CloudMagic wants to be the gateway for all your personal data [Q&A]
CloudMagic is a superb search tool that sadly doesn’t get the attention it fully deserves. If you’ve ever complained about how long it takes Google to find a certain message in Gmail, or have wasted far too much time trying to track down a particular tweet or Facebook status update, this is the solution you need (full disclosure: I’m a massive fan and couldn’t imagine life without it).
I spoke to co-founder Rohit Nadhani about his product, how it began, and the company’s plans for the future.
BN: For the benefit of readers who may not be familiar with CloudMagic, can you tell us a bit about it?
LoopJam helps you make sweet music
Audio loops are a great way to speed up the process of creating your own music, but it can be hard to get the precise sound you need. One possible solution might be to spend an age browsing your favorite online loop libraries in the hope that something turns up, but a simpler option it just to install LoopJam, which can remix existing WAV loops with a click.
Launch the program and it’ll immediately start playing a demo sample. This is also displayed as a waveform and divided into segments, each of which can have one of several effects applied (Highpass, Lowpass, Stutter, Reverser, and so on) by clicking in a grid.
Backupify is a reliable cost-effective cloud backup solution for Google Apps [review]
While the cloud generally provides for better reliability than on-premise systems, having a solid backup plan is still a universal necessity. Cloud solutions like Google Apps and Office 365 have nearly eliminated the notion of data loss due to technological failure. The systems and processes in place that govern the storage of your important data with players like Google and Microsoft are rock solid. We can fault providers for service downtime any day of the week; but you'll be hard pressed to read about cases where they actually lost your data.
The biggest issue with data loss on cloud platforms lies within the acute problem of human error. We aren't perfect and will likely always be dealing with data loss stemming from incorrect clicks, mistaken deletion, and other similar circumstances. For this very reason, even with its inherent safety nets, the cloud needs a fallback of its own.
Google Play Music finally steps up with Scan and Match feature
Google has finally decided to modernize its popular Play Music app for today's discriminating listeners. While the service launched over a year ago, and offers a generous 20,000 songs worth of free cloud storage, Google seems to have been slow in adding features and updates to what could be a winning product.
iTunes, Amazon, 7digital, and others have offered a 'Scan and Match' music services for some time, and Google has finally decided to join the game. The company made the announcement rather unceremoniously via a post to its Google Play Google Plus page. The update should greatly improve the experience for many users.
Microsoft 'surprised' after Google dropped Exchange ActiveSync support
Almost a week ago, part of Google's "Winter cleaning" involved dropping support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync on January 30, 2013. It appears Microsoft is far from happy with the controversial decision, and the company promptly retaliated by advising Gmail users to switch to Outlook for "the best email experience" across all devices.
As was the case with removing the free version of Google Apps for Business, Google's recent move is subject to criticism. But why does it matter? Google dropped the ball in Microsoft's court, as the latter uses EAS in a number of software products including Windows Phone and Windows 8/RT. The protocol allows syncing of calendars and contacts and uses push email functionality. "Killing" it leaves Microsoft customers without those features when accessing Google services.
Opera 12.12 releases with tweaked Delete Private Data tool
Opera 12.12 has been released for Windows, Mac and Linux. This Norwegian cross-platform browser and email client -- also available as Opera 12.12 64-bit for Windows 64-bit platforms, is primarily a bug-fix release, with emphasis on security and stability.
It does, however, make changes to the Delete Private Data tool, promising a redesign and new option as well as fixing a potentially critical issue.
Mark Zuckerberg can take his billions to hell, I'm done with Facebook
I joined Facebook on Sept. 30, 2006 -- that's four days after opening to the public. The service promised so much, and I was excited by this compelling competitor to MySpace, which let customization run amok. But within short time, my interested declined; over the years I've come to loathe Facebook, which user interface is among the worst ever, as the site increasingly clutters with distracting elements. MySpace is now clean by comparison. Far worse: Privacy settings too often change, and what's different is often lost, even if temporarily, in the grotesque layout.
Overnight, Instagram, which Facebook now owns, announced radical rights policy changes starting in mid-January. The photo-sharing service grants itself a perpetual license to use and to sell your content. No permission required. That's one policy change too many for me. On December 9, I posted to Google+ my intentions to give up Facebook on the last day of the month. I thought more to empty the account of friends, information and content but not cancel -- for sentimental reason of having joined so much earlier than most everyone else. My intentions changed. I'm done with Facebook on December 31. I'd cancel today, but want intimates -- family and close friends -- to have forewarning.
10,000 more free Leap Motion 3D controllers for devs, brand new SDK released
It took only one week for San Francisco motion control startup Leap Motion to attract 26,000 developers in 143 countries to its pocket-sized 3D space motion controller for PCs. Now, that number has climbed to more than 40,000.
Today, the company provided some big announcements on the progress of Leap Motion, including a new exclusive game demo, an updated SDK, and a round of 10,000 more free developer units.
Tell us what you think about Instagram's new 'screw you' policy
If you're planning to Instagram lots of photos this holiday, think again. They might be in next year's commercial marketing -- your embarrassing candid plastered on billboards everywhere -- and you have no real say about it. Big companies use the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 to keep you from sharing stuff. Instragram takes away such recourse for you, overnight announcing one of the biggest rights policy changes of the contextual cloud computing era. The photo-sharing site claims the right to sell your content, offering you absolutely no compensation for the privilege.
The change is snakey sneaky: "Instagram does not claim ownership of any Content that you post on or through the Service. Instead you hereby grant to Instagram a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to use the Content that you post on or through the Service", but "Instagram Content is protected by copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret and other laws, and, as between you and Instagram, Instagram owns and retains all rights in the Instagram Content and the Service". You give up your rights to ownership simply by using the service, which gives you nothing.
Samsung announces Galaxy Grand, with a 5-inch display and Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean on board
If you're looking for a Samsung-made Android smartphone that is bigger than the Galaxy S III yet smaller than the Galaxy Note II, fret not! On Tuesday, the South Korean manufacturer unveiled the Galaxy Grand, which slots right between the two with a 5-inch display.
That's the extent of the comparison between the three handsets, though. The Galaxy Grand may feature a 5-inch display, but it sports an outdated 800 by 480 resolution which is subpar when compared to high-end devices, and is actually closer to many entry level offerings on the market today. The smartphone also ships with a dual-core 1.2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM, aided by a fairly large 2,100mAh battery.
SAP announces major update to Afaria Mobile Device Management
German enterprise software leader SAP on Tuesday unveiled a major update to its Afaria mobile device managment solution which will be released to customers on December 21.
SAP focused on three key areas for this release: applications management, ease and depth of new device integration, and of course, platform support.
Sony's Android 4.1 Jelly Bean upgrade plans are anything but fast
For an Android manufacturer that supports the modding community, Sony sure knows how to keep customers waiting. Almost two months after the previous announcement, the Japanese corporation released an updated Android 4.1 Jelly Bean upgrade schedule for 2012 Xperia smartphones and, sadly, the news is no better this time around.
The upgrade plans for the company's newest smartphones, the Xperia T, Xperia TX and Xperia V, appear unchanged. The three devices will receive Android 4.1 Jelly Bean "during February and March" 2013, on par with the previous estimate provided by Sony just under two months ago. However, for older smartphones, customers will have to wait a little longer for the coveted upgrade.
'Help! I’m trapped in a fire!' London Fire Brigade considering allowing people to tweet emergencies
I'll be honest, if I'm ever faced with an emergency such as my house catching alight, my first thought won't be to tweet about it. Neither will I be sending emails or texting anyone. I’ll be phoning the emergency services and speaking to someone. At least that way I’ll know the message has got through. But times change, and maybe using social media will soon become another accepted way to alert the authorities to non-life threatening situations.
The London Fire Brigade currently warns users not to rely on social media when reporting emergencies, as it doesn’t monitor its Twitter feed round the clock. However, that could soon change as the service is looking into new, smartphone-friendly ways for the public to communicate with it.
Remove desktop distractions in a flash with CinemaDrape
Install an application or two and the typical Windows desktop can quickly become a distracting place. There might be animated taskbar buttons, system tray notifications, desktop gadgets and more, each clamoring for your attention, and that can be a problem when you really need to focus on one particular task.
You can minimize this to a degree by turning everything off, perhaps, and maximizing your main application window. But the free CinemaDrape provides a more flexible way to focus solely on your areas of interest.
SnapKeys Si 'invisible keyboard' app launches in private beta on Android
Today, Snapkeys announced the private beta launch of SnapKeys Si for Android. The private beta will allow select registered users to download the app and test it out, nearly a full year after the app first gained notoriety at CES.
One of the most brilliant things about touchscreens is their ability to support alternative methods of typing, Swype and Swiftkey for example have become very popular methods of text input, and they do not require the traditional screen pecking action to work.
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