Thanksgiving day was a record-breaker for Instagram
Thanksgiving is now over for those of us in the United States and Black Friday is well under way. While we won't know retail sales figures for the number one shopping day of the year for a few days, we do now have a staggering figure from the holiday itself. Thanksgiving was a big day for photo-sharing service Instagram. In fact, it was the single biggest day in the service's history.
Instagram, which became popular with iPhone users and then expanded to Android before being purchased by Facebook, has grown steadily, but the recent holiday provided a huge boost to the service and I am proud to say that my daughter and I were both contributors to this monumental moment (my humble contribution to the record is posted above).
Best Windows 8 apps this week
Fourth in a series. A month has passed since the release of Windows 8 and in that time, Windows Store has grown significantly. Wes Miller, an independent analyst, recently reported that the worldwide app count broke the 20,000 mark, and that about 500 new apps are added to the store each day.
While that is still far from the numbers that Google Play or Apple's Apple Store get, it is an indicator of a healthy store ecosystem. On we go with this week's best apps for Windows 8.
Skip the crowded mall and get these great software deals online
This time of the year is a great one to pick up some technology bargains and the Downloadcrew Software Store is no exception. In addition to the regular deals, there are some extra-special Black Friday/Cyber Monday offers that run until the end of November.
We open with some great savings from CyberLink. PowerDirector 11 Ultimate, which bundles PowerDirector 11 with 22 NewBlueFX effects, is yours for only $99.99, a saving of 23 percent from MSRP. Better still, you pick up a free bundle worth $59.90 with every order! PowerDirector 11 Ultra is yours for $79.95, a saving of 20 percent from MSRP, also shipping with the free bundle. Media Suite 10 Ultra, which is CyberLink’s 11-in-1 multimedia suite, is yours for $89,95, or 31 percent off MSRP. PowerDVD 12 Ultra, is yours for $50, or 50-percent off MSRP.
Nexus 4 is still sold out
That's not the headline I hoped to write this Black Friday. Having used iPhone 5 and Nexus 4, I easily recommend the LG-made Android over the Apple. There simply is no comparison in terms of overall user experience. I'll go into detail in my comparative review, which I'm writing now (in another browser tab). Nexus 4 should be deal of the day -- even full price. Not that you can pay the price. It's simply abominable that Google has none to sell; T-Mobile is sold out, too.
Trust me, if there was even whiff of supply, Nexus 4 sales page would read "ships soon" rather than "out of stock". The smartphone's Black Friday absence suggests deep shortage, unless someone at the top of Google's retail supply chain thinks Cyber Monday is better day to bring back the smartphone. Absolutely not. Because over the next three days, some buyers wanting Nexus 4 will take a hot deal on some other handset.
One in six UK users download or stream media illegally
A new report from Ofcom reveals that one in six Internet users in the United Kingdom access films, TV shows, music, or eBooks through illegal means. Published this week, the first results from an ongoing study of Internet users aged 12 and above also reveals that 47 percent are unsure whether the online content they download, stream or share is legal or not.
During the three-month period from May to July 2012, Ofcom found that the levels of infringement varied considerably depending on content type. For example, while 8 percent of users accessed music illegally and 6 percent consumed films that way, just 2 percent downloaded games and software. That said, of all the computer software obtained online, 47 percent of it was acquired illegally.
Get the right screen resolution with Window Size
Normally, when you resize a PC application window, you don’t particularly care about its final resolution. You’re just looking to make sure that it has room to display something (a website, say), or you might be reducing a window to make room for something else.
There may be occasional exceptions, though: you might need to take a screen grab of a window at a specific resolution, for instance, or a certain aspect ratio. Changing your display resolution may help, or of course you could resize your window, check the results and resize again until you get it right -- but Window Size could offer a more convenient solution.
That was fast -- Dropbox 1.6.2 is available
“It happens to the best of us” was Dropbox’s explanation for this, the swift appearance of Dropbox 1.6.2 for desktop, less than a week after Dropbox 1.6.0 made its first appearance. ” You test a build but when you finally put it out there for tons of people to use it they find more bugs. So here we are with a quick bug fix release”.
Version 1.6.2 fixes four major bugs reported since version 1.6.0 first appeared, including install failures in older versions of Windows and blank selective sync windows in OS X after updating.
You CAN have LTE on Google Nexus 4
There is a heated discussion surrounding the lack of LTE on the Google Nexus 4 -- my college Joe Wilcox deems it problematic, while I'm far less affected on the other side of the pond. But there's more to it than meets the eye. Fast data speeds are not out of this world on the Nexus 4 with LTE found working on Roger and Telus in Canada.
The Nexus 4 is similar to the LG Optimus G in the hardware department, but while the latter has a full-blown setup the former can only connect to LTE on Band 4. This limits the number of carrier networks that the Google-branded smartphone can utilize to achieve the higher data speeds. Rogers and Telus customers are apparently "blessed" by the recent discovery, as both can take advantage of LTE with only a few minor modifications. The bad news is that the hidden feature may be useless on other carriers that do not use the mentioned band.
Sandcat 3.0 browser is supremely useful for developers
If you’d like more information on the low-level details of how a particular web page works -- for security or web development reasons, say -- then the usual route is find and install a few extensions. Firefox alone has more than 1,000 addons in its Web Development section which could prove very useful.
But if researching all of those seems too much like hard work, you might prefer to simply download the free Sandcat 3.0, a penetration-oriented browser with plenty of advanced functionality already built it.
Nintendo should be thankful: video services flock to Wii U
For many of us Nintendo represents our youth, but the company has stubbornly stuck around from those heady days of the 80s and even has managed to keep relevant while others like Atari and Sega have faded from sight. In fact, the Nintendo Wii still continues to be a popular console worldwide and now the company has outed the new Wii U and, with this console, Nintendo wants to compete with Xbox for control of your living room.
Over the past few days we have seen announcements from Netflix. Amazon Video and Hulu that each makes services available for the Wii U. Now, on Thanksgiving Day here in the United States, YouTube has decided to jump on the bandwagon as well.
Eight things Google should be thankful for in 2012
US Thanksgiving is a time for reflection on the year behind, with plenty of time to ponder resolutions for January 1st. Yesterday, I posted about the things Microsoft should be grateful for in 2012. Today, I followed up with another, for Google. For consistency's sake, the list numbers eight, in line with Microsoft's, for which I chose to hat-tip Windows 8.
The list is by no means comprehensive, just some things that stand ahead of others -- and it is organized from least to most important. Google had a great year, perhaps the best ever. Few companies released more innovative products, affecting so many people and building such positive brand awareness.
Have tablets finally arrived as top computing device?
Tablets aren't really new and they weren't invented by Apple. Yes, Apple may have perfected the art and Amazon and Google gave us choices, but have these devices really matured to the point of surpassing notebook computers in the market already? It depends on when you ask an analyst that question.
If you asked NPD DisplaySearch in July then you would have been told this monumental event would occur in 2016. If you asked that same question today the answer would be much sooner -- happen this Black Friday.
Sleep well with Good Night, Android!
Smartphones and tablets do not take a break when owners sleep and instead bother users with various sounds and notifications. Good Night, Android! is an app designed to "silent" green droid devices at night by a simple tap of the widget.
With Good Night, Android! users can disable a number of features that are responsible for disturbing one's good night sleep. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Sounds and Vibration can be turned off and Flight Mode can be enabled by simply tapping on the widget installed by the app. Even though the name might suggest otherwise it can be used at any time of day, making it suitable for work meetings or school classes as well.
Beautiful Clock Widgets: Get more time from Jelly Bean lockscreen
Android 4.2 introduced the ability to add widgets on the lockscreen, allowing users to view more information without unlocking the device. Beautiful Clock Widgets is an app designed to take advantage of the new feature by offering a large selection of time & weather widgets.
Beautiful Clock Widgets can display more comprehensive information than the default Clock widget that Google offers. Users have access to the typical time (in AM/PM format) and date, but also to humidity percentage for the selected location as well as current temperature with minimum and maximum values of the day and a short status like "Cloudy". For every feature a different color can be assigned (for instance red for location, green for weather, purple for background, etc.).
Skype: Please don't force 7-inch tablet users into landscape mode for video chats, it's dumb
Yesterday, Skype released the tablet-optimized Skype 3.0 for Android, bringing not only support for larger screen sizes, but also the new SILK audio codec which promises improved audio fidelity over previous versions of the application.
After testing it for the last 24 hours, we can say it's a smooth app and we haven't experienced any significant problems with it. Except one, and it's simultaneously a big deal and a stupid little detail.
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