Mozilla releases public Firefox Aurora beta
The Mozilla Foundation has released a new alpha build of its open-source browser. Firefox Aurora, currently at version 5.0a2, is designed to represent the first public glimpse of future versions of Firefox in an early, unstable form.
The release of Aurora coincides with Mozilla's announcement of its new rapid release development cycle, which brings it into line with rival browsers like Google's Chrome. Having taken two years to deliver Firefox 4, Mozilla aims to release versions 5, 6 and 7 by the end of the year.
iPad kills first quarter 2011 PC growth
Can we now finally agree that iPad is in fact cannibalizing PC sales? Seriously so? There is plenty of debate, not a lot of consensus and a whole lot of resistance from Betanews readers. It's time to end the denial, and preliminary Q1 2011 PC shipments from Gartner and IDC are reason enough.
Globally, PC shipments fell 3.2 percent year over year during first quarter, according to IDC, while Gartner put the decline at a less anemic 1.1 percent. Gartner had predicted 3 percent growth, while IDC expected 1.5 percent growth. Manufacturers shipped 84.3 million PCs in the quarter, according to Gartner, and 80.6 million by IDC's estimate.
These guys are crazy to say Microsoft is tablet DOA through 2015
The strangest thing happened today. Not one, not two, but three stories showed up in my RSS feeds making the same cockeyed assertion -- that Gartner's recent media tablet forecast shows the analyst firm doesn't see Microsoft releasing a tablet/tablet OS anytime soon and certainly not by 2015. Someone is seriously confused.
The first of these stories posted on April 11. It's a report by Larry Dignan at ZDNet's Between the Lines blog: "Gartner: Microsoft will still be a tablet no-show in 2015." As it happens, I don't subscribe to the blog's feed, which is major reason I didn't see the post sooner. The story showed up in a news alert for keyword "Microsoft" overnight.
T-Mobile's 'new' unlimited plan, now with more throttling
Despite being in the midst of a $39 billion merger with AT&T, T-Mobile is still moving forward with business as usual. The carrier announced Thursday a new cheaper unlimited plan, however with some important caveats, including throttling for heavy data users.
The plan will cost $79.99 per month, and included unlimited voice, data, and text and picture messaging. On average, the carrier says subscribers will save up to $350 yearly when compared to competitors' plans. Customers will only have a limited time to to sign up for the new plan, although an end date was not provided. Both new and existing customers will be eligible.
Android's roots deepen in China with Zoom, Qualcomm agreement
China is the next great frontier for Android's expansion. Chinese telecommunications makers Huawei and ZTE have been incrementally expanding their global 3G Android smartphone portfolios, and Tuesday, Zoom Technologies said it will be joining the market next.
Qualcomm on Wednesday announced it had signed a WCDMA and TD-SCDMA licensing agreement with Chinese holding company Zoom Technologies. The two wireless standards are the most common 3G standards in China, and by licensing Qualcomm's technology, Zoom and its subsidiary Nollec Wireless will be able to create 3G subscriber equipment for China.
Never lose another game (file or settings) again
If you're an avid or occasional gamer, how many hours -- days, even -- of hard work and effort are locked up in your game save files? All those monsters defeated, puzzles solved and bonus levels attained are stored in a handful of files or Registry settings, which are as vulnerable as any other file or setting on your PC.
Most backup tools can, with a bit of research and hard work, be configured to back up the folders and settings of your favourite games, but a far easier solution is to use a dedicated free tool called GameSave Manager. It supports nearly 800 games, with more added regularly in the form of database updates. It's simply an essential download for any gamer.
OSFMount turns most any disc image into a virtual drive
There are many tools around that will mount disc images as virtual drives, allowing you to browse them in Explorer without having to burn the image to a blank disc first. So news that PassMark Software has produced yet another may not, at first, appear too interesting. OSFMount isn't just another "me too" utility, though--it's an extremely useful tool with features that you won't find in most of the competition.
The good news starts with the program's wide support for many image standards. As well as mounting the usual ISO and BIN images, it can also work with IMG, DD, 00n, NRG, SDI, AFF, AFM, AFD, and even VMWare VMDK images, reportedly (although the latter didn't always work in our tests).
Twitter app developer may be creating rival microblogging service
A developer spurned by Twitter's new stance on third-party applications is developing a competitor to the trendy microblogging service, CNN reported on Wednesday. Ubermedia, creator of the popular UberSocial, Echofon and Twidroyd applications, hopes to address common criticisms of Twitter with the planned offering.
In March, Twitter told its developers that it would rather have developers present user's tweets in unique ways rather than just acting as another way to display their feeds. It also cut access to several applications -- Twidroyd and UberSocial among them -- for various terms of service violations, although UberMedia later corrected the problems and was granted access once again.
Is Windows out and Macintosh in among Silicon Valley's elite?
Microsoft is showing off pieces of the next version of Windows (we're all calling it Windows 8) but I'm wondering if anyone cares anymore about Windows in the tech enthusiast space.
Why do I say that?
Microsoft unveils 'Mango' -- next major Windows Phone version
Microsoft's MIX11 Day 2 is perhaps more important than the first. Today, Joe Belfiore took the keynote stage to discuss the next Windows Phone update, codename "Mango," which will be "available to all current users of Windows Phone" and on new handsets, he said. Developer tools are coming next month.
Microsoft plans to release Mango in autumn, adding support for 16 additional languages. The number of countries where Windows Phone apps can be submitted will increase from 30 to 36. Applications will be available to download or buy in more countries -- 25 up from 16.
Silverlight 5 launches in beta
Silverlight 5, the latest version of Microsoft's rich internet media platform and framework is now available in beta for interested users to download and test at Silverlight.net.
Most of the features of Silverlight 5 were revealed back in December 2010 at Microsoft's Firestarter developer event, and totaled around 40 improvements or added features.
Apple's Final Cut Pro X, no longer 'hamstrung by 4GB of memory'
At NAB in Las Vegas, Apple gave the first sneak peek at the upcoming version of its professional video editing suite, Final Cut Pro X.
First and foremost among changes to Final Cut is the fact that it has been rebuilt as a 64-bit application.
Microsoft releases Office 2011 SP1 for Macintosh
Microsoft has released the first Service Pack for Office for Mac 2011 yesterday. SP1 updates Office to version 14.1.0. It fixes a number of security problems and includes enhancements for the various applications in the office suite. The overall stability of Office for Mac 2011 is improved and refinements to performance and reliability help to make the suite more enjoyable to use.
Across the suite a bug that allowed attackers to inject malicious code into memory has been patched, and the ability to add alt text to shapes, images, movies and other objects has also been added. Excel users can benefit from the Solver analysis tools which can be used to run 'what if' scenarios with data, and various problems with pasting, conditional formatting, printing and page settings have been fixed.
Microsoft bulks up MSDN subscriptions with Azure services
Do you subscribe to Microsoft Developer Network? Then perhaps you received the same email as I got late yesterday.
"Effective immediately: Windows Azure benefits have been granted to Visual Studio 2010 Professional with MSDN subscribers. Windows Azure benefits have been expanded for Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate with MSDN and Visual Studio 2010 Premium with MSDN subscribers."
Google says it did not lie about government certification for Apps
Google found itself fending off criticisms from competitor Microsoft on Monday over whether or not its Google Apps product truly had an important government security clearance. Called the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) standard, the Mountain View, Calif. company claimed on its webpage that the Government version of Apps had it. It didn't.
Instead, Google Apps Premier had the proper certification, while the more restrictive Government version was still in the process of getting FISMA certified. This is required by some government agencies in order to participate and win bids for any IT contract.
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