter referred to as Pinger) listens to (there is a manual option, too). "What I Like" is crucial to music discovery friend-to-friend, and it broadcasts the Pinger's musi... Toshiba recalls overheating and melting Satellite T-series notebooks - By Tim Conneally, Betanews
Thursday, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada announced a recall of three Toshiba Satellite T-series notebook computers: T135, T135D and ProT130, for reports that the units' AC adaptors cause them to overheat and melt.
Though there have been no injuries reported, the CPSC said it received 129 reports of the computer cases melting and deforming, presenting a fire and burn hazard.Toshiba's own recall notice says the problem stems from a potentailly faulty DC-In harness, which "in some circumstances, overheat to the point of ... First voice-over-LTE call placed in US public safety band - By Tim Conneally, Betanews
Telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent Thursday announced that the first voice call in the 700MHz band of LTE has been completed. This is the section of wireless spectrum that is being utilized in the United States' national public safety network.Part of the FCC's National Broadband Plan (Chapter 16, to be exact) outlines the creation of a nationwide interoperable public safety wireless broadband communications network, used specifically for first responders and issues of national importance. The high speed network will utilize a 10MHz block of spectrum in the 700MHz band, and approval for construction has been obtained in ... Samsung: new wireless USB chips capable of 480Mbps max - By Tim Conneally, Betanews
Samsung Thursday announced its latest two-chip wireless USB solution capable of transmission speeds up to 480Mbps with an actual throughput rate of 200Mbps. The result is reportedly ten times more power efficient than 802.11g Wi-Fi. The product is made up of two chips, S3C2680, a baseband processor with an ARM 9 core, built-in NAND flash controller, SD I/O, and two USB 2.0 PHYs; and S5M8311a, a separate RF transciever. The chips can be deployed in SD cards, USB dongles, or embedded directly into consumer electronics. Samsung says the solution is especially suited for digital cameras and HD camcorders for high throughput local content sharing. ... HP wins 3PAR with $2.4 Billion bid, Dell backs down - By Tim Conneally, Betanews
The bidding war between HP and Dell over virtualized storage company 3PAR is in its third week, and as of Thursday morning, HP looks to have won. The Palo Alto IT giant turned the tables on Dell with a $2 billion bid last Friday that caused 3PAR to announce it was terminating the merger agreement it had reached with Dell in mid-August. When Dell received 3PAR's notice of termination, it raised its acquisition offer once again, from $27 per share to $32, and modified the terms of its proposal to include an increased termination fee of $92 million. 3PAR's board of directors determined Dell's offer to be unacceptable, and HP fired back with a counter-offer to buy 3P... Roku and Boxee weigh in on today's AppleTV update - By Tim Conneally, Betanews
While the over-the-top (OTT) streaming entertainment category has not made a big dent in the mainstream home TV viewing market yet, it's a hot business, and service providers, software makers, and hardware manufacturers are all jockeying for the biggest piece of the pie.
When AppleTV debuted alongside the iPhone at Macworld in 2007, it was more or less a stripped-down home theater PC so users could enjoy their iTunes media on their televisions. Relatively little had changed on the platform until today, when Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the box would lose its storage capacity and become rental-only, ... Steve Jobs: 'Ping is for social music discovery' - By Joe Wilcox, Betanews
Apple's September 1 music event ended on a sour note. Coldplay's Chris Martin gave a tepid and pitchy performance that would have sent him packing from an American Idol audition. Michael Stanclift aptly tweeted: "This guy could have practiced before this gig." Martin, whose daughter is named Apple, seemed like the right performer for what was otherwise an outstanding event. While Martin muffed, Apple -- the company, not his child -- hit every key. Not sin... Copyright © 2010, FreeMailingListInformation.com. All Rights Reserved. |