Answers launches exclusive Windows 8 app: This is more important than you may think
Thursday, question and answer site Answers launched its new Windows 8 application in the Windows Store.
The application is designed in the Windows 8 style, gives users the basic functionality of asking, answering and editing questions, as well as exploring over 8,000 categories and browsing featured content based on interests. The app utilizes the Windows 8 system-wide search functionality, and users can pin Q&A categories as live tiles on the start screen.
Windows Phone 3.0 app for OS X is available now
Three days ago Microsoft publicly unveiled Windows Phone 8. In order to complement the newly released smartphone operating system, the Redmond, Wash.-based corporation first launched the Windows Phone app for Windows 8 and now the OS X version is available as well.
The main role of the application is to sync Macs with both Windows Phone 7 and 8 devices as well as Zune HD media players, but the focus is obviously more on the former considering the recent event. Using the app, media files such as movies, music, podcasts or TV shows can be synced from an existing iTunes library, as well as pictures and videos from iPhoto or Aperture. The app works the other way around too, since pictures and videos taken with a smartphone can be imported to the existing Aperture and iPhoto libraries.
Google Hangouts redesign is about you
If you ever wondered why Microsoft spent $8.5 billion to buy Skype and now tightly integrates the service into new software, Google+ Hangouts is one reason. The search giant has gone far making video group chatting easy, as well broadcasting live streams and posting them to YouTube. Today, Google improves Hangouts, bringing the overall feel in line with other, recent Plus changes. Most importantly, there's more white space, less clutter and clearer notifications. Say, we should Hangout and try it out.
Amit Fulay, Google product manager, explains: "The most important part of a hangout is the people in the room", which aptly describes the redesign's major benefit. Hangouts now consolidates "important items -- like invites, chat, and apps -- into a sidebar that's there when you need it, and tucked away when you don't".
Use roomeon to plan interior designs
Whether you’re just rearranging the furniture, or ripping out everything and starting again, being able to visualize your interior design projects before you begin can save you a great deal of time and hassle.
There have always been CAD-like tools to help you do this, but they tend to be expensive, and tricky to use. So we were very interested to hear about roomeon 3D-planner, a free (for personal use) design tool which claims to combine a very lengthy feature list with drag-and-drop simplicity.
Google Earth 7 brings new mobile features to the desktop
Google has updated its cross-platform 3D world exploration tool.Google Earth 7.0 gains functionality previously added to Google Earth for Mobile in the form of city tour guides and 3D imagery of cities. Google Earth 7’s tour guide provides pointers for local items of interest as users explore the world using the program. The launch of version 7 on desktop also comes with new sites added to the existing 3D imagery database.
Prior to the launch of Google Earth 7.0 on the desktop platform, 3D imagery was available for selected US cities only, with the likes of Boston, Denver, LA, Portland, San Diego, Seattle, Tampa and the San Francisco Bay Area among those featured. To view these cities in 3D, users need to manually switch on the feature by ticking the 3D Buildings option under Layers.
O&O DiskImage 7 Professional review
From malware to hardware failure, bugs to human error, there are many potential dangers just waiting to trash your most valuable data. Which is why it’s generally a very good idea to back up your system, from time to time.
And while there are many possible backup software options, we’ve always had a personal preference for the simplicity of disk imaging tools, the latest example of which is O&O DiskImage 7 Professional.
There's something scary about Chromebook
On Monday night while watching "Resident Evil: Afterlife" on USA Network, Google aired the first Chromebook commercial -- not once but twice. The ad played a lot better during primetime than on YouTube, with that oh-so tempting $249 price reaching out from the screen. Advertising where real people go shows Google's seriousness to reaching the masses. Make no mistake, something of a computing revolution quietly is brewing here.
Chromebook is still the top-selling laptop at Amazon, and that while being out of stock. Meanwhile, the cloud-connected device gains some surprising followers. On Google+, Chromebook chatter cracks the pipes, and mainly because of the newest model, which matches MacBook Air's form factor and ergonomics, including 11.6-inch screen and better keyboard, for one-quarter the price.
BUILD 2012: Microsoft ties Azure to Windows 8, Windows Phone 8
During a session at BUILD 2012 on Wednesday, Microsoft announced some new enhancements to its Azure platform that bring it onto the playing field with its latest operating system releases - Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.
In short, Azure will be expanding to include support for Windows Phone 8 as well as Windows 8. Satya Nadella, President of Microsoft's server and business tools, stressed the importance of bringing all of these platforms together. It will make life much simpler for developers who want to build apps that work across platforms and are cloud friendly.
AT&T and T-Mobile share networks for post-hurricane cleanup
Wireless carriers T-Mobile and AT&T announced on Tuesday that customers of either network will be able to place calls on whichever network is most operational in their area. If an AT&T customer can get a T-Mobile signal, they'll be able to place a call, and vice-versa.
Both networks utilize GSM and UMTS wireless standards, so by working together, they can provide more comprehensive coverage in storm-damaged areas.
Windows Phone Italy confirms version 7.8 features and release date
Two days ago, Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 8 at a big San Francisco press event. However, the company failed to reveal any concrete information on version 7.8. Current handsets cannot run the new software. Windows Phone 7.8 is the bone Microsoft throws loyal, earlier adopters. When is the question? Now, the Italian division of Microsoft's mobile arm seems to have leaked much of that information on its Facebook page.
While brief, the post packs in some details. Windows Phone 7.8 will be released after the new 8.0 version rolls out. That is set to happen in early November and the upgrade for current customers will begin "shortly after the marketing of the devices Windows Phone 8". Keep in mind that this is taken from direct translation, which doesn't always go smoothly between languages. (If you speak Italian, please help us out in comments.)
Skitch 2.0 is available on Google Play
Skitch, the sister product to the highly popular note-taking app Evernote, is now available in version 2.0 on Google Play. What does the annotation app have in store with the new version?
The most noticeable feature in Skitch 2.0 is an entirely overhauled interface. There is a new sync functionality that can be used by logging in using the Evernote account. If it's activated, sketches from the annotation app appear in the latter, and can also be pulled back into Skitch for further editing as. New tools such as Pixelate and Highlighter are added on top of the previously available options.
Google Search and Maps now include missing children AMBER alerts
AMBER alerts are the emergency bulletins that announce when a child has been abducted, they sometimes interrupt radio and television broadcasts or flash across variable message signs (aka matrix signs) on the highway. Today, Google announced it has teamed up with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to bring location-based AMBER alerts to Google Search and Maps, both mobile and desktop.
These AMBER Alerts provide information about the abducted child, and any other details about the case and the alleged abductor, including name, identifying traits, and make and model of car. The feature was actually suggested to Google by a user in the Google search forum in early 2011, but it is unclear if the user's suggestion was the origin of this development.
Phototheca is the cat's meow
If your digital photo collection is something of a mess, leaving you rarely able to find the images you need, then you’re not alone. The standard Windows tools just aren’t up to the task of managing large numbers of photos, leaving many people looking for third-party tools to help them restore order.
There are at least plenty of free photo managers competing for your attention, though, and the latest contender is Lunarship Software’s Phototheca, an interesting tool with a range of useful features.
Who killed Windows Small Business Server? Google
Most people probably didn't turn a glance at Microsoft's other big recent release, Windows Server 2012. Server operating systems rarely get much attention, and appropriately so; their appeal and importance really only extends to the rank and file of server administrators and other similar decision makers. And plus, with Windows 8 and Surface making the public rounds, there's plenty of fanfare to go around.
But there's something most obviously missing from the latest Server 2012 lineup, and that is a subsequent Small Business Server release. Redmond Channel Partner magazine first brought this to my attention. Not only did SBS get the axe, but Microsoft also went on to kill off Windows Home Server as well. The last public version of WHS was version 2011, which happened to be the second and final release in this platform's short lived history.
Microsoft bags another high-profile Office 365 customer
Microsoft's online version of Office has really reached maturity and, no, I am not talking Office Web Apps for SkyDrive here, although that has become a solid free option. Office 365, the more powerful big brother of Office Web Apps, which is geared more towards corporate customers, has been scoring some big contracts as of late with companies, universities and government agencies. Today the Redmond, Washington-based company announced its latest win, a contract to bring Office 365 to the Environmental Protection Agency.
This morning, Lockheed Martin and Microsoft announced the new $9.8 million deal with the EPA. The agency will begin transitioning approximately 25,000 employees to the cloud-based version of Office. "Lockheed Martin has supported the IT needs of the EPA for more than 35 years," stated Frank Armijo, who is the vice president of Lockheed Martin Energy Solutions. "By providing cloud-based tools that facilitate collaboration, communication and cost savings across the agency, our team is dedicated to the EPA’s mission."
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