1. Cut and PasteWhy, oh why has it taken Apple so long to add this? It's frustrating that you can't do it, and it's so obvious how it would work on the multi-touch screen – just tap and hold, then drag your finger over a block of text to select it. That functionality is currently reserved for the magnifying glass, but that could easily be shifted to a double-tap. 2. Shake to shuffleThis feature appeared on the recent 4th Gen iPod nano, but we can't see a reason why Apple won't add it to the iPhone. We'd like to see the feature expanded a little to include other options, rather than just Shuffle, when you shake. Why not have some Shake options in Settings, from which you can choose different functions? 3. A better camera with a flashThis is a no-brainer. The next iPhone will have to have a better camera, or we're going to bin it without even opening the box (possibly). The current 2-megapixel effort just isn't up to the job. Oh, and we also want a flash to brighten up those dull indoor shots, too. 4. More memory Apple wants us to play movies on our iPhones, but it doesn't want to give us anywhere to put them! 16GB just doesn't cut it these days. We expect to get at least 32GB in the next iPhone, and 64GB if we're lucky. 5. Video recording When your mate's phone (that he got free) can record video you know it's no longer a premium feature. Without the ability to record video iPhone owners are second-class citizens in the mobile phone world. Come on Apple, sort it out. 6. Picture messaging (MMS)See above. Just because nobody in the US wants to send picture messages doesn't mean everybody in Europe has suddenly changed the way they've been using mobile phones for years. 7. A wider choice of providers, not just O2 (UK) or AT&T (US)A controversial one this, but we think that Apple's exclusivity to O2 in the UK and AT&T in the US has to end at some point. People want the iPhone on more networks and Apple will want to loosen the shackles to grow its user base, too. 8. Thinner Of course it will be thinner! Every new Apple iPod or iPhone has to be thinner than the last. It's the law. 9. More customisation optionsCurrently you can customise your iPhone's splash screen (which Apple calls the wallpaper) with whatever photo you like, but you can't alter the Home screen's dull black background, or customise the icons in any way. This is never going to keep teenagers who are into Hello Kitty happy. We predict the next iPhone will enable you to apply themes to the Home screen, and even purchase (of course) and download new ones from the iTunes Store. 10. Stationery in Mail Last but not least, stationery will be available in Mail. Now you'll be able to send HTML email bordered by pictures of cutesy kittens. Text-only email purists will hang their heads in disbelief, but Apple will be laughing all the way to the bank.
Conceived and developed by Your Voice, Koolwire was born in May 2007 as a free file conversion service via e-mail. Since then, tenths of thousands users from over 50 countries have had their files rapidly and conveniently turned into PDF by simply sending them as attachments to pdf@koolwire.com. Then, in january 2008, Koolwire introduces a series of new features, such as a web conversion procedure - particularly useful for larger files – and a number of additional conversion formats.
As usual, no software to purchase, download and install, no time wasted in waiting for your PC to finish its conversion tasks. Concentrate your efforts and the resources of your PC on what really matters and let Koolwire take care of the rest.
"Everything" is a search engine for Windows. "Everything" replaces the windows search with a much faster one. Unlike Windows search "Everything" initially displays every file and folder on your computer (hence the name "Everything"). You type in a search filter to limit what files and folders are displayed. "Everything" only uses file and folder names and generally takes a few seconds to build it's database. 1,000,000 files will take about 1 minute.[download]
Pazera Free Audio Extractor is an absolutely free application that extracts audio tracks from video files without loss of sound quality or convert them to MP3, AAC, AC3, WMA, FLAC or WAV format. The application supports all major video formats (AVI, FLV, MP4, MPG, MOV, RM, 3GP, WMV, VOB ...), moreover, allows the conversion of music files, so it can be used as a universal audio converter. The program has a number of predefined settings (profiles) specially designed for novice users. While more advanced users can customize audio encoding parameters for its own needs.[more]
Xirrus has created a collection of easy-to-use tools to help you more effectively use and manage your Wi-Fi networks. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Monitor allows you to monitor your surrounding Wi-Fi environment and status of your Wi-Fi connection in real time - all directly from your desktop.
The Xirrus Wi-Fi Monitor is useful for both IT managers and end users, and is available as a Gadget for Windows Vista, a Yahoo! Widget for Windows XP and MacOS, and a Desklet for Linux. A radar-like display graphically displays available Wi-Fi networks and their range. Detailed information is available about surrounding Wi-Fi networks. A Glossary section helps you make sense of all the Wi-Fi terms. Nine different color skins are available to customize the Wi-Fi Monitor's look for your desktop.
Applications for the Xirrus Wi-Fi Monitor include:
GiveAwayOfTheDay: as site called give away of the day, it gives you daily a shareware software for free so keep visiting and bookmark that site. Today they are giving EASEUS Partition Manager Pro 20. Manager is comprehensive hard disk partition software, which not only provides with convenient user-interface simplifying your tasks but also enables you to configure and manage partitions of hard drive.
This website save the images you bookmark and their links as well, if for instance the link is broken but you still have that pictures you bookmarked amazing no? This is same like del.icio.us it just saves links but vi.sualize.us saves a copy of images you bookmark and their links as well.[more]
If you are someone who likes reading on Wikipedia then this apps you will like. What is really does is, it just shows up automatically on your PC Wikipedia's selected pages.[download]
With JDVoiceMail you can send voice email messages to anyone with an e-mail address. JDVoiceMail generates compressed .wav or.mp3 files reducing the size from 16 to 10 times. The recipient doesn't need any special software to listen your messages, by just double-clicking the file, he can listen it using the default audio player. This features is already in Gtalk :).
Having Problem By Finding Drivers Some Of Your Hardwares?
We make it really simple to find the driver you need by indexing all our device driver links by company name AND by device type.
We have a massive collection of drivers from all the major manufacturers that includes a vast number of Printer Drivers, Scanner Drivers, Video Drivers (Graphics Cards) and Sound Card Drivers. We offer tons of Motherboard Drivers, Chipset Drivers, USB drivers, CD Rom Drivers, Modem Drivers, Keyboard Drivers and Mouse Drivers. If you can't find the driver you need, let us know and we'll track it down! We also have help articles for beginners and more advanced users to help with installation, removal and use of the drivers. NoDevice.com is THEplace to find any device driver you need.
What does Google Moderator do? When we have tech talks or company-wide meetings, it lets anyone ask a question and then people can vote up the questions that they’d like answered. The user interface looks like this:[more]
iPhone Theme Maker is free online tool that you can use to fully customize the look of your iPhone. You can replace the wallpaper with something cool, replace the image of the Dock (the four buttons at the bottom), replace the background for the status bar, and even replace the default icons for Photos, Calendar, Stocks, YouTube to whatever you like.
NTT DOCOMO, INC. and Sharp Corporation announced today that they have jointly developed a mobile phone capable of functioning as an intelligent key for automobiles - a world's first*1. The device will incorporate Nissan's Intelligent Key system, already a standard feature in various Nissan vehicles.
Nissan's Intelligent Key system, installed in more than 950,000 units of various Nissan models*2 since 2002, employs two-way wireless communications technology to automatically unlock/lock*3 the car door and start/stop the engine. Nissan and Sharp has now integrated these electronic intelligent-key, wireless communications and electromagnetic technologies into the new handset.
Nissan, DOCOMO and Sharp will demonstrate this mobile phone with built-in Intelligent Key in their respective exhibits at CEATEC Japan 2008, which begins September 30*5. The three firms will continue to develop the product with an aim for commercial distribution in early fiscal year 2009.
1:
As of September 2008, based on Nissan research.
2:
As of August 2008, Japan only.
3:
Manual remote entry also possible, like with conventional remote key.
4:
Mainly automatic keyless entry and engine ignition, lockout prevention, plus conventional manual remote entry.
5:
Wednesday, September 30 until Saturday, October 4 at Makuhari Messe.
10. Reduce Screen Time Before Bed 9. Exercise to Enhance Sleep 8. Eat to Enhance Sleep 7. Master the Power Nap 6. Avoid the Soul-Shattering Alarm Buzzer 5. Solve Problems in Your Sleep 4. Beat Insomnia with Visualization 3. Shortcut a Long Nap with the Clattering Spoon 2. Take a Caffeine Power Nap 1. Teach Yourself to Lucid Dream
Skyfire is a free, downloadable mobile web browser that allows you to experience the internet on your phone exactly like on your PC. Now, you can use the full web from your mobile phone with unprecedented speed and simplicity – without the typical restrictions and limitations that current ‘mobile web’ efforts offer. It’s “The Web”, not some mobile web. With Skyfire on your phone you can for the first time ever shop, watch web video, listen to web music and stay connected on your social network -- just as you would on your PC. We're talking about full-featured PC versions of your favorite websites. Skyfire gives you speedy page loads, full audio, images and video. From Myspace, Facebook, YouTube to Hulu - it's the full web experienced on your phone.
Rockbox is an open source firmware replacement for a growing number of digital audio players. It has been in development since 2001 and receives new features, tweaks and fixes every day to provide you with the best possible music listening experience. Rockbox aims to be considerably more functional and efficient than your device's stock firmware while remaining easy to use and customizable. We believe that you should never need to go through a series of menus for an action you perform frequently. We also believe that you should be able to configure almost anything about Rockbox you could want, pertaining to functionality. It is written by users, for users.
Apple: 1st through 5.5th generation iPod, iPod Mini and 1st generation iPod Nano (not the Shuffle, 2nd/3rd gen Nano, Classic or Touch)
Archos: Jukebox 5000, 6000, Studio, Recorder, FM Recorder, Recorder V2 and Ondio
Cowon: iAudio X5, X5V, X5L, M5, M5L, M3 and M3L
iriver: H100, H300 and H10 series
Olympus: M:Robe 100
SanDisk: Sansa c200, e200 and e200R series (not the v2 models)
Toshiba: Gigabeat X and F series (not the S series)
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a beta is “a nearly complete prototype of a product.” In other words, a not-yet-finished product. Google is known for keeping their products in beta (much) longer than most other companies. But exactly how many of their products are in beta? When we here at Pingdom investigated this, it turned out that out of the 49 Google products we could find, 22 are in beta. That’s 45%!
Notable Google beta products
Some products you can understand why they are in beta, like Knol, Google Alerts, Custom Search, Google Chrome, etc. However, a lot of products that you wouldn’t really expect are still labeled as beta.
Here are a few notable Google products that are still in beta:
Gmail
Google Docs
Orkut
Google Finance
Charging money for a beta product
Google has paid options for Gmail and Docs (via Google Apps). So, how does that rhyme with these products being in beta? A beta product is by definition an unfinished product, which is usually not something you charge money for.
As I said earlier, I have Google apps as well(www.bizimunda.net)
Google, the beta company
If anyone is aware of Google’s motivation for keeping for example Gmail and Orkut in perpetual beta, please let us know.
As far as we know, no other company keeps such a large portion of their products, especially ones that are used commercially, in beta. Google seems to be immensely fond of that beta label.
Our mission is simple: to find you the right Virtual American Assistant for your business. Searching for quality administrative support is a daunting task for any business, especially for small business owners who are limited in both financial resources and time.
At Secretary in Israel LLC, we help your business succeed by matching you with highly educated and experienced American Assistants who work virtually from their homes in Israel. As a result, you're able to spend more time with clients and less time in your office.
With Secretary in Israel on your team, you can focus on what you do best (i.e., making money), and your Virtual Assistant will help you with the rest (i.e., doing paperwork).
iXiGO is a travel search engine for Indian consumers.
Our mission: to aggregate travel information and make it searchable and useful. Our passion: technology that brings speed, usability and transparency to the travel world.
How are we different?
iXiGO is an infomediary, not an intermediary. That means we are NOT an online travel agency. We let you search directly across multiple airlines, hotels, buses and online travel agencies in real-time so that you don't need to search a zillion travel websites. We thus aim to make your travel search easier for you, the same way Google does for information on websites.
We do not advertise any 0 Rs. fares, 1 Rs. fares, 99 Rs. fares on our site, for one simple reason - we let you cut through the crap and give you the raw deal - inclusive of all taxes and fees. We believe that travelers want an all-inclusive price comparison, even for roundtrip fares. We show you all combinations with the actual price that hits your pocket.
The new Digsby is here! We just released Build 32 (r17926) which is the culmination of a massive effort to improve performance, improve connectivity, fix most of the remaining bugs, and add some new functionality to boot. Major changes in this release include:
RAM Usage: We optimized from the ground up and fixed memory leaks to lower RAM usage by almost 75%. This has been the number one complaint since our launch and we are proud to introduce this massive improvement.
Performance:User interface elements draw twice as fast for better performance. We have made changes to the architecture that will improve GUI responsiveness and CPU utilization across the board.
Connectivity: Every IM protocol automatically tries multiple connection methods and ports to improve the odds of getting through restrictive firewalls and proxy servers.
LinkedIn: Digsby now supports LinkedIn in addition to the other social networks. Functionality includes a full newsfeed, alerts when new messages arrive, and the ability to set status right from Digsby.
Bug Fixes: We have fixed hundreds of bugs, making Digsby more stable than ever. There have been almost 3,000 revisions in our codebase since the last release so there are too many fixes to list in our changelog.
Have you ever wanted to send confidential information within your work environment, to family or friends, but were afraid to do so over the internet, because some malicious hacker could be spying on you?
Privnote is a free web based service that allows you to send top secret notes over the internet. It's fast, easy, and requires no password or user registration at all.
Just write your note, and you'll get a link. Then you copy and paste that link into an email (or instant message) that you send to the person who you want to read the note. When that person clicks the link for the first time, it will see the note in her browser and the note will automatically self-destruct, which means no one (even that very same person) can read the note again. The link won't work anymore.
You can optionally choose to be notified when your note is read by leaving your email and a reference for the note.
Step 1: The Decision - Finding The Best Used Laptop
Decide what computer you want and then change your mind. Like most people, you probably dream of the newest, hottest thing on the market—maybe a Macbook Air or Dell’s new Studio Hybrid? No. Instead, check out some of the best computers from last year or earlier this year. These are the laptops you should choose from in the used market—and generally, they’ll perform the same tasks that this year’s models do. As an added bonus, you can try to find a computer from 2007 with Windows XP installed instead of Vista!
Step 2: Where to Buy
Determine where you will buy your computer. There are four options: eBay, Craigslist, local dealers, and straight from the manufacturer. Buying refurbished models from the manufacturer or a local dealer is often more expensive, but they’ll come with attached warranties that will calm your worried hearts. The remaining two options are a bit trickier, but also cheaper. If you plan to use eBay, make sure to find a seller with no less than 100% feedback rating. If the computer arrives broken, a seller with a flawless rating will happily allow a return in order to prevent negative feedback—that’s the beauty of eBay. For a Craigslist exchange, make sure to arrange a public meeting spot like a coffee shop where you can inspect the computer fully before purchasing.
Step 3: Cracks and Imperfections
Now you need to check for damage. First check for cosmetic issues—and then realize that it doesn’t matter whatsoever. As long as the computer still works, that little chip on the bottom corner will not be a problem. But if you’d like, you can try to get a few bucks knocked off the price because of it.
Step 4: No Purple Haze
One of the most expensive things to replace on a laptop is the screen. Check for any purple or pink discoloration, and if you find any, send the computer back. It’s not worth the hassle or cost of repairs.
Step 5: Testing the Inputs
Check all plugs, sockets, and wireless connections like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Many of these are attached to the motherboard, which is costly to replace. If one USB port is broken and you can live with the other three, then do it. If the headphone jack is broken but you have Bluetooth headphones anyway, then rejoice.
Try burning all types of media that the drive should support—CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R DL, etc.
Step 8: Test the Battery Life
Read as many of my posts on Green Options as you can until the computer’s battery dies. If goes out too fast, try to get the seller to discount the price to make up for the cost of a replacement battery, which can often carry a big price tag.
Step 9: Seek Help
If you don’t want to do all these tests yourself or you want an expert opinion, most repair places would not charge more than $80 for a complete diagnostic check-up. When your used computer cost less than half the original retail price, $80 isn’t much.
Step 10: Wrap it up
For eBay buyers, don’t leave feedback until you’ve checked everything out. If there are any major problems, do not be afraid to return the computer.
Don’t get frustrated if everything isn’t perfect right from the start. Remember that people have problems with their brand new computers pretty often as well. Even if you have to fork up some money for small repairs or upgrades, rest assured that your decision was environmentally and economically sound.
Amid the iPhone 3G launch hysteria, we made a pronouncement that, looking back now long after the dust has settled, pretty well nailed it: forget hardware, it's code that counts. Code via the juggernaut that is the App Store, which allowed the iPhone to truly came into its own as a mobile platform.
Now, our first official look at T-Mobile's G1, the first Android-capable phone built by HTC, is less than 24 hours away, and the same adage holds true now more than ever. Android's openness puts the emphasis even more squarely on the code this platform will run, making the hardware almost an afterthought. And while it's still quite early in the game and things won't really kick up until the G1 becomes available sometime in October, the Android Market is already looking like an equally if not more vibrant place for great apps for your phone.
One of the main positive points in our Android preview guide was that Android will likely be home to the best direct tie-ins to Google's web apps like Maps, Docs, and Gmail, of any device around. And not only will they shine individually (remember's Apple's proud claims of the iPhone's custom Google Maps integration?), each Google service is set up as an open API within Android, meaning they're all available for mashing up with any other type of data imaginable in third party applications, effectively allowing developers to easily convert awesome Google service hybrids (like Beer Mapping, one of my favorites) into mobile apps.
Unsurprisingly, Maps integrations are the main focus being taken by the early wave of Android Apps, many of which were written in response to the Android Developer's challenge. Throw in location awareness via GPS or cell towers (another Android core service), and we've got ourselves the ingredients for some truly next-level stuff.
Enkin: When many people envisioned a location-aware future for mobile tech, they were probably dreaming up something like Enkin. If you can last through the somewhat brutal video here, you'll see some amazing potential: Enkin is basically a visualization framework for location information which can place locations on a two-dimensional map, a quasi-three-dimensional Google Earth type view, and coolest of all, overlay them onto the view streaming live out of your phone's camera. It uses GPS and accelerometers to sense exactly which direction the camera pointing, giving you an annotated view of the real world. You can add your own placemarkers or draw them in from the internet.
Locale: Borne from an MIT class specifically for writing Android apps (and winner of a $275,000 first prize from the Android dev challenge), Locale lets you define your most frequented places on a map and set your phone to respond to those places in a number of different ways. While the prototype is mostly focused on phone settings (like switching to silent when you're in the office or at a movie theater), these kinds of frameworks can be expanded infinitely. Home automation software could be programmed to turn on the lights (or start cooking your breakfast, Pee-Wee Herrman style) once you're a few blocks away from your home, for instance. It takes Bluetooth proximity to a whole new level, one that's not dependent on the limited proximity to another device but only your actual real-world location independent of any other variables.
GeoLife: In a similar vein is GeoLife, a location-aware to-do list. You can pair actions on your list to locations (or types of locations) to get a reminder to buy milk when you're near a grocery store.
Ecorio: Using GPS, Ecorio runs in the background (another edge Android has over the iPhone) and estimates the carbon output of your day's journeys. Once it learns your habits, it can then suggest public trans or carpooling alternatives. Another $275,000 first prize winner.
Cab4me: Takes your current location and feeds it into a database of nation-wide cab companies, allowing you to order a cab pickup instantly with your current locations. Google Maps overlays also show areas of cities where you're likely to hail a cab off the street.
BioWallet: Not all of the innovative apps are map based. BioWallet uses your phone's camera as an iris scanner to lock down sensitive information like account numbers and passwords on your phone, or even the phone itself. Handwriting-based IDs can also be implemented, all processed on external servers and sent back to your phone with a pass/fail reading.
CompareEverywhere and GoCart: Both capture photos of product UPC codes to then tie into online databases for comparison pricing, product availability, and shopping list compilation.
TuneWiki: Music apps are a bit thin pre-release, but TuneWiki (which is already out for jailbroken iPhones—not in the store yet, which won't be a problem with Android) looks impressive for grabbing lyrics and album art with your music. See it in action here.
Teradesk e-Storage: We love Air Share on the iPhone, and e-Storage looks to provide many similar services, with file versioning and Google Docs integration (one of the first of many G-Docs tie-ins, surely).
True, some of these apps could seemingly be just as at home in the iTunes App Store and on other platforms (many mobile OS's have some iteration of a barcode reader, for instance). But what has the potential to set Android apart though is its open source foundation; with the support of the open-source development community—one of the largest and most important driving forces of innovation in computers and software throughout history—Android could blast open mobile platforms even further than the iPhone has or could. Especially when you consider the core open-source projects that have shaped the internet since the beginning—Apache, MySQL, PHP, ssh, and countless others—making it onto phones in a core and unified way. Despite early SDK kinks, we could be seeing some exciting stuff in the next few months.
Looking for a bit of Google G1 goodness to hold you over until T-Mobile’s announcement later tomorrow this morning? We’ve got you covered. An eagle-eyed reader spotted these promo shots on T-Mobile’s G1 site, giving us a bit of a sneak preview of the world’s first commercially available Android-based device. The desktop shot looks roughly similar to the Android desktop shots that we’ve seen from the beginning, with a collection of customizable widgets that display a variety of at-a-glance info and access to commonly used applications. The presence of a MyFaves icon ensures compatibility with T-Mobile’s unlimited calling service. The next screen shot gives a bit of a look into the Maps application, though it doesn’t reveal a whole lot of useful info. We do see reference to, YouTube, Gmail, and GCal, but Google Application interfacing is no secret. Finally, we’ve got a look at both the browser and the landscape mode for image viewing. Again, nothing revolutionary, though the browser does appear to be formatted similarly to Google’s iPhone-specific mode. Hit the jump for the final two shots, and hold on to your hats folks. 10:30 AM EST is almost upon us.
Software called FormatFactory its really a fomatting factory, you can format, convert any kind of file in any fomat.
FormatFactory is a multifunctional media converter. Provides functions below: All to MP4/3GP/MPG/AVI/WMV/FLV/SWF. All to MP3//WMA/MMF/AMR/OGG/M4A/WAV. All to JPG/BMP/PNG/TIF/ICO/.... Rip DVD to video file. MP4 files support iPod/iPhone/PSP/BlackBerry format. Source files support RMVB.
FormatFactory's Feature: 1 support converting all popular video,audio,picture formats to others. 2 Repair damaged video and audio file. 3 Reducing Multimedia file size. 4 Support iphone,ipod multimedia file formats. 5 Picture converting supports Zoom,Rotate/Flip,tags. 6 DVD Ripper. 7 Supports 30 languages
Google’s new G1 phone announced today is the first real competitor to the iPhone. Like Apple’s product, it’s a serious handheld computer with a powerful new operating system (called Android) and a clever touch-based user interface. Like the iPhone, it’s likely to be a major new platform for third-party software. But it’s also very different, and may appeal to different buyers.
The phone, expected to be the first of many to use the Android operating system, was largely designed by Google, and was built by HTC of Taiwan. It will be sold in the U.S. starting next month by T-Mobile, for $179 with a two-year contract.
Here are some first impressions of the G1, based on some experience with a prototype. This isn’t a full review; that will come later, when I’ve had a chance to use a more finished device.
Most importantly, the G1 complements its touch screen with a physical keyboard, the lack of which has made the iPhone a non-starter for some users. The G1’s keyboard is revealed when you slide open its screen. The keys are a bit flat, and you have to reach your right thumb around a bulging portion of the phone’s body to type, but it’s a real keyboard. And there’s also a BlackBerry-like trackball that supplements the touch screen navigation. I found typing on this keyboard to be OK, but not great.
A second big feature, or limitation, of the G1 — depending on your point of view — is that it is tightly tied to Google’s web-based email, contacts and calendar programs. In fact, you must have a Google (GOOG) account to use the phone, and can only synchronize the phone’s calendar and address book with Google online services. Unlike the iPhone, it doesn’t work with Microsoft Exchange, and it can’t physically be synced with a PC-based calendar or contacts program, like Microsoft Outlook.
So, if your world already revolves around Google services, you may find that the G1 fits like a glove. If not, you may be disappointed.
Also, like the iPhone, the G1 has a download service for third-party programs, called Market. I downloaded a couple of simple Market programs and they worked fine.
The G1 won’t win any beauty contests with its Apple (AAPL) rival. It’s stubby and chunky, nearly 30% thicker and almost 20% heavier than the iPhone. It’s a bit narrower — more like a standard phone than a “smart phone” — and longer, but has a somewhat smaller screen.
Still, it feels pretty good in the hand when closed, although I found it more awkward when opened.
But the software is slick. Programs appear in a virtual drawer you slide open via a tab at the bottom of the screen, and notifications of new messages and the like can be read by sliding the top bar of the screen down. The screen and software were quick and responsive.
The web browser is based on the same open-source technology as the iPhone’s, but works differently. You can view a portion of a page, and use a zoom control and finger-dragging to see the rest, or you can view the whole page in miniature, as on the iPhone. In the latter mode, however, you can’t simply use Apple’s technique of tapping or “pinching” to zoom in on a portion of a page. You must move around a virtual lens to pick out a part of the page on which to focus.
There are two email programs: one for Google’s Gmail, another for all other email services. There’s an instant messaging program, that works with multiple services — not just Google’s. And, as on the iPhone, there are programs for using Google Maps and Google’s YouTube video service. The G1’s Google Maps program has a feature lacking in the iPhone version: photographic street views of some locations.
The G1 has a couple of other things the iPhone omits: copy and paste functionality and a so-called MMS program, which sends photos to other phones without using email. Its camera is higher-resolution than the iPhone’s, but, like Apple’s, doesn’t record video.
It also gives you far more flexibility in organizing your desktop, or home screen, than the iPhone, or almost any phone I’ve seen. In addition to placing icons for programs there, you can place everything from individual contacts, music playlists, folders, web pages, and more.
The G1’s multimedia capabilities are less polished and complete than the iPhone’s. There’s a very basic music player, and a built-in version of Amazon’s MP3 download service that works fine. But the G1 lacks a built-in video player — you have to download one from the third-party software store. Also, you cannot use standard stereo headphones with the G1. You need special ones, or an adapter.
And it lacks the iPhone’s ability to change the orientation of a web page or photo by just turning the phone. You also can’t move through groups of photos by just “flicking,” as on the iPhone.
The G1 also has much less memory than the iPhone. The base $199 iPhone comes with 8 gigabytes sealed in, but the G1 comes with just a 1 gigabyte memory card. Its maximum memory, if you buy a bigger card, is 8 gigabytes, while the iPhone can be purchased (for $299) with twice that.
T-Mobile is claiming similar talk time to that of the iPhone, but, unlike Apple’s product, the G1 has a removable battery.
Finally, a word about networks. In the U.S., the G1 will initially only be available on T-Mobile, whose high-speed 3G network will be up and running in many fewer cities than those of its larger rivals, AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ). Like the iPhone, the G1 does have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.
In sum, the G1 is a powerful, versatile device which will offer users a real alternative in the new handheld computing category the iPhone has occupied alone.
FFmpeg is an audio/video conversion tool. It includes libavcodec, the leading open source codec library. An experimental streaming server for live broadcasts is also included.[commands]
iPhone only: Considering that voice dialing has been a standard feature of even the cheapest cell phones for several years, the lack of any sort of hands-free voice dialing on the iPhone is frustrating. I'd say Cactus has a lot of promise. If only Apple would allow apps to tie to special buttons, like double-click home.
Your copy of Firefox 3 will give you the old "update available" notification soon—or you can hit the Help menu and choose "Check for Updates" instead—to get version 3.0.2
Yahoo Messenger 9.0 became available on Tuesday for Windows XP--a week after Yahoo's target launch date and interestingly, a week after Microsoft released its beta update of Windows Live Messenger. Yahoo Messenger 9.0 as dramatic an update of its instant messenger as Windows Live beta is of Windows Live Messenger 8.5, and it introduces some pleasant improvements over version 8.1 that will satisfy Yahoo loyalists. Among them are a redesigned interface with more skins, more space, and the excellent ability to see scaled public images and videos in the chat window.
If you're familiar with the beta version of Yahoo Messenger 9.0, this final build adds more conspicuous spam alerts and the ability to chat with friends directly from their Web site or online profile page. We'll discuss both later on in this review.
Just as Google is celebrating its 10th anniversary, a man claiming to be the “third” founder of Google has come out to stake his claim to history. In the video above, a man calling himself Hubert Chang claims that as an NYU Ph.D student in 1997 he was introduced to Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin by Stanford professor Rajeev Motwani. He then helped the two come up with PageRank (the underlying algorithm that powers Google’s search engine), the name Google, and even the business plan.
So why wasn’t his name on the original PageRank paper? Because, he says, he decided to pursue his Ph.D instead. Then when he did finish his Ph.D n 2002 and contacted Google, he got the big brush off from Larry and Sergey’s handlers. (Surprise, surprise). Remember, boys and girls, always ask for a byline.[more]
MobaLiveCDis a freeware that will run your Linux LiveCD on Windows thanks to the excellent emulator called "Qemu". MobaLiveCD allows you to test your LiveCD with a single click : after downloading the ISO image file of your favorite LiveCD, you just have to start it in MobaLiveCD and here you are, without the need to burn a CD-Rom or to reboot your computer.
Mobile phone Use 'Raises Children's Risk Of Brain Cancer Fivefold'
Children and teenagers are five times more likely to get brain cancer if they use mobile phones, startling new research indicates.
The study, experts say, raises fears that today's young people may suffer an "epidemic" of the disease in later life. At least nine out of 10 British 16-year-olds have their own handset, as do more than 40 per cent of primary schoolchildren.
Yet investigating dangers to the young has been omitted from a massive £3.1m British investigation of the risks of cancer from using mobile phones, launched this year, even though the official Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) Programme – which is conducting it – admits that the issue is of the "highest priority".
iPhone/iPod touch only: Instapaper Free, the iPhone app cousin of previously mentioned bookmarking tool Instapaper, lets you bookmark up to 10 web pages you want to read while you're offline. That may not sound like an amazing feat, unless you've tried to keep a page open in mobile Safari and have it not try to refresh and fail when you're not connected. The app uses a JavaScript bookmarklet—which, at this point, you have to manually tweak a bit—and the Instapaper web service to provide you with your reading.
Doc Searls blogs over at Linux Journal that Google's Chrome browser is more than just an attention-grabbing software app. Combined with Gears functionality and the upcoming Android release, it delivers on Netscape's promise of the browser as operating system, with online-and-off webapps replacing desktop workhorses. Over-ambitious forecasting, or do you also see Google as up to more than just browser polishing?
You might think that planet Earth is pretty big, but the following video will show you that size is only a matter of perception, and that in fact, our planet is really tiny compared to other celestial objects.
Windows only: Microsoft Pro Photo Tools is a full-featured metadata editor for your digital photographs. The app supports pictures saved in RAW format along with JPEG and TIFF, and editing your metadata works the same no matter what your default file type is. Apart from extensive run of the mill metadata editing, Microsoft Pro Photo Tools' marquee feature is geotagging, which can add location information to your photos in a number of ways. Once geotagged, you can view any of your images on a Windows Live map. Microsoft Pro Photo Tools is freeware, requires .NET 3.0 and Windows validation (blech).
Streaming music lovers already know that YouTube is a veritable treasure chest of music videos and other audio goodness, and new webapp MixTube makes listening to YouTube clips easy. Similar to Muxtape—but without the part where you upload songs—you create a MixTube playlist by adding URLs of YouTube clips to the app, like this Beatles playlist. You can also shuffle songs or put them on repeat once you've created your playlist. Not sure what happens to the MixTube audio if the video clip gets pulled, so make and email around your playlist while you can.