BBC iPlayer for iOS now downloads TV shows
iPhone, iPod and iPad users who take advantage of the streaming capabilities the BBC’s iPlayer app now have a new feature to play with -- the ability to download programs and store them on your phone or tablet for up to a month. This is a move that will be welcomed by travellers as it opens up the chance of downloading a batch of programs at home over a Wi-Fi connection to avoid racking up expensive data usage bills while away from home.
There is promise of an Android version of the updated app in the pipeline, but for the time being this is something that can only be enjoyed by iOS users. The newly added offline mode is a great addition to the app, which had already been updated to allow for programs to be streamed over a data connections as well as when connected to Wi-Fi. While the change is undoubtedly beneficial, it does come with limitations.
Judge Koh should vacate the Apple-Samsung verdict
Jurisprudence demands that US District Judge Lucy Koh right a terrible miscarriage of justice occurring in her courtroom. The Apple-Samsung patent dispute is nothing but a mock trial. The jury ignored key instructions, failed to complete a crucial checklist, made egregious errors on the final verdict form and reached a verdict after 21 hours of deliberations. The foreman misunderstood one of the concepts fundamental to the case -- prior art -- leading the jury astray. Then there is Judge Koh, who prevented Samsung from presenting key evidence or witnesses that could have made its defense and case against Apple more credible.
Apple claims that Samsung copying iOS device designs and patents causes irreparable harm. But the greater injustice is against the South Korean manufacturer, which is branded a copycat and thief -- all while the victim of terrible misreporting by analysts, bloggers, journalists and other writers. Samsung suffers irreparable harm here, not Apple. Judge Koh let this travesty occur on her watch. She should be ashamed and do what this malfeasance demands: Set aside the verdict. Best scenario: She should deny all claims by both parties, and let them sort it all out on appeal. Acceptable: Order a new trial. She let the case get out of control. Time is long past to reel it in.
Apple slaps a gigantic number five on its September 12 press conference
Apple on Tuesday officially distributed its invitations to the media for an event on September 12 in the company's usual spot for press conferences, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California.
The big number twelve on the invitation is casting a shadow that is shaped like the number five, which has naturally lead many to believe this is the event for the "iPhone 5," or fifth generation of Apple's iPhone. The iPhone 5 moniker has been in use since before the iPhone 4S was released, but as Dave Caolo of the Unofficial Apple Weblog jokingly pointed out on Twitter, it could just as easily mean a 5" iPad.
Parallels 8 launches, supports Mountain Lion and Windows 8
Parallels Holdings Ltd has announced the launch of the latest version of its Mac virtualization tool, Parallels Desktop 8.0.18100. Parallels allows Mac users to run a variety of operating systems, including Linux and Windows, in a virtual environment, while integrating non-OS X applications into the Mac interface.
Version 8 extends support to both Mountain Lion and Windows 8, plus takes advantage of new technologies such as Retina displays, allowing Windows to run in a high-resolution environment.
Hacktivist group #Antisec releases a million Apple device IDs, wonders why FBI had them
#Antisec, The loosely-organized black hat security collective formerly known as Lulzsec has released a file containing a million and one (1,000,001) Apple Unique Device Identifications (UDIDs), and their related APNs (Apple Push Notification Service) tokens, as well as a certain amount of personal user information. The group claims the information was not taken from Apple directly, but rather though a vulnerability exploit on FBI Agent Christopher K. Stangl last March.
The group claims there were actually more than twelve million UDIDs on Stangl's Dell Vostro notebook, as well as an incomplete list of zip codes, mobile phone numbers, home addresses, and whatever personal detail fields could be obtained. Antisec said there were no other files in the same folder that mention the list or its purpose.
Shanghai'd by Samsung!
It sounded like quite the road trip. Stuck in Germany, with their host threatening to strand them there unless they engaged in what amounted to slave labor, those poor bloggers from India must have been terrified. What should have been an all expense paid junket to cover the IFA conference turned into a kind of Orwellian nightmare scenario complete with heavy-handed scare tactics, logo'd polo shirts and healthy dose of international intrigue.
Frankly, I'm not at all surprised. As a 25 year veteran of the IT press, I've seen all sides of the vendor/media dichotomy. And one of the earliest lessons I learned was that there is no free lunch. When a vendor splurges on an analyst, reporter or blogger, they are expecting to get something in return. Typically, this means positive coverage. They want you to write a glowing review of their product/event/announcement, and if you don't, you'll quickly end up on their blacklist.
The Great Recession isn’t really over
First in a series. A couple of years ago, in an obvious moment of poor judgement, the Kauffman Foundation placed my personal rag on its list of the top 50 economics blogs in America. So from time to time I feel compelled to write about economic issues and the US Labor Day holiday provides a good excuse for doing so now. In a sense you could say I inherited this gig because my parents began their careers in the 1940s working for the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. This first of two columns looks at employment numbers in the current recovery while the second will try to explain why the economy has been so resistant to recovery and what can be done about it.
You’ll see many news stories in the next few days based on a study from the National Employment Law Project detailing how many and what kinds of jobs were lost in the Great Recession and what kinds have come back in the current recovery. Cutting to the chase we lost eight million jobs, have recovered four million of those, but, here’s the problem, the recovered jobs on average pay a lot less than did the jobs that were lost, which is why the US middle class is still hurting.
Windows Explorer Tracker reveals lots about little
When you need to understand exactly what programs are doing on your PC then tools such as Process Hacker, Process Explorer or Process Monitor will almost certainly get the job done. They’re compact, powerful, and an excellent aid for all kinds of troubleshooting tasks.
These tools often produce extremely lengthy reports crammed with low-level detail, though, which can be intimidating to some users. And so if you’re looking for something more straightforward, you might be interested in the free Windows Explorer Tracker, as it’s the kind of system monitoring tool which just about anyone can use.
Toast Titanium 11.1 is built with Cocoa, burns for Mountain Lion
Roxio has released a major update for its Mac disc-burning product. Roxio Toast Titanium 11.1 (1063) is supplied as an updater for existing Toast 11.0 users, and is the first fully Cocoa-ized build, boasting full Mountain Lion compatibility and support for 100GB and 128GB BDXL media.
Version 11.1 also comes with various web video improvements, and is available as an in-app upgrade, although some users have reported issues with updating to this new build.
WinParrot automates common tasks
Are you tired of repeating the same task on your PC, over and over again? Launching a particular sequence of applications, say, or perhaps carrying out the same string of actions online? Then you may benefit from WinParrot, a clever free tool that can record your keypresses and mouse clicks for replay at some later date.
The program makes it unusually easy to get started. It’s a tiny 654KB download; there’s no installation required, just unzip and run; and recording your macro is as simple as, well, clicking Record (and pressing the End key when you’re done).
You don't need Java
Java is one of those technologies that you find installed on the majority of computer systems despite the fact that average users do not come across many Java-powered websites or desktop applications. Sure, some may use desktop applications like JDownloader or the game Minecraft (which both require Java), but on the Internet? Seriously, when was the last time you went to a website that required the Java Runtime Environment to be installed for core functionality?
Statistics can be misleading, but according to Statowl, Java is installed on roughly 70 percent of Web browsers, which makes it the second most popular plugin behind Adobe Flash, and places it before heavyweights such as Quicktime, Windows Media Player, or Silverlight.
Four years with Google Chrome, and I'm never going back
Today is Labor Day in the United States. It's a federal holiday dedicated to the American workforce, celebrating, as the U.S. department of labor puts it, the "contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country."
Every year, the Labor Day holiday falls very closely to the anniversary of Google's launch of the beta version of the Google Chrome Web browser. Released on September 1, 2008, Google Chrome is now four years old, and I am taking the opportunity on this holiday to celebrate the workhorse that is Chrome.
Windows Phone 8 is the best idea Microsoft has had in phone tech
Samsung's recently-announced Windows Phone 8 smartphone, the ATIV is oozing with power and modernity, and that is what the Windows Phone software needs to finally become a dominant platform.
A platform needs flagship devices --smartphones and tablets-- to showcase what it can do in front of (possibly) billions of people, and hardware-wise it doesn't get any better than Android and iOS devices displaying their inner strength, their performance. Android takes first place and iOS second in the smartphone charts, and they have halo devices to represent them. Windows Phone, meanwhile, has been a mere shadow behind the two flexing their muscles. The Samsung Galaxy S III best represents Android as much as the iPhone 4S best represents iOS, but what does Windows Phone 7.5 have to show? A single-core CPU with 512MB of RAM and a GPU that was news a few years ago? That doesn't cut it...
Three tools to tame Windows 8
Users of Windows are known not only for their love of tweaking, but also for their love of knocking the product they use -- how many people who use nothing but Windows do nothing but complain about the way it looks or works? The release of a new version might be seen as a time for Microsoft to address the issues and annoyances that have plagued their customers, but for many upgraders, the switch to Windows 8 brings a new batch of things to get irritated about.
While some of the new irritants are fairly major, such as the relegation of the Start menu, other more cosmetic issues are something that can be more easily addressed through the use of third party tools. Winaero produces a collection of tools designed with tweakers in mind, specifically those who are running Windows 8. If you’re the kind of person who tires of their desktop wallpapers quickly, Desktop Background Tuner provides you with a means of customizing the rotation of a series of images to help keep things interesting.
Finally! More people use Windows 7 than XP
Just in time for Windows 8's debut, its predecessor surpasses the version released 11 years ago. In August, Windows 7 usage finally exceeded XP, according to Net Applications. The operating systems released in September 2009 and October 2001, respectively. In-between, Microsoft shipped ill-fated Vista, which carries stigma reserved for few major Microsoft products -- Bob, Windows ME and Vista, most notably.
NetApps released the findings today, as part of its monthly data dump on browser and operating systems. The methodology isn't exact and, contrary to many other reports, doesn't reflect market share but usage share -- and there is a huge difference. Market share typically measures something finite, such as X number widgets sold over Y time period. Usage share measures, say, the number of people using big screen and little screen TVs, and the same people might use both. More people may now use Windows 7 but some of them may also use XP.
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