Archive for: August 1, 2009

Windows 7 is more than Vista done right, but you can’t deny that it’s based on Microsoft’s embattled operating system. Despite improvements made over two service packs, users never took … Originally posted at The Download Blog

Read the rest here:
Windows 7 RTM reviewed

Episode 43 of the Digital City, where special guest Natali Del Conte joins us to talk about the ethics of news organizations uploading street fighting videos; the CrunchPad vs. Apple’s hypothetical tablet, … Originally posted at Digital City Podcast

Here is the original post:
Digital City No. 43: CrunchPad vs. Apple tablet, plus Sony’s new EyePet

I got a few minutes of hands-on time with Microsoft’s forthcoming Zune HD at a Microsoft event on Thursday , and I came away thinking that Microsoft might finally have a contender. Of course, it inherits all the benefits of the current Zune–a more visually interesting (if not always more … Originally posted at Digital Noise: Music and Tech

Continued here:
Quick hands-on with the Zune HD

(Credit: Matt Hickey) So Apple on Friday released an update to the iPhone OS (3.0.1) that takes care of an SMS vulnerability . It’s a fairly important patch, and usually when Apple updates the iPhone OS, jailbreakers have to wait until the Dev Team comes out with a …

Go here to read the rest:
Jailbreaking software already works for 3.0.1 iPhone update

The Federal Communications Commission has sent letters to Apple and to AT&T and Google seeking information about the rejection of the Google Voice Application from the iTunes store. The letters ask why the application was rejected, and whether or not Apple removed other applications like it. I just downloaded copies of the letters from the FCC’s Web site, and have included links to them below. In the letter to Apple’s Catherine A. Novelli, Vice President for Worldwide Government Affairs, the commission asks: “Why did Apple reject the Google Voice application for iPhone and remove related third-party applications from its App Store?… Did Apple act alone, or in consultation with AT&T, in deciding to reject the Google Voice application and related applications? If the latter, please describe the communications between Apple and AT&T in connection with the decision to reject Google Voice. Are there any contractual conditions or non-contractual understandings with AT&T that affected Apple’s decision in this matter?…Does AT&T have any role in the approval of iPhone applications generally (or in certain cases)? If so, under what circumstances, and what role does it play? What roles are specified in the contractual provisions between Apple and AT&T (or any non-contractual understandings) regarding the consideration of particular iPhone applications?” But the inquiry goes further that just the Google Voice matter. The commission asks about other VOIP applications that have been approved for the iPhone and about what other applications have been rejected generally. It then goes on to ask what the standards are for approving or rejecting applications and about the approval process. Apple has been directed to answer by Aug. 21. Apple declined to comment citing a policy for not commenting regulatory matters. The Commission’s letter to AT&T asks about what role if any AT&T played in considering the Google ...

Windows 7 rates my unibody MacBook Pro at 5.3, which is very high for a laptop. (Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET) I have had Windows 7 Ultimate RTM (release to manufacturer) for a few days. This is, of course, a legitimate copy, not the leaked copy that you can download from the Internet. That’s the good news. The bad news is I have to test it, which has been lot of work. We tested the new operating system against Windows Vista SP2 and Windows XP SP3. Overall, Windows 7 offers a much more pleasant experience than Windows Vista. Everything works more smoothly. The new OS takes less time to launch applications, and it’s nice just to browse around its functions and features–it’s also very pretty. However, it is slower than Windows XP, except for the boot and shutdown times, where XP has always been a drag. …

Read more from the original source:
Windows 7 on MacBook Pro: Nice, but still has poor battery life

August will be an important month for Android. (Credit: Google) Starting Saturday, August 1, we’ll begin to see many new applications appearing on the Android Market. We reported several weeks ago on the second Google Android Developers Challenge (ADC2), and August 1 is the day submissions begin. The official … Originally posted at Android Atlas

See the rest here:
Wave of new Android apps coming in August

(Credit: CNET) When we last saw JVC’s El Kameleon car audio receiver, we awarded it our Editors’ Choice award for its innovative interface and expandability. However, we wished that the unit featured a touch screen instead of a touch pad. With the new El Kameleon KD-AVX77, we get our … Originally posted at The Car Tech blog

View original here:
JVC’s new El Kameleon is back, better

The week’s big news, a philosophy of watermarks, and the clockwork photography contest. Plus, an assignment experiment: what happens in 1/30th second. Listen now: Download today’s podcast Subscribe now: iTunes (audio) | RSS (audio) Episode 57 … Originally posted at Indecent Exposure Podcast

More:
Indecent Exposure 57: Introductory experiment

Here at CNET, we’ve taken a skeptical eye toward the high-end market for Blu-ray players. When videophile experts like the Criterion Collection and Joe Kane extol the image quality of the PlayStation 3 , it’s hard to see why anybody would spend more than $1,000 on a player. …

Continued here:
Marantz Blu-ray players: from $6,000 to $550

The Washington Post has revamped its mobile site in order to offer readers a more customizable experience on the go. The new site features improved navigation and a simplified structure centered around five main sections, according to MediaPost: politics, business, metro, arts & living, and sports.

Two dedicated mobile editors are managing the site, updating content and setting up breaking news alerts, according to the report. (That's not always the case; often a publication will set up an auto-feed for the mobile site, stripping complex formatting or video links along the way).

D.C. area readers will get special links to local weather, sports scores, and regional news, according to the report. There are also multiple versions of the page, such as an iPhone-specific site and a WAP version. In May, the mobile site picked up 962,000 unique visitors alone. Check it out at mobile.washingtonpost.com from any cell phone browser.

Late Thursday night, Mozilla reached a milestone one billion downloads of its Firefox Web browser.

"This is a monumental event - Firefox has come a long way since its debut in November 2004, thanks to the amazing Firefox community," Mozilla wrote in a blog post. "Volunteers from all over the world contribute to the coding, testing and spreading of Firefox to communities across the globe. Firefox 3.5 shipped in 75 languages - more than any other browser."

As of 3pm Eastern time Friday, the download counter registered 1,000,351,823 downloads of the open-source browser. Users were accessing it at a rate of 22.9 downloads per second.

On Monday, Mozilla will launch a billionth download hub at http://www.onebillionplusyou.com/.

Mozilla released Firefox 3.0 in June 2008, and the browser garnered 8 million downloads in 24 hours. Firefox 3.5 hit the Web late last month.