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Google Chrome 4: Yes, it's fast, but is it usable?
As Betanews readers have responded to our stories about Chrome's JavaScript superiority...Does that mean we'd actually use this browser? Well...
Verizon Wireless launches new Android, Chocolate, and ruggedized phones
The lower-priced Eris joins the Droid, while the Chocolate gets a touchscreen and more music playback.
Early sales figures for Windows 7 nicely high, but do we know why?
Fans of triple-digit surges in figures quoted by Betanews will love this one, as it appears Microsoft rediscovered how to pull off a software launch.
Myka announces its latest Linux-based 'net top box'
Myka's ION brings Boxee, XMBC, and much more to HDTVs.
What hath Mac wrought? A remembrance after a quarter-century
The reason there's a Macintosh today is not because of some brilliant flash of engineering genius, but because Apple had the audacity to learn from its mistakes.
Early build of Moblin 2.1 improves connectivity, but not device support
The Linux Foundation's Atom-centric OS yesterday received a major overhaul with the project release of Moblin 2.1 for netbooks and nettops.
The iPhone's China syndrome: Sales of 5,000 and climbing
There's actually a country where Apple's device is not a godsend, where sales can be measured in the dozens.
New European counterpart to FCC will ensure 'a more neutral net'
Late Thursday night, the ruling telecom administrators of the EU's member nations signed away their final authority to a new entity overseen by the EC.
Sophos study suggests Windows 7 UAC's default setting is self-defeating
Without any anti-virus installed, a Sophos test showed, User Account Control was only capable of thwarting just one malware package out of ten samples chosen.
Indiscreet tweet trips awareness of Web SSL vulnerability
A group of high-level security engineers had been making progress on thwarting a low-level threat to the Web, until somebody blurted it all out on Twitter.
Myka announces its latest Linux-based 'net top box'
By Tim Conneally on November 6, 2009, 5:45 PM
3 Comments
Early in the summer, IPTV startup Myka delivered an impressive Linux-based device which was not quite a set-top box and not quite a home theater PC (HTPC). Though the device's identity was sort of nebulous, the company's goal was crystal clear: to easily make the tons of different types of Internet video content viewable on the TV.
This week, the company has announced its second device, the Myka ION, which pushes itself up against the HTPC category. Because it's equipped with a 1.6 GHz dual core Intel Atom 330 CPU, it could even be called a "net-top box."
Continue reading Myka announces its latest Linux-based 'net top box'...
Video: Netflix on PlayStation 3
By Tim Conneally on November 6, 2009, 2:52 PM
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As a PlayStation 3 owner, I did not have the luxury of Netflix Instant streaming through my video game console until today. Now, with the aid of Blu-ray's BD-Live and a free Netflix disc which must remain loaded in the PS3, I now have access to an experience similar to the one Xbox Live Gold subscribers had on their 360s.
These discs shipped out to subscribers this week and started landing in mailboxes today.
Early build of Moblin 2.1 improves connectivity, but not device support
By Tim Conneally on November 6, 2009, 12:41 PM
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Until recently, netbooks seemed to be computers designed by a subtractive process. That is, you start with a notebook design, and you scale back on the cost by equipping it with lower-power processors, less on-board storage, smaller screens, and either open source software or truncated desktop operating systems.
There really hasn't been a powerful example of a "netbook experience" that was built from the ground up to differentiate the devices from their full-powered counterparts.
Continue reading Early build of Moblin 2.1 improves connectivity, but not device support...
Apple's App Store hits 100K apps: News or rhetoric?
By Tim Conneally on November 4, 2009, 2:19 PM
23 Comments
Apple today announced that its App store has more than 100,000 apps available for download and use on the iPhone and iPod Touch. The number of applications available on the platform has been a major selling point for Apple's iPhone, and the company has made sure to keep the public informed when its catalog grows. In July, the company announced when it had hit 65,000 available apps; and In September, it let us know when it had exceeded 85,000.
In fact, ever since July 2008, when the App Store debuted with only 500 apps, the number of available applications has been used as a running tally to illustrate how much more viable a platform the iPhone is than its competitors.
Continue reading Apple's App Store hits 100K apps: News or rhetoric?...
For those who missed Google Voice beta, Ribbit Mobile opens in beta
By Tim Conneally on November 3, 2009, 4:58 PM
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Some of us missed the boat and never got in the Google Voice beta test group. With all the controversy the service stirred up among the media, the public, telecommunications companies, and the FCC, there's a distinct possibility that Google Voice as we know it could end up in regulatory limbo after being politicized and thrown into the "net neutrality" conflict.
Today, a beta of an alternative has opened up: Ribbit Mobile from Ribbit, an independent British Telecom subsidiary often billed as "Silicon Valley's first telephone company."
Continue reading For those who missed Google Voice beta, Ribbit Mobile opens in beta...
CinemaNow streaming movies coming to Best Buy
By Tim Conneally on November 3, 2009, 2:22 PM
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It was a short couple of weeks ago that Best Buy announced it had partnered with Netflix to equip its in-house brand of Insignia connected Blu-Ray players with support for Netflix Instant streaming like Sony, LG, and Samsung all had done to their own players.
Now, Best Buy is following the lead of companies like TiVo, LG, and, Pioneer by partnering with Sonic Solutions to include CinemaNow streaming in more devices. The company says CinemaNow will become a standard feature in "connected consumer electronics devices sold throughout US Best Buy retail stores," and online.
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The new face of Android: No face
By Tim Conneally on November 3, 2009, 12:03 PM
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Early this morning, Sony Ericsson took the wraps off of its first Android-based handset, the 1 GHz Snapdragon-powered Xperia X10. With a huge 4" touchscreen, an 8.1 megapixel camera and the elegant custom user interface named "Rachael," Sony Ericsson moves the Android platform a step further by giving it almost no mention in announcements and commercials.
Sony Ericsson mentions the Android Market, and notes in the spec sheet that the operating system is Android Donut 1.6, but otherwise it does not ride the point, and strives to make the device stand out as a distinct product.
With beefed up 3G, more networks to get 'Droid'
By Tim Conneally on November 2, 2009, 3:46 PM
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Here in the US, excitement has been high over Verizon's first Android handset, the Motorola Droid; so high, in fact, that it has actually begun to make an appreciable dent in iPhone favoritism.
This is partially due to the fact that a large number of iPhone users were Verizon customers before they got the iPhone, and still consider Verizon's wireless network to be superior to AT&T's. Verizon's "There's a map for that" advertising campaign has also added to the company's reputation for having a more robust network than AT&T.
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Sprint and Clearwire's 2009 WiMAX rollout almost complete
By Tim Conneally on November 2, 2009, 12:17 PM
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Clearwire and Sprint have been working hard to complete the planned WiMAX network deployment for 2009, and with the addition of a handful of new major markets this week, the project has nearly fulfilled its promises for the year.
Today, Sprint announced it has launched WiMAX services in the North Carolina cities Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point and Cary; in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas; and in Chicago, Illinois.
Continue reading Sprint and Clearwire's 2009 WiMAX rollout almost complete...
Nokia's N-Gage can't survive against iPhone, will be shut down
By Tim Conneally on October 30, 2009, 2:36 PM
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According to Reuters today, Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia will reportedly be shutting down its N-Gage gaming service. The shutdown will come six years after the mobile phone and gaming system hybrid concept debuted and was quickly retired; and nearly four years after it was re-invented as a part of Nokia's smartphone ecosystem, and later integrated with the Ovi platform.
Nokia intends to stop publishing new N-Gage titles and eventually wind down the service by the end of next year. Games will still be a major part of the Ovi platform, available in the Ovi Store under store.ovi.com/games, but the dedicated N-Gage brand is finally being scuttled.
Continue reading Nokia's N-Gage can't survive against iPhone, will be shut down...
Sprint quietly locks down Xohm WiMAX network while it awaits Clear takeover
By Tim Conneally on October 29, 2009, 10:12 PM
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Without any notice to current customers with or those early adopters with dormant accounts, Sprint has locked down the Baltimore Xohm WiMAX network and is not letting inactive hardware be turned back on to allow free upgrades to Clear hardware.
Sprint's Xohm network was one of the first two WiMAX deployments in the United States. We watched with excitement as the towers were raised in Baltimore and the ceremonial ribbon was cut on the new high speed wireless network.
Continue reading Sprint quietly locks down Xohm WiMAX network while it awaits Clear takeover...
Unconvinced by Windows 7? Ubuntu 9.10 debuted today!
By Tim Conneally on October 29, 2009, 5:17 PM
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The latest version of Canonical's popular Linux distribution Ubuntu (9.10 "Karmic Koala") was officially released today and is now available for download.
Among numerous performance improvements (Upstart native jobs, Intel video driver acceleration switched from "EXA" to "UXA", GRUB 2 boot loader by default, ext4 filesystem by default) and upgrades to the architecture (Linux Kernel 2.6.31, Gnome 2.28, X.Org 7.4, X.Org server 1.6.4, Xsplash and Compiz Fusion 0.8.4), Ubuntu 9.10 has thrown in a couple of compelling new products to make Karmic Koala worth a second look for those still apprehensive about Linux operating systems and largely unfamiliar with all the architectural and environmental upgrades.
Continue reading Unconvinced by Windows 7? Ubuntu 9.10 debuted today!...
Nintendo makes DSi screens bigger than competitors
By Tim Conneally on October 29, 2009, 2:23 PM
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This morning, Nintendo announced the third upgrade to the DS family, the DSi LL (or DSi XL), will be released in Japan on November 21, one year after the DSi debuted, for ¥20,000 (approx. $220). The LL's main improvement is the size of its screens, which have been increased from 3.25" to 4.2" with a moderate increase to the size of the chassis. The device also includes a much bigger stylus, which looks to be the size of a ballpoint pen, and battery life has reportedly been increased to five hours at maximum screen brightness.
Handheld gaming has been a strong suit for Nintendo since the early '80s, and it has consistently led the category despite the constant string of capable competitors touting higher quality or more innovative portable gaming platforms. Of Atari, Sega, NEC, Tiger, Bandai, SNK, and a handful of other notables, few video game and toy companies have been able to engage the handheld market for more than a single generation.
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Google answers the FCC: Google Voice blocks fewer than 100 numbers
By Tim Conneally on October 28, 2009, 6:56 PM
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While most of the tech world today is reveling in the introduction of Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0 and its first host device, the Motorola Droid, there's still plenty of Google left to talk about.
Earlier this month, Google Voice was subject to yet another inquiry by the US Federal Communications Commission -- specifically the Wireline Competition Bureau. Its intent is to re-examine what Google Voice exactly is, evaluate whether it is unfairly blocking certain connections and how, and to determine how it should be regulated.
Continue reading Google answers the FCC: Google Voice blocks fewer than 100 numbers...
Motorola and Verizon unveil the Droid, Google Maps navigation
By Tim Conneally on October 28, 2009, 12:00 PM
12 Comments
After a long period of rumors, leaks and teaser marketing campaigns, Verizon and Motorola have officially announced Droid, Verizon's first Android smartphone, and the first Android device running Eclair. It will be available on Friday, November 6, for $199 with a two year contract and mail-in rebate.
Motorola's Contribution:
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Symbian Dev program tries to limit fragmentation
By Tim Conneally on October 28, 2009, 9:50 AM
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Though Symbian Foundation Executive Director Lee Williams publicly deemed Google's approach to spreading Android the "perfect storm of fragmentation," yesterday the Foundation launched the beta of its developer program for what looks to be a pretty fragmented app store architecture in its own right.
Here's how it works: The program is called Symbian Horizon, and in this program, developers have their applications approved through the Symbian Signed identification process. This process adds one of four kinds of "tamper-proof digital certificates" to an app, one of which involves the app's stamp of approval from one of three independent testing facilities. Each of these facilities charges the developer a different amount, and each runs a different test.
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Android 2.0 features revealed
By Tim Conneally on October 27, 2009, 1:27 PM
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It's undoubtedly been a huge quarter for Google's Android mobile operating system, and exciting developments are all falling into place.
Two weeks ago, the ceremonial giant foam pastry was planted on Google's front lawn. This time it was an eclair, and it signified the readiness of Android 2.0, codenamed "Eclair," which we get a first look at today.
All the right moves: Roku's Netflix streamer branches out
By Tim Conneally on October 27, 2009, 12:06 PM
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One of the major attractions of the Netflix Instant streaming service is its low cost of entry. For $9 a month, subscribers have access to a substantial and ever-growing library of content on their PC, available whenever they have a connection and some time to spare. And if a subscriber wanted to view that content on his HDTV, he can do so through game consoles, DVRs, connected optical media players, and of course, through the branded Netflix player by Roku which debuted in spring 2008.
The $99 streaming device certainly proved to be a breakout hit for Roku, providing the simplest, cheapest, and most elegant way to access Netflix Instant in the living room.
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Google flexes Twitter integration with Social Search Lab
By Tim Conneally on October 26, 2009, 7:28 PM
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Monday, a new experimental Google search feature called Social Search was made live in Google Labs, following up on last week's announcement that Google and Twitter had established a partnership.
But the implementation of this Twitter data is much more conservative than many were expecting. Following the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, a lot of talk in the search community revolved around "Realtime Search," (a buzzword formerly known as "conversational search") where chatter (articles, blog posts, comments, forum entries, status updates, tweets, videos, and podcasts) on a particular subject is indexed in real time, putting searchers more or less directly into the conversations as they occur.
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PS3 Netflix: The best use of BD-Live yet
By Tim Conneally on October 26, 2009, 2:20 PM
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Finally, Sony's PlayStation 3 home video game console and Blu-ray player will be receiving Netflix Instant streaming, a feature which has appeared on a number of other pieces of hardware, including rival console Xbox 360 and connected Blu-ray players from manufacturers such as Samsung, LG, and even Sony itself.
But unlike those other platforms, which connect to Netflix Instant Streaming through an interface native to the console, PlayStation 3 users will be required to boot up the service from a Netflix Blu-ray disc, which utilizes BD-Live to access the online content. BD-Live is a Blu-ray standard which lets a disc have downloadable bonus content instead of limiting it to content burned onto the disc.
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