Get connected, Xbox Live from iPhone
Do you like the sophisticated design of Microsoft's mobile UI, but can't part with your iPhone? Microsoft gives iOS users a taste of mobile life Redmond style, by releasing an Xbox Live app for iPhone and iPad. While basic, the app gives Xbox Live subscribers control of their accounts.
The app sports much of the transitions and user interface considerations that earned Windows Phone accolades from even the most vocal critics of Microsoft's mobile efforts.
Android users can detect Carrier IQ, everyone else is out of luck
Android users have a multitude of options in order to detect whether Carrier IQ exists on their smartphones, with at least a dozen applications available through the Android Market. While most of the apps will not stop Carrier IQ from running, they will at least give those concerned with the company's actions some solace in knowing for sure whether they're being tracked or not.
Carrier IQ's discovery -- that stealthily monitors cellular users' smartphone activity -- set off a firestorm of controversy over the past several weeks. Some see it as a serious threat to users' security and privacy, while others have likened the reaction to mass hysteria generated by the media.
Android Market is unstoppable
The tipping point fast approaches in the Android/iOS platform wars. This week, Android Market reached an important milestone: 10 billion downloads. While still far behind Apple's App Store, Android Market is catching up at a ferocious pace. Only huge iOS device shipments can slow Android's advance now, and Holiday sales will matter much there.
For comparison, App Store reached 15 billion downloads in July, up from 10 billion in January and 3 billion a year earlier. But Android Market is accelerating at faster pace, which isn't surprising given the number of device activations (550,000-plus per day) and how many more handsets/tablets are available compared to iPhone and iPad. Android Market went from 3 billion downloads in March to 6 billion in July to 10 billion in December.
Windows Defender Offline beta lets you scan Windows before startup
Microsoft has rolled out the latest build of the Windows Defender Offline beta, a version of Windows' anti-spyware feature that is meant to be executed from a DVD or USB flash drive before Windows even starts up.
Windows Defender is included with Windows and has agents that can be run periodically, or at all times on a running system. Because it runs inside Windows, though, it is limited in what it can do.
Do you miss Snow Leopard? Lion Secrets can help take you back
The release of OS X Lion unleashed some cool new features. It also seemed to turn some other cool, established features on their head. Suddenly, things that worked perfectly adequately in Snow Leopard changed, leaving users first scratching their heads and then frustrated at having to learn new ways of doing things.
Thankfully, it’s possible to revert back to the old way of doing things. And while it’s not always intuitive or easy to do so, there are free third-party solutions available. One of the newest is Indonesian firm TweakNow’s Lion Secrets.
Are all your workstations up to date? Network Software Scanner can tell you
Managing even the smallest home network can be something of a challenge. Not least because however much you might prefer your users to install particular software for major tasks -- security, say -- they’ll continue to install whatever they like, while expecting you to resolve the situation if conflicts arise.
You can’t easily stop this, so the next best approach is simply to monitor your systems occasionally with a tool like EMCO’s new Network Software Scanner. Allow the program to scan your workgroup or domain, and it’ll uncover the software installed on each connected system, as well as their updates, storing the result in a database.
CameraBag beta brings vintage camera filters to Windows and Mac OS
In the last couple of years, "vintage camera" apps have become a genre of their own, led by the likes of Instagram and Hipstamatic, and followed by Retro Camera, ShakeIt, CameraBag, and many many others.
The popularity of that type of application has remained mostly a mobile phenomenon. Nevercenter, the software house that created CameraBag, however, has turned the popular mobile app into a desktop photo editing application. The company this week has released the beta of CameraBag for Windows and Mac OS.
Windows Store isn't what you think
Microsoft has called on developers to rev their enthusiasm and begin coding apps for the new Windows Store, which is expected in late February. The digital distribution center, which will be part of Windows 8, is similar in concept to the Mac App Store part of Apple's OS X Lion. But Windows Store is less about customers and developers and more about Microsoft.
Windows 8 presents Microsoft with a big problem, and one Vista foreshadows. Actually, if working for the software giant and understanding the problem's depth, I'd be freaked out about the risky Windows 8 strategy. Windows and Windows Live President Steven Sinofsky and his development team are trying to leap the operating system forward. But it's a leap of faith, because they don't have the third-party applications necessary to assure success. Windows Store is their only hope.
Windows Store opens in February, Microsoft holds app contest
Tonight, in San Francisco, Microsoft offered up more details about the Windows Store, which makes its debut in late February -- presumably with the first Windows 8 public beta. Like Apple does with Mac OS X, Microsoft will sell third-party apps from the operating system.
Based on today's announcement, it is near certainty that Microsoft is planning Windows 8 availability for holiday 2012 and release to manufacturing sometime in early summer, based on the v7 development milestones. However, Windows 8 is a considerably more complicated release than any of its forebears, as Microsoft prepares business customers, hardware partners and software developers for ARM-chip support, Metro user interface and the operating system's built-in store. Execution and, more importantly, preparation is key -- hence today's announcement months before the store is available for public testing.
Going to the cloud has its benefits, but it won't save you much money
The prospect of cost savings is touted as a significant benefit of cloud computing, but a new study disputes that argument. More than one-third of US businesses employing the cloud save less than $20,000, according to the study commissioned by IT consultation firm CSC. Nearly one-quarter saved nothing. Going to the cloud does not reduce the size of IT departments generally: only 14 percent report a reduction in tech workforce, while one-fifth actually expand the number of employees in IT through the hiring of consultants.
Cloud computing was recently touted by former US chief information officer Vivek Kundra as a method to save the federal government some $5 billion annually. If CSC is right, Kundra's claims are way off, and actually may cost taxpayers far more.
Meet the new Xbox 360 dashboard [slideshow]
Facebook flaw briefly exposes private photos, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg's
If you have any private photos on Facebook that you really don't want out there, consider this story your fair warning to delete them. A flaw in the social networking site's reporting mechanism allows users to peer into content that is otherwise marked "private". Now would be a good time to remove that pic of drunken you mooning the boss.
The flaw was first widely reported on the forums of bodybuilding.com, a popular fitness site. The post -- since removed -- details the exploit. Proceed through the menus after reporting an image as inappropriate. When the dialog asks if you want to report any other images in the album, click "yes". All images, whether public or private, will be displayed.
Confessions of a 'SOPA Dodger,' or why Kaspersky quit the BSA
The US blogosphere has become increasingly alarmed by the new Anti-Piracy Act – Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA. Discussions of the topic are, to put it mildly, quite frank, with comments like: "These idiots are coming for your internet."
What is SOPA? It is support for and development of something that is currently very relevant – the protection of intellectual property. Ladies and gentlemen, this really is important! "Thou shalt not steal," as the Bible says! An author – or more often than not, a team – spends sleepless nights writing a book, composing music, shooting a film, creating software or testing software packages. Doesn’t that deserve a financial reward? Yes or no? Think before you answer – someone could well ask the same question about your profession… So?
Our holiday gift to you: 75% off AVG LiveKive cloud storage
As long as you have a fast Internet connection, then nothing quite beats the convenience of online backups. There are no network issues to worry about, no discs to prepare: just set up the backup client and it’ll automatically transfer whatever files you’ve specified at the appropriate time. And better still, by backing them up offsite you’ll guarantee their survival, even if your home is hit by a disaster like a burglary, or a fire.
Of course most online backup services fully realise their advantages, and so will charge sizeable amounts of money to open an account for anything other than the most trivial amount of server space. But it doesn’t have to be that way. And if you’re looking for an online backup bargain, then we just might have one in the shape of AVG’s LiveKive 2012.
Metro dashboard makes Xbox 360 feel like a brand new console [review]
Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 in 2005. The console has been around for just about 6 years, but in that timeframe, through the distribution of numerous software updates, the company has kept the console fresh and competitive. The latest major software update is now available for the 57.7 million Xbox 360 consoles that have been sold worldwide, and with it comes a brand new Metro based user-interface along with a number of fresh capabilities that not only improve the Xbox experience, but moves it several steps closer to being the jack-of-all-trades device of your living room.
In a way, the new Xbox 360 dashboard reflects Microsoft larger ambitions -- a declaration that Xbox is much more than just a games console. It's a full-blown entertainment system that not only competes with the likes of game-industry rivals Sony and Nintendo. It also contends with Apple and Google.
Most Commented Stories
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. About Us - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy - Sitemap.
Regional iGaming Content