Get your phones ready -- The Brit Awards to be Shazam-enabled
British broadcaster ITV has agreed to a deal with Shazam -- the popular music identification service -- allowing viewers of this year’s The Brits music awards to access exclusive content during the live broadcast -- a UK first.
By using Shazam to tag the show between 8pm and 10:15pm on February 20, viewers will get access to exclusive behind-the-scenes content from performers and guest presenters.
There is little room for a third smartphone platform
"We're No. 3!" will be BlackBerry's and Microsoft's rallying cry this year. Android and iOS so dominate the smartphone market, the best -- and quite honestly dismal -- hope is third; distant at that. Combined, based on actual phone sales, Android and iOS had 90.1 percent share during fourth quarter, up from 74.9 percent a year earlier, according to Gartner. BlackBerry and Windows Phone are neck-and-neck, with lowly 3.5 percent and 3 percent standings, respectively.
Upstarts want third place, too. Anshul Gupta, Gartner principal research analyst, explains: "2013 will be the year of the rise of the third ecosystem as the battle between the new BlackBerry10 and Widows Phone intensifies. As carriers and vendors feel the pressure of the strong Android’s growth, alternative operating systems such as Tizen, Firefox, Ubuntu and Jolla will try and carve out an opportunity by positioning themselves as profitable alternatives".
Give 'Happy Birthday' credits, using Skype 6.2
Skype has announced the release of Skype 6.2 for Mac and Windows.
It’s essentially a maintenance release, although Windows users will notice a new-look top toolbar. Four icons immediately above the Contacts list and Recent Conversations tab provide quick access to Home, Calling Phones, Creating Groups and Adding Contacts.
Internet Explorer is the last browser standing
Opera's decision to change rendering engines means three of the top five browsers will use Webkit. Internet Explorer stands alone, and that is the wrong place to be. In September 2009 post "Microsoft should dig deep into Webkit to keep Google from Framing IE", I suggested radical change, which unsurprisingly was ignored. Since, Chrome usage share grew from 2.9 percent in August 2009 to 17.84 percent in January 2013, according to Net Applications. Meanwhile, IE share fell from 66.97 percent to 55.14 percent.
But the real battleground, and where upstarts gobble up territory, is mobile -- yeah smartphones and tablets. While the category accounted for just 11.8 percent browser usage share in January, the majority is Webkit -- 61.02 percent just for Safari. Internet Explorer: 1.34 percent, or less than Chrome (2.02 percent). Android browser is 21.46 percent. As I expressed three-and-a-half years ago: "Microsoft should answer WebKit for WebKit, by releasing a new browser based on a new rendering engine; put on the IE brand and ship it for desktop and mobile". There's still time, but fast running out.
Use DashClock widget to empower the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean lockscreen
One of the least impressive features added by Google in Android 4.2 is the ability to use lockscreen widgets. By default the second Jelly Bean iteration comes with a limited number of options, none of which is capable of delivering enough glanceable information without swiping left and right to find emails or calendar entries. With DashClock Widget the true potential of lockscreen widgets is unleashed by displaying relevant "status items" right after unlocking the device, all in one go.
DashClock Widget can be used as a Digital clock widget replacement, further building on the stock functionality by introducing support for next scheduled alarm, upcoming calendar appointments, missed calls and unread texts, unread Gmail inbox or Priority inbox count as well as local weather data. Straight off the bat it puts the stock lockscreen widgets to shame by combining sufficient relevant information, all in one place.
Modern Firefox for Windows 8 hits Nightly builds
Mozilla announced back in October that it would release a Metro Modern UI version of Firefox. At the time, the company released a "preview" version that was code named "Elm" which was an offshoot of the Nightly builds that the company produces for those users who wish to live on the bleeding edge of technology.
The day has finally arrived where that test build has graduated to an actual Nightly build. Yesterday evening Mozilla's Asa Dotzler announced that "preliminary Metro Firefox development work arrived at mozilla-central, the source code repository that feeds the Firefox Nightly channel".
GIMP 2.8.4 Portable debuts for Windows and OS X
Popular open-source, cross-platform image editor GIMP 2.8.4 Portable has been released for Windows PCs alongside the Mac binary of GIMP 2.8.4 FINAL. The updates appear less than a week after the Windows and Linux binary builds were released.
The update was a minor one, but many of the changes applied to the Mac build, including the moving of the program’s gimpdir to the ~Library\Application Support folder.
Apple lowers laptop prices, beefs up specs
Today, Apple announced a number of changes in the pricing and hardware department for the company's MacBook laptop lineup. The Mountain View, Calif.-based corporation lowered the price for the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display and for the top-of-the line 13-inch MacBook Air and beefed up the specs for the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display.
If you were holding off on buying an Apple MacBook now is a good time to reconsider. The fruit-logo company slashed $200 from the price of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, which now starts at $1,499 and $1,699 for the base and top model, respectively. Apple applied a similar treatment to the 13-inch MacBook Air in 256GB trim, which now goes for $1,399, $100 less than before.
Jawbone warns MyTalk hacked
There are days that cloud computing really sucks. The problem is trust. You trust Sites X, Y and Z to protect your data and log-in credentials, then they don't. Last week, Twitter rudely informed me that my password had to be reset, which is passive way of admitting that mine was one of the 250,000 pilfered accounts. This morning Jawbone greeted with email about an "isolated attack" that snagged my MyTalk information.
Funny thing, I don't even use MyTalk. I opened an account years ago while testing a Jawbone Bluetooth earpiece. Supposedly there was a firmware update and MyTalk registration the only way to get it. Fooled! No update. Now the dormant account is hacked. Interestingly, I see no official statement on Jawbone's website, but the email absolutely looks authentic.
Microsoft promises more Surface Pros in stores this week
It's a wild week for Microsoft's Surface Pro team. There was the big release, with lines forming at Microsoft stores, reviews being posted all over the web and then news the tablet sold out at all locations. Not too much can be read into the latter at this point -- we do not know how much stock was actually available.
More are coming. In an overnight announcement, the Surface team lets everyone know that Microsoft is "shipping additional units of the 64GB SKU to Best Buy, Staples and Microsoft Store now. We are shipping 128GB SKU later this week to retailers, with some units available by the end of the week. Our priority (and that of our retail partners) is to fulfill orders from customers who made a reservation first. Canada is following a similar timeline but may take an extra few days to start arriving".
Trikanoid gets mouse support
It’s not even a month since we wrote about Trikanoid, a fun remake of 80's arcade classic Arkanoid. But developers Triumph Remakers have been busy, and version 1.2 for Windows has just been released (the Mac build is coming soon), with some very welcome additions.
Top of the “new features” list must be mouse support. Previously the program only supported keyboard control, which wasn’t the most natural way to move your pad around, but being able to control it with your mouse, instead, is a real improvement.
Opera announces 300 million users, move to Webkit
As far as web browsers go, Opera never seems to get enough love. But it has a dedicated following of avid users who seem suddenly to appear whenever you say something bad about the software. Now that following has grown, and Opera plans to reward them with a new engine.
Today CEO Lars Boilesen proclaims a milestone: "On the final stretch up to 300 million users, we have experienced the fastest acceleration in user growth we have ever seen". While that is certainly a big step for the company, and worthy of a pat on the back, Opera browser still remains far behind its competitors.
LG unveils a second and different Optimus G Pro
If you're confused, you are not alone. On Wednesday, LG unveiled a new smartphone dubbed Optimus G Pro, three weeks after Japanese carrier NTT DOCOMO announced a new LG-made smartphone dubbed Optimus G Pro. The twist -- they are not one and the same.
The confusion stems from the fact that the first Optimus G Pro features a 5-inch display while the second model comes with a 5.5-inch display, basically placing the two in different market segments. In terms of panel dimensions, the former is quite similar to the newest batches of Android flagships such as the Sony Xperia Z while with the latter LG takes the fight to Samsung's Galaxy Note II. LG should really make up its mind and pick different names for its handsets.
Kiwi System Info reveals much, but not enough, about your PC
If you regularly troubleshoot other people’s PCs then you’ll know that the process usually starts by collecting system information. Which graphics card does it have, for instance? How many network interfaces, which USB controller, what user accounts are there? And whatever it might be.
You may be able to collect some of this data by browsing the target PC, but life will probably be a lot easier if you have a system information program to collect and present everything in a single place. And few tools provide quite as much data as the free Kiwi System Info.
Microsoft pushes Office 365 with 'Quick Start' video series
Microsoft has made no real secret that it prefers you to buy an annual license for software, as opposed to purchasing a non-expiring version. Office 2013/365 is the first real example of that, but will surely not be the last. Since the products' release, the company has pushed out PDF guides to help guide you along.
Now the push continues with a video version of those "Quick Start" guides. Earlier today the Office team announced the release of five videos in a new series that will give users a head-start on the new app suite.
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