Panabee sets sights on Go Daddy
As the Internet gets bigger and more crowded it can be increasingly difficult to find a catchy domain name. Startup company Panabee aims to provide a simple tool for individuals and businesses to find great domain names and it has just reached the milestone of 10 million monthly searches -- up 50 percent from 2012.
Given the scarcity of available names, Panabee offers a new interface for brainstorming alternatives besides dot-coms. As consumers become more Internet savvy, it allows businesses to embrace different domain endings like .co.uk, .biz, .net and more.
Android and Windows Phone on one HTC handset? Who would want that?
According to a new report by Bloomberg, Microsoft last month reached out to HTC to see if the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer would be interested in adding Windows Phone as a second OS to its Android handsets.
The story claims Terry Myerson, head of Microsoft’s operating systems unit, suggested "cutting or eliminating the [Windows Phone] license fee to make the idea more attractive" to HTC. The Taiwanese firm makes the Windows Phone 8X and 8S, but reportedly has no plans for further devices running the tiled OS.
Windows Phone app 6tag gets regramming, nearby posts and other features
Developer Rudy Huyn has steadily improved his popular 6tag Windows Phone 8 app up to the point where an official Instagram client would struggle to compete with the former's feature set. The app has received frequent updates since its release, the latest of which just arrived sporting a couple of major new features.
Using geolocation, 6tag, which reached version 1.5, can now display a list of posts created in nearby locations. Users can select the covered distance (presumably the radius) through a slider -- the default value is two kilometers -- and see a map with the places where fellow Instagrammers have created the nearby posts.
More enterprise technology projects funded by business rather than IT
Research group IDC has announced the results of a survey of 1,200 business executives which reveals that 61 percent of technology projects are now funded by the business rather than the IT department. It also shows that IT spending driven by functional business areas will continue to outpace IT spending by the IT organization in the future.
"Technology has long been central to improving business processes, enabling greater speed, efficiency, and reliability," says Meredith Whalen, IDC's Senior Vice President. "As businesses embrace the 3rd Platform, built on cloud services, big data analytics, mobile computing, and social networking technologies, they are taking the critical first steps toward business process transformation and, in some cases, business model transformation. With such high stakes, the business is increasingly taking a front seat in technology initiatives."
Apple releases OS X Mavericks GM to developers
Just two weeks after the release of iOS 7 Apple takes the wraps off the OS X 10.9 Mavericks GM. The latest version of the operating system, which is now only available to developers, is likely due for general release later in the month and it is extremely unlikely there will be any further changes -- barring the discovery of any serious problems, what we see now is what we'll get on release day.
The same build was released earlier to Apple employees and members of AppleSeed, and there are also updates to iPhoto and Xcode to enjoy. Within Mavericks, there are a number of changes from Mountain Lion. First off, iBooks is familiar to iPad and iPhone owners and now the ebook management system is brought to Macs -- of course, everything is kept in sync between devices.
Dundas Dashboard combines big data and mobile access
Canadian company Dundas Data Visualization has released a new version of its data dashboard software. Designed to enable rapid deployment of custom, interactive displays, Dundas Dashboard helps businesses to analyze and visualize data from across the enterprise in order to maximize the return on their data investment.
Dundas Dashboard 5.0 adds several improvements including advanced usage tracking so that you can measure the effectiveness of your investment, added support for big data tools like Amazon Redshift, Apache Hive and Microsoft PDW, along with a new HTML5 mobile interface.
Downloadcrew Giveaway: free keys from the big brands for a limited time
As a company which specialises in reviewing the latest software, we occasionally have access to serial codes which we are offered to allocate to our web users. Problem is, how do we allocate these codes, fairly? This resulted in Downloadcrew Giveaway, which was a site created to serve three purposes: allocate serial codes as part of a full software giveaway, enable users to enter a ballot to win a serial code and to present discounted offers for the latest software.
We're bringing back Downloadcrew Giveaway for a limited period, running from now until the end of 2013, giving you serial codes for the very latest software, from some of the biggest brands. Expect to find codes from Kaspersky, Bitdefender, AVG, CyberLink, O&O Software, Auslogics and many other brands, to be confirmed.
Google Authorship: What You Need to Know
In early September, Google announced that it would be integrating Google+ sign-in with its authorship program, making it even easier to make sure you get the credit for the content you create. This most recent development is just one in a long line of moves by Google toward integration of its existing products both with one another, and with the new products it continues to release.
If you're not familiar with Google Authorship, it's a markup that authors can use to link the content they create for their blog or website to their Google+ profile, and by extension their online identity. When setup correctly, an author's Google+ profile photo as well as a homepage address (when applicable) will be displayed next to their content's entry on the search engine results page (SERP).
Google brings AdMob to Windows Phone 8
Windows Phone 8 developers looking to increase their app revenues through the use of ads can now take advantage of Google's AdMob, as the search giant just released the first official build that is compatible with Microsoft's latest smartphone operating system.
The new AdMob SDK (Software Development Kit) arrives close to one year after Microsoft released the OS. It is currently available in beta trim, and allows developers to tap into the search giant's popular mobile advertising network, but without the same perks that Android and iOS developers receive.
Yorba updates Shotwell and Geary -- essential Linux programs
Linux offers much quality software. From Gimp, for photo and image manipulation, to Rhythmbox, for music, a user can easily achieve a positive software experience. However, once a program becomes largely adopted, it can get stale -- developers may rest on their laurels.
When developer Yorba came on the scene in 2009 with the popular Shotwell (photo management) and Geary (email client), it was a breath of fresh air. Not only are the programs functional, they are attractive and receive steady updates. Yesterday, Geary announced updates to both of these programs.
Hackers steal the info of 2.9 million Adobe customers -- are you affected?
Adobe Flash is a necessary evil. I say "necessary" because even though HTML5 has made major strides, a full and complete web experience still seems to rely on Adobe Flash. I say "evil" because, from a security standpoint, some of Adobe's products (Flash and Reader particularly) are constant thorns in the sides of users and administrators. It feels like almost every other day there is a new security update for an Adobe product. Steve Jobs infamously banned Flash from iOS and Adobe killed-off the Linux and Android versions voluntarily. Sadly, Adobe today announces a far worse security issue than a Flash or Reader exploit.
Today, Adobe Chief Security Officer, Brad Arkin writes, "very recently, Adobe’s security team discovered sophisticated attacks on our network, involving the illegal access of customer information as well as source code for numerous Adobe products. We believe these attacks may be related".
Update: Why did Windows Phone rate so poorly in Pfeiffer's tests?
Just last week, I wrote an article based on a report by Pfeiffer Consulting which suggested that Windows Phone 8 is, in its current state, the least user-friendly mobile operating system available. The article stirred up some feelings, and there were some quite heated exchanges in the comments.
For this follow-up piece, I spoke with Andreas Pfeiffer, the author of the report, to address some of the points, complaints and concerns you raised.
Find out more about local wireless networks with NirSoft’s WifiInfoView
Most Wi-Fi-enabled devices will give you some basic information about the networks in your vicinity: name, signal strength, security and so on. But if you need to know more, then NirSoft’s WifiInfoView is a quick and easy way to get started.
The program is large by NirSoft standards (247KB) and doesn’t run on Windows XP, but otherwise it’s all very straightforward: download and run WifiInfoView, the program then scans for wireless networks, and in a few seconds you’ll be presented with a detailed report on its findings.
Earbits brings its music to iOS
iOS comes with its own built-in music solution in the form of iTunes, but sadly for Apple, not every customer wishes to use it, or at least not full-time. But the mobile platform allows other services to compete for your ear and now one which has already established a presence on both the web and Android is making its case to iOS users.
Earbits, an online radio and music marketing platform, is available worldwide, aiming to showcase independent artists, and promising music from more than 12,000 musicians. Much like other similar services, Earbits works on recommendations, with a premise of allowing the customer to discover new music based on current tastes. It does so not only by using what you listen to via the service, but also by examining songs stored on your device.
Amazon Prime greenlights three new pilots
Amazon has been busy producing original content to bolster its Prime streaming video service, releasing 14 shows for testing back in April and letting the viewers decide which would stick. Now the Studio arm of the retail giant is announcing three more shows going into pilot production.
Mozart in the Jungle from Roman Coppola, The Outlaws written by Jeremy Garelick and Jon Weinbach, and Transparent from director Solloway are all heading for filming.
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