Want more from Firefox 12? Try Pale Moon or Waterfox
If you were unimpressed by the fairly unexciting appearance of Firefox 12 last week, then today does at least bring some browsing alternatives by way of the performance-optimized spinoff projects, Pale Moon 12 and Waterfox 12. And although the lack of additions to the broader code base means they’re both essentially maintenance releases, there is still some interesting news here.
Pale Moon 12 notably has not moved to a silent install method, for instance, which means it won’t provide the maintenance service. The developer tells us there are several reasons for this, not least “the fact that Pale Moon has always been in favor of giving users the choice when and where to download and install an update to what is for most people the heart of their on-line experience”.
Microsoft, Barnes & Noble teach Apple and Amazon a lesson about educational ebooks
Nobody partners, or negotiates deals, like Microsoft. That's evident from today's stunning agreement with Barnes & Noble, which is sure to turn the ebook market on its head. The two will jointly invest in Newco, temporary name for ebook venture that incorporates B&N's digital and College business divisions. B&N gets partner in Microsoft, which invests $300 million, for 17.6 percent stake; both parties end ongoing patent disputes, largely related to Android; and Microsoft launches Windows 8 with native Nook Reader application. All around it's win-win, after losing a decade ago.
That's right, Barnes & Noble and Microsoft have been here before, in pioneering ebook ventures that failed. Both companies jumped on ebooks back when Amazon, which makes the popular Kindle, was still just a struggling Web 2.0 startup. Microsoft Reader led the first big ebook push at the turn of the century, and Barnes & Noble launched its original e-bookstore using the software. I bought my first ebooks there about 12 years ago. But by late 2003, it was over; Barnes & Noble gave up on ebooks -- a market later re-entered only after Amazon's Kindle success. Microsoft kept producing Reader software, but that's done, too, when the software retires on August 30.
It’s a race to the bottom, and IBM is winning
Third in a series. The current irrationality at IBM described in my two previous columns, here and here, is not new. Big Blue has been in crazy raptures before. One was the development of the System 360 in the 1960s when T.J. Watson Jr. bet the company and won big, though it took two tries and almost killed the outfit along the way. So there’s a legacy of heroic miracles at IBM, though it has been a long while since one really paid off.
There are those who would strongly disagree with this last statement. They’d say that with its strong financial performance IBM is right now in one of its greater moments. But haven’t we just spent 2000 words showing that’s not true? Successful companies aren’t heartsick and IBM today is exactly that, so the company is not a success.
Say goodbye to April with one of these 36 downloads
Cloud was the big news this past week, and there were exciting developments in the world of online storage. After what seems like years of waiting, Google Drive 1.0 finally released, extending the idea of Docs and providing users with the opportunity to store any files they want online and keept them synched with their computers. There’s also a mobile version of the app available, Google Drive for Android 1.0.77, that enables access toyour files on the move.
Ubuntu One 2.0.3 has nothing whatsoever to do with the operating system of the same name, but provides you with 5GB of free space for storage and backups. Cloud storage stalwart Dropbox 1.4.0 has been updated and finally becomes stable, as well as adding batch uploading and importing of photos Meanwhile, Microsoft released Microsoft SkyDrive 2012 v16.4 and Microsoft SkyDrive 2.0 iOS with reduced storage levels.
Cobian Backup 11 exits beta, adds new features
Looking for a backup tool? There is plenty of choice for even the pickiest of software connoisseurs. Aside from the irritating aspect of having to actually get a backup job set up, one thing that puts many people off safeguarding their valuable data by backing it up is the cost of the necessary software. Cobian Backup 11 is one of a number of free backup tools vying for users’ attention and it boasts an impressive array of features.
If you have followed the app's development, the move to version 11 introduces a number of new features as well as tweaks to existing favorites. There is now support for AES encryption, better remote management and the ability to use tasks within groups. The important thing to remember with any backup regime is that your files are only truly safe if you back them up regularly. Rather than relying on memory, it is better to have an automatic schedule in place, and this is definitely something that Cobian Backup can help you out with.
Google has lost control of Android
There was great news on the Android front this week. Samsung reported blow-out earnings, with smartphones -- the majority running Android -- accounting for nearly three-quarters of profits. Meanwhile comScore data spotlights the growing US Android tablet market. Additionally, Google started selling Galaxy Nexus direct, with no carrier contract, for $399. But all three share something in common -- what they foreshadow. Google has lost control of Android, and must swiftly act to regain it.
Forrester Research predicts that proprietary Android will surpass the Google Android ecosystem by 2015. Stated differently, Google's open-source mobile platform risks fracturing into multiple fatally fragmented Android ecosystems. Not one but many. There is little time for Google to demonstrate decisive leadership that can keep the ecosystem largely intact.
Why is IBM sneaking around?
Second in a series. IBM’s 2015 plan was hatched to deliver $20 earnings-per-share to the delight of Wall Street. IBMers were offered a carrot, a few shares of stock granted at the end of 2015, as a reward for helping them achieve that target. It appears that IBM’s goal is not to issue any of those grants as they continue to conduct resource actions (IBMspeak for permanent layoffs) and remove talented and valuable US employees in favor of moving work to low cost countries such as Brazil, Argentina, India, China and Russia.
Work that stays onshore is mainly sent to what are called Global Delivery Facilities (GDF’s), two of which were created at heritage IBM locations (Poughkeepsie, NY and Boulder, CO) while starting new ones in Dubuque, IA and most recently Columbia, MO. IBM’s public position is they are creating jobs in smaller towns when in fact they are displacing workers from other parts of the United States by moving jobs to these GDFs or to offshore locations.
Snapheal is super easy, but not heroic [mini-review]
Relationships are so flighty these days, you don't know who will dump whom next. The defriended person or ex-lover may be out of your life, but how do you get them out of your photos? Or perhaps you have a simpler problem, one I frequently encounter: People get in the way and ruin your special snapshot. How to get rid of them?
There are plenty enough free photo apps out there, but many also are fairly complicated to use or offer too few capabilities. Others provide more features, like Adobe Photoshop Elements, but they're pricey and confounding to newbies. C`mon who really wants to fuss with layers? Enter Superheal, which the folks at MacPhun asked me try, touting its magical -- say isn't that how Apple describes iPad -- photo-editing capabilities, such as removing unwanted objects, or people, from your pics. The app also removes facial blemishes or other unsightly distractions.
When your AVI is corrupt, try DivXRepair
It only takes a little damage to corrupt an AVI movie. Some tweaked bits here, maybe a few missing bytes there, and suddenly you may find the picture breaks up at one point, or maybe the video will no longer play at all.
DivXRepair could offer a simple solution, though. Just launch this compact portable tool, add your broken video, click the Repair button, and in theory at least that’s it. There’s no need to worry about keyframes or other technicalities -- the program will scan your video, skip any bad frames, and try to save everything else in a “fixed” version of the movie (the original will remain untouched).
Do you know any idiots who play Angry birds and drive?
So um, yeah, I have a confession to make. Even though I've written dozens of stories about the dangers of cell phone use while driving or hell, even criticized Google's Project Glass on international television because it is a distraction, writing this post makes me face the music and my hypocritical ways.
British insurance company Ingenie released the results of a survey of 1,000 young drivers age 17-25 on Friday. It shows that smartphone apps are becoming an increasing distraction, and one of the biggest culprits is OMGPOP's Draw Something.
Quickoffice, Android's best office suite, adds powerful new features in version 5.5
Quickoffice Inc. on Thursday evening pushed out a major feature update to its popular Android productivity application family which adds a host of new capabilities to its Word, Excel, and Powerpoint document editors, and adds the new ability to annotate and edit PDF files.
The new PDF editing feature tops the list of new additions in Quickoffice 5.5, as it allows users to write directly on PDF files, highlight text, insert shapes, and add and remove comments.
The King is dead -- Samsung snatches crown from Nokia and Apple
On this solemn Friday morning let us bow our heads in a moment of remembrance. The once mighty Nokia has fallen, after reigning supreme over the cellular handset market for 14 years. Apple succumbed in only three months over smartphones. Long live the king. Samsung leads both markets, according to Strategy Analytics.
I warned you, as did many others. Last week: "Nokia does the Windows Phone death dance". Two weeks ago: "Don't cry for me, iPhone". Samsung shipped 93.5 million phones during first quarter, easily eclipsing Nokia's 82.7 million. Nearly half of Samsung's shipments were smartphones -- 44.5 million, compared to 35.1 million for Apple.
LinkedIn 5.0 for iOS supports iPad -- finally
Social networking news is not limited to the latest acquisitions by the likes of Facebook; LinkedIn, the social network for professionals, still generates headlines. The big news for iOS users: the app has moved to version 5.0 and heralds, amongst other things, the arrival of the universal version of the app; so with LinkedIn 5.0, iPad users finally get an app that enables them to tae advantage of their Retina display.
The iPhone version of the app had already come in for some praise, and the move to welcoming iPad owners to the folder looks set to head down the same path thanks to the great design that is prevalent through the interface. With tablet devices becoming increasingly common in the business world as tools of the trade, it’s good to see that apps are evolving to take this into account.
Dropbox 1.40 auto-uploads photos and videos
Hot on the heels of its new service allowing users to share files by hyperlink, Dropbox has unveiled Dropbox 1.40 for Windows, Mac and Linux. The new release extends the photo and video uploading tools pioneered in Dropbox for Android, plus allows batch uploading and downloading of files.
The new features were previously available to those running Dropbox Experimental Edition, the beta version for those happy to trade stability for a sneek peak at the latest features.
The Downfall of IBM
First in a series. This is my promised column about IBM -- the first of several on the topic, all to be delivered in a series. The last time I wrote at length about Big Blue was in 2007. I have been asked many times to revisit the subject, something I haven’t wanted to do because it is such a downer. Writing the last time I hoped the situation, once revealed, would improve. But it hasn’t. And so, five years later, I turn to IBM again. The direct impetus for this column is IBM’s internal plan to grow earnings-per-share (EPS) to $20 by 2015. The primary method for accomplishing this feat, according to the plan, will be by reducing US employee head count by 78 percent in that time frame.
Reducing employees by more than three quarters in three years is a bold and difficult task. What will it leave behind? Who, under this plan, will still be a US IBM employee in 2015? Top management will remain, the sales organization will endure, as will employees working on US government contracts that require workers to be US citizens. Everyone else will be gone. Everyone.
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