Symantec posts Norton 360 v6 beta
Symantec has revealed the first public beta of Norton 360 6.0, the company’s do-everything security suite.
The Norton site claim this build offers “our best protection and performance ever” and “improved local or secure online backups”. If you’re familiar with the package you’ll see it’s also had a few interface tweaks, but there are no other specifics regarding new features available just yet.
25 downloads you may have missed this week
While much of the IT world has been focused on news about the iPhone 4S and iOS 5, there has been a huge number of other newsworthy releases in the past week.
Related to portable devices such as a the iPhone is Freemake Video Converter 2.4.0, which makes it easy to convert videos between formats and, in particular, convert them optimized for viewing on a specific device. The app can also be used to rip non-copy-protected DVDs and to share your videos using YouTube. From the same company is Freemake Video Downloader 2.2.0 which can be used to download videos from the likes of YouTube and Dailymotion, and Freemake Audio Converter 1.1.0 which, much like its video related sibling, can be used to convert audio tracks from one format to another.
Did Google and Samsung do what Apple wouldn't?
Yesterday, after having raised anticipation with event invite, video and other teasers, Google and Samsung delayed the presumed launch of Android 4.0 (aka Ice Cream Sandwich) and Nexus Prime (or whatever the smartphone is called). The announcement is hugely important to both companies -- really more than iPhone 4S is to Apple -- because Ice Cream Sandwich closes the fork between Android 2.x for phones and 3.x for tablets. Reason for cancelling the October 11 event: "We believe this is not the right time to announce a new product as the world expresses tribute to Steve Jobs's passing". So what? Google and Samsung show respect for Jobs, but Apple doesn't?
Apple announced iPhone 4S on October 4. A day later, the company revealed that Jobs, Apple's chairman and until late-August its CEO, had died. The world is mourning the loss of one of the rarest of humans -- a true visionary who compelled loyalty among the people closest to him and those who used Apple's products, in part by aspiring for something better. How does Apple remember Jobs? By keeping business as usual.
Who is buying iPhone 4S?
Whoa, the results from our "Will you buy iPhone 4S?" poll are in, and, damn, are they interesting. As I write, there are 3,816 respondents -- that's a helluva good sample size -- and nearly 60 percent (okay, 58.48 percent) say they will buy the new Apple smartphone. But before the Apple Fanclub blows a heart value and excitedly calls this the end of Android, the majority of respondents (35.46 percent) are upgrading from another iPhone. Only 7.31 percent plan to give up Android for iPhone 4S.
Not surprisingly, the majority of iPhone upgraders (14.7 percent) are coming from 3GS. Still, 12.47 percent are iPhone 4 users. Few are coming from Windows Mobile/Phone -- less than 1 percent, but the numbers may not be great to begin with. Among BlackBerry users, 4.93 percent plan to switch, while 9.93 percent are coming from "another phone".
Delaying Nexus Prime-Android 4 launch -- because of "Steve Jobs' passing" -- lacks business logic
Friday, Samsung and Google postponed what could be one of the most significant Android device launches in awhile -- likely the Nexus Prime -- scheduled for next Tuesday, October 11. The original statement was somewhat vague, but disclosed that both parties agreed that "it was not the appropriate time" to release the device.
"Samsung and Google have decided to postpone the Samsung Mobile Unpacked event during the CTIA in San Diego, previously scheduled for Oct. 11. Under the current circumstances, both parties have agreed that this is not the appropriate time for the announcement of a new product. We would ask for the understanding of our clients and media for any inconvenience caused. We will announce a new date and venue in due course."
Avira Antivirus Premium 2012 review
If you were hoping that Avira’s new 2012 range would unleash some major new features and technologies then the reality may at first seem a little underwhelming. There are no game changers here, no new killer features. But if you’re happy simply to see incremental improvements, a company that’s building on what’s gone before to produce something better, then it could be a different story -- and that’s because there are plenty of small but still worthwhile enhancements and improvements dotted all around the package.
When we decided to try Avira’s Antivirus Premium 2012 (their commercial antivirus engine), for example, the first tweak was immediately obvious in the arrival of a new Express installation option. This keeps all the usual setup complexities at bay, getting you up and running with the minimum of hassle.
Sprint plans to launch CDMA push-to-talk as Android app
According to a statement we received from Sprint Nextel today, the wireless carrier's nationwide network upgrade will bring instant "walkie talkie" communications to its regular Android phones as a downloadable app. Previously, this feature was exclusive to phones that had the appropriate iDEN radio installed.
Friday, national wireless network operator Sprint Nextel laid out its most current plans for transitioning its 4G network from WiMAX to LTE and rolling its multi-protocol Network Vision platform.
Shrines for Steve Jobs [slideshow]
For many people, Apple cofounder Steve Jobs is a fallen hero. People are remembering his life in shrines outside Apple retail stores around the world.
His funeral, reportedly scheduled for Oct. 7, 2011, accentuates rather than ends the mourning for memory. I haven't seen such emotion expressed for man since former Beatle John Lennon was murdered in December 1980.
Does easy iPhone 4S preordering mean nobody is buying?
After a rocky and even delayed start for iPhone 4S pre-ordering, a check by Betanews with the online stores on the Apple, AT&T, Sprint and Verizon websites show a much smoother process. At all three sites, delivery dates still remained at the October 14 launch date first announced on Tuesday.
It certainly was not smooth sailing this morning, though. All four sites experienced issues as Apple aficionados rushed to stake their claims to iPhone 4's successor, in some cases taking the sites down completely.
Why was Samsung Mobile Unpacked cancelled?
Sharpen your conspiracy theories, Batman. Google and Samsung have cancelled the October 11 event that promised something really special and sent many gadget geeks into near convulsive states of anticipation for the Nexus Prime (or whatever it's called) and Ice Cream Sandwich. The question everyone should ask is "Why?"
Samsung has fanned the rumor fires with the original invite and clever video that promised not just a new smartphone but tablet, too. Given that Ice Cream Sandwich brings together Android 2.x for phones and 3.x for tablets, the tease is almost overwhelming. Surely there is mass disappointment -- it's a wicked day to be a gadget geek if iPhone 4S preordering wasn't on plan.
Nuance acquires innovative virtual keyboard maker Swype
Nuance Communications has acquired drag-to-type virtual keyboard maker Swype for an undisclosed amount of money believed to be more than $100 million.
The acquisition should be an obvious one to anyone who paid attention to Nuance Communications.
What the passing of Steve Jobs says about us
"Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature: for any thing so o'erdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature: to show virtue her feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure". -- Hamlet Act 3, scene 2, 17–24
One thing that struck me about the passing of Steve Jobs is the level of emotion so many people feel. The outpouring of support and genuine sense of loss for a person that most people never met reminds me a bit of when Princess Diana died tragically. The emotion expressed over Diana’s passing was easy for me to understand. Diana was a state sanctioned celebrity, a real life embodiment of the fairy tales those in Western society grow up on. That coupled with her beauty and grace and life touched by scandal made it understandable why people would feel some kind of personal connection to her. The heroine from their fairy tales had been tragically taken away.
Will you buy iPhone 4S?
Apple's newest smartphone -- not that you can much tell it from the old one -- is up for preorder October 7 and officially goes on sale seven days later. That's in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and United States. iPhone 4S will be available October 28 in 22 other countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Apple also will cut the price on older models -- free for iPhone 3GS and $99 for iPhone 4 (8GB). The 4 will be available from Sprint along with the 4S. The United States' third-largest carrier has already started taking preorders on iPhone 4. As for the newer model, pricing is much like now, but with an extra SKU: 16GB, $199; 32GB, $299; 64GB, $399. Carrier-contractual commitments (two years in the United States) apply to get that pricing. The question: Will you buy iPhone 4S?
The ARM that supported Apple while Steve Jobs was away
Irony, it has many faces and comes as your best friend or worst enemy. Often, the only difference is timing. Take for, example, Apple and the Newton. The Newton was Apple’s first handheld device, and it was a colossal failure in the early 1990s. Much of Apple’s success now is because of the iPod and iPhone revolution. Timing, it’s all about timing.
Most kids these days don't know the full history of Apple, they just know Apple is cool and makes amazing mobile devices. They, may not know how political infighting within the company drove the genius behind Apple (Steve Jobs) out in 1985 or the back story they almost didn’t make it to be the world's most-valuable technology company today.
Here's a driving tip: put the phone down
You've been told over and over again: don't text and drive. Need more reason why? A recent study conducted by Texas A&M's Texas Transportation Institute indicates texting behind the wheel doubles your reaction time.
Distracted driving accounts for about one-fifth of all fatal car crashes, with cell phones the most common source of that distraction. One out of every five drivers has admitted to texting while driving but the true number is probably considerably higher.
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