First public beta of Opera 9.6: Chrome is on their mind, too
Download Opera 9.6 Beta 1 Build 10424 for Windows from FileForum now.
The first publicly released builds of the latest Opera browser suggest developers are working to clean up the rendering engine and spruce up its features, in light of new, bright, and shiny competition seemingly from out of nowhere.
Sprint confirms it's adding two HTC Touches to its 3G arsenal
While Verizon Wireless has been busy with its ongoing campaign to convince you that "it's the network," Sprint -- whose network has not been its strong point in recent years -- is placing new bets today that it's really the phone.
Just in time for the CTIA show, Sprint has officially confirmed that it is adding two of the most intriguing new Windows Mobile-based HTC Touch phones to its lineup of 3G touchscreen smartphones, which already includes the original HTC Touch and the best-selling Samsung Instinct.
Latest patched Windows exploit is a golden oldie
We've seen Microsoft patch vulnerabilities in Windows that we swear we'd seen before, and sometimes they all look so much alike that they tend to run together. But this one really is a classic: a buffer overrun triggered by a fake image file.
Who can forget the tumultuous days of 2004, when what was then considered a major threat to Windows loomed large: a way to easily trigger a buffer overrun in GDI+, Microsoft's once-improved Graphics Device Interface library? While patches were finally distributed that September, it seemed the company's eventual solution -- a completely new graphics foundation, WPF -- couldn't come too soon.
Virtualization: While Microsoft loses more time, VMware loses more execs
We've been told virtualization is the fastest evolving sector of the computing industry. But now, VMware is running on autopilot without its key scientists, and Microsoft hopes another delay won't hurt it too much.
In advance of a major virtualization trade show in Las Vegas next week, two of the industry's key players will most definitely not be firing on all cylinders. Smartly diffusing a potential powder keg by letting the news out yesterday at its own show, Microsoft demonstrated live migration, a very long awaited key feature of its hardware-supported Hyper-V virtualization suite, only to tell attendees it wasn't actually coming to a data center near you until at least 2010.
Evidence tabs will get more attention in future Firefox releases
Google's Chrome developers -- some of whom have worked, and are still working, on Firefox -- acknowledged their debt of gratitude for Firefox's inspiration. But today's latest development in Firefox 3.1 suggests it's now playing catch-up.
Last week's release of Google Chrome placed a new emphasis on the tab as the repository for a Web browser, rather than the Web browser as the central location for tabs. Whether or not that catches on, the concept may be compelling developers to treat tabs more seriously, and the latest alpha build of Firefox 3.1 is an indication of this.
Tomorrow's critical Windows updates may focus on multimedia exploit
The software most affected by a quartet of updates to be released by Microsoft tomorrow morning, is our only clue to the possibility of a remote code vulnerability in multimedia files that may never have been reported elsewhere.
By number, four seems like a pretty small quantity for monthly Windows security updates, and that's the number Windows administrators and users will start seeing in their regular updates tomorrow, the second Tuesday of the month.
How dangerous are the first Google Chrome vulnerabilities?
A pair of security holes whose proofs-of-concept were validated by BetaNews show that Google Chrome may not have been as thoroughly inspected as Google would have us believe. But isn't finding bugs and holes what beta testing is all about?
A beta test is not a product debut, at least not by definition. So the discovery of the first few serious security vulnerabilities in Google's Chrome shouldn't, in and of themselves, raise alarm bells. However, one may rationally wonder why a project that was in the works for at least two years, if not four, wasn't able to find these same security holes long before the independent researchers did.
Mozilla's Aza Raskin: The journey back to Ubiquity
In an in-depth interview with BetaNews, the user experience chief of Mozilla Labs discusses a unique journey of discovery, backtracking through the groundbreaking work of his own father to rediscover the power of the command line.
He is the son of the man said to be the father of the Macintosh. As Aza Raskin told BetaNews, to this day, he still comes across papers or lecture notes or sketches that introduce him a little more to Jef Raskin, a man who passed away way too soon. And he continues his father's legacy, working now with Mozilla Labs to generate more sensible ways for people to use computers. A large part of his job consists of evangelizing a community of developers and users, generating interest in a new project called Ubiquity -- an experiment in endowing Firefox with a versatile, interpreter-driven command line.
Evidence Samsung and SanDisk are in merger talks
The company that holds patent rights for a breakthrough flash memory technology is apparently discussing the possibility of being acquired by the world's biggest flash producer. It's come down to this.
Flash card manufacturer SanDisk issued a statement early this morning, essentially using a bull-horn with trumpet accompaniment to awaken the world to the news that it does not comment on rumor and speculation. That speculation, it said, concerns news emerging from the Korean business press this week, indicating that it and leading flash memory producer Samsung are in merger talks.
Sun takes command of VirtualBox, adds 64-bit, VHD support
Download Sun xVM VirtualBox 2.0.0 for 32-bit Windows on x86 from FileForum now.
It should be the easiest, most readily available software anywhere for setting up a Linux environment on a Windows host. And maybe it will be, but in the meantime, BetaNews tests seem to indicate VirtualBox 2.0.0 has a few hurdles to overcome.
The Google Chrome EULA debacle: Whose content is it, anyway?
Download Google Chrome 0.2.149.27 Beta from FileForum now.
Yesterday, Google made some quick changes to the terms of service for its new Chrome Web browser beta, to alleviate users' fears of misuse of their data. But how many other similar EULAs cast suspicion on the services they cover?
East coast iPhone 3G users report data service outages
11:04 am EST September 4, 2008 - After iPhone 3G customers were informed yesterday by AT&T at about 10:30 am yesterday that a problem affecting their 3G data use had been resolved, an AT&T spokesperson informed Reuters that it had resolved the issue at about noon yesterday.
AT&T spokesperson Mark Siegel told Reuters that the telco had traced the problem to "a routing issue in the way data is routed to and from wireless devices," though no further information on the cause was revealed.
Microsoft extends Xbox 360 price cut to the US
With the unmistakable thunder of another shoe dropping, Microsoft announced Wednesday evening that it is dropping the prices of its three Xbox 360 bundles -- the Arcade, "Console," and Elite -- in the US.
The basic 256 MB "Arcade" game console package drops to the $199.99 mark, in a new pricing initiative that begins this Friday. The 20 GB hard drive unit sinks in price to $299.99, and the Elite 120 GB model drops to $399.99.
Xperia emulator featured in new Sony Ericsson SDK
In what could conceivably become a serious alternative to alternatives swayed by the allure of Apple's iPhone, Sony Ericsson released today its SDK for developers of applications for its Xperia X1, which is still due for availability this month.
Since the Xperia is a Windows Mobile phone, its applications will be programmable using Microsoft Visual Studio. However, the phone's key features are exclusive to the Xperia, including slidable "panels" that represent miniature, running applications. Unlike the iPhone's sliding icons, these can literally be active programs, providing some form of useful information nearly all the time, in spaces just smaller than that of a postage stamp.
DirecTV and TiVo kiss and make up, again, with HD agreement
After subscribers were already receiving notices that they'd have to drop their TiVo equipment if they want to go HD, DirecTV is trumpeting the news that an HD TiVo will be a customer option after all...albeit in late 2009.
In the clearest signal to date that the new management at DirecTV is changing course, the satellite TV provider announced this morning it has renewed -- rather than let elapse -- its agreement with time-shifting hardware provider TiVo. Although it may still be a little late for some consumers, TiVo is now promising a new HD box for DirecTV subscribers for the second half of 2009.