X-Prize Foundation answers my tricorder competition complaints
Second in a series. This message from the X-Prize Foundation is in response to the letter I sent Qualcomm's CEO.
They seem to feel the contest is fine as-is and my objections are without merit.
There's something missing from Qualcomm's Tricorder contest
First in a series. I wrote a letter to Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs. This went out January 11th and was delivered on the morning of the 14th.
The response will be my next post.
Twitter’s first video tweet shows how to make steak tartare in six seconds
The first video tweet using an app from Vine, the start-up Twitter acquired last year, has appeared on the micro-blogging site. Originally created and sent by Dom Hofmann, co-Founder and CEO of Vine, it was then posted by Twitter boss Dick Costolo and dutifully retweeted by a couple of hundred people.
The embedded video, like all clips sent using Vine, lasts six seconds, and shows the steak tartare creation process -- with optional sound -- in a loop. While this could prove rather maddening if you have lots of Vine clips visible in your stream, it’s easy enough to hide away.
Symantec announces a change of direction
Symantec might have reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations, but the firm accepts it needs to do something if it is going to continue to thrive in a changing marketplace. So new CEO Steve Bennett has announced a change of direction for the anti-virus firm.
No, the company’s not suddenly going to start making Angry Birds knock-offs, but what it does intend to do is shift its focus on to 10 key areas that will result in the combining of existing products and services and the creation of a range of new, more comprehensive alternatives. The ten areas it intends to work on are:
Convert videos from over 60 formats with Any Video Converter Free 5.0.2
AVCLabs has released Any Video Converter Free 5.0.2 a major new version of its freeware video transcoding and conversion tool for Windows. The new build sports a radically overhauled and simplified user interface, plus promises faster, more powerful performance.
AVC Free promises to effortlessly convert videos from over 60 formats, with presets for popular mobile devices such as Android and iOS phones included. It’s also capable of downloading YouTube videos and includes limited video-editing tools.
Track down missing software product keys with Weeny Free Key Recovery
Having to reinstall software is never exactly fun, but it gets particularly annoying if you’ve been unfortunate enough to lose the CD case, email or whatever else contained that application’s product key. Especially if the developer isn’t able to send you a reminder.
Even if you can’t find any record of the product key, though, you may be able to use a product key finder such as Weeny Free Key Recovery to recover it from your existing installation.
Microsoft brings the Live Tile experience to SkyDrive
Windows 8's new Start screen evokes many emotions from customers, with most falling on either the love or hate side with almost no middle ground. However, one thing that can be agreed on is that the screen has no shortage of information. Users are bombarded with messages from Facebook, email, weather and countless other endlessly updating tiles. Now Microsoft has added one more to the perhaps overloaded mix.
Today the company announced it is pushing an update to the SkyDrive app for Windows 8 that will bring the live tile features to the cloud storage and sharing platform.
What's behind the big Apple sell-off?
Investors gutted Apple in after-hours trading today, following somewhat mixed fiscal first quarter 2013 results. As someone who owns no stock, I cock my head in wonder. Apple revenue for a single quarter topped Google for all 2012 ($54.5 billion and $50.18 billion, respectively). The fruit-logo company generated $13.06 billion net quarterly profit.
But there's a brutal bloodbath underway as I write. Apple is down 10.72 percent, to $458.90, in after-hours trading. That's from the close of $514.01. So what's the problem here? It's a sum of many that creates nervousness about the long-term. I say: Can't anyone be satisfied with what is arguably the best results posted by the next couple big techs combined? Apparently not.
Apple Q1 2013 by the numbers: $54.5B revenue, $13.81 EPS
Today, after the closing bell, Apple answered the question analysts have asked for weeks: How many iPhones and iPads shipped during the holiday quarter? The answer: A colossal number -- 47.8 million and 22.9, respectively.
Apple also shipped 4.1 million Macs. Analyst consensus was around 50 million, 23.5 million and 5 million, respectively, for the three devices. But the big reveal is iPad and whether the mini sapped sales of the larger tablet. In the previous quarter, iPad's average selling price was $535. Three months later, with iPad mini widely available, ASP is $467. Apple launched the slate on November 2nd alongside iPad 4. The company touted 3 million early sales, without breaking out which device. Now we know something.
Atari may be bankrupt, but its games are still available everywhere
This week Atari, the game system that my generation grew up with, filed for bankruptcy. It's a sad end to an icon of youth, but, still, the company's legal troubles do not spell an end to everything. First, while there are legal nuances that I will not detail because of the complications they bring with them, the important thing is what Atari meant to all of us -- games. Simple, 8-bit joy, created with the 2600 way back in the dark ages of 1977.
Just because the company experiences financial woe does not mean its legacy will cease to exist. The games live on in many forms, and we can still relive our youth whenever that nostalgic mood strikes.
Microsoft plays the nostalgia card to tempt past users back to Internet Explorer
I remember clearly where I was the day Internet Explorer launched. It was 16 August 1995 and I was sitting in a room full of tech writers watching Bill Gates show off Microsoft’s new browser. And I recall thinking, "why would anyone want to use anything other than Netscape Navigator?"
I remember clearly, some years later, wondering why anyone would want to use a browser that wasn’t Internet Explorer when I first heard about Firebird (which later became Firefox), and then wondering a few years after that why anyone would want to use a browser that wasn’t Firefox when Chrome launched. Times, loyalties and browsers all change, and Microsoft is hoping to use nostalgia to persuade people who "grew up" with IE to give the browser another chance.
Microsoft security patch is big trouble for some Surface RT users
Windows Update is supposed to keep Surface RT shipshape, particularly Security Tuesday updates. But the January 8 bundle causes problems for some Surface users, and Microsoft acknowledges there is an issue.
In an offical statement given to BetaNews: "Some Windows RT customers who attempted to apply monthly security bulletins had issues installing updates. Specifically, impacted Windows RT devices went into connected standby mode during the installation of updates from Windows Update, causing Windows Update to be disrupted. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and are working to correct the issue".
Google shares rise on 2012 results
Investors rewarded Google today, pushing shares up close to 6.5 percent soon after the opening bell and staying in that range. At 12:09 PM EST, the stock traded at $748.23, up 6.45 percent. Google opened at $735.83, up from yesterday's $702.87 close.
After the closing bell, on January 22, Google delivered fourth quarter and 2012 results that clearly satisfy someone. For the year, Google revenue reached $50.18 billion, up 32 percent from $37.9 billion in 2011. Motorola contributed $4.14 billion. Net income: $10.74 billion or $32.81 earnings per share. Average analyst consensus was $41.41 billion revenue and $39.73 earnings per share. Oh, the wiles of investors. Yearly EPS missed the Street, as it did for the quarter.
Like Zune, Microsoft can't get Surface right
When Microsoft launched its portable music player Zune in 2006 few thought it would be a serious contender to Apple’s iPod. The fact that it was a US-only release spoke volumes. It was a product the firm simply didn’t have enough confidence in for a global launch.
And now we’re faced with a similar launch strategy for Microsoft Surface Windows 8 Pro. Yesterday the Redmond, Wash.-based corporation announced the delayed slate will be "available for purchase on Feb. 9, 2013, in the United States and Canada at all Microsoft retail stores, microsoftstore.com, Staples and Best Buy in the US, as well as from a number of locations in Canada". And the rest of the world? There’s no word.
Find anything on Windows with Effective File Search
At first glance, Effective File Search seems much like any other Windows search tool. Enter the file spec here; choose the folder you’d like to search over there; optionally filter by date or file size, or maybe enter some text which the file must contain. It all seems very familiar.
Take a closer look, though, and you’ll find this free program offers a real depth which goes far beyond what you’ll see with most of the competition.
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