Acer and Samsung Chromebooks are now available for preorder. Interest is so great it took a tweet from Google today for much of anyone to know about the sale. The Chrome OS-based laptops are available from Amazon and Best Buy. Hey, right now! Official launch is June 15 -- that's right, in six days.

My question for Betanews readers is easy: Will you buy Chromebook? Prices range from $379.99 to $499.99. Please answer in comments or email joe at betanews.com -- and, of course, everyone wants to know your reasons. Please give them.

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Last in a series. It would be unfair to identify "Microsoft software licensing: Seven deadly sins" without offering like number of remedies for them. To recap: Software Assurance is an upgrade addition to Microsoft volume licensing announced 10 years ago that generated stiff resistance from customers. The company removed any-time upgrade options, replacing them with annuity programs where customers annually pay 25 percent of a server license's cost, and 29 percent of a desktop (primarily Windows and Office) software license. Customers must choose whether or not to get Software Assurance when acquiring new licenses. Customers get the right to upgrade but not the assurance Microsoft will release new software during the contract period.

Seven Remedies

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View iTunes Hack Reports in a larger map

It all began last Wednesday with a startling discovery. I noticed mysterious charges on iTunes that I didn't make. Someone hacked my account, and I told my story here on Betanews. I didn't realize until after the e-mails began pouring in the next day from readers that I may have stumbled onto something. Some readers wrote in and told us they had experienced something much the same, which we shared with you.

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Motorola on Thursday unveiled its first WiMAX-capable Android Smartphone which also happens to be Sprint's first dual-core device from Motorola, Photon 4G.

The specs of Photon 4G are indeed impressive. It has a 4.3" (540 x 960) touchscreen display, dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 Processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage with microSD support up to 32GB, worldwide GSM roaming, dual cameras (8MP/720p with dual flash, VGA), Android 2.3, mobile hotspot capability and and Motorola's impressive Webtop functionality first showcased by Atrix 4G. It is expected to launch later this summer, when Sprint will announce pricing and accessory support.

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It seems as though the attention of the tech world has been focused solely on the activities of Apple this what -- what with Monday's Worldwide Developer Conference keynote, which feature iCloud, iOS 5 and Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. The Launchpad feature of OS X Lion is something that Mac users have been looking forward to and Windows users have eyed somewhat jealously. Now, using JumpPad 2, you can enjoy the same ease of program launching in Windows.

The program is particularly useful if you have a large number of programs installed, as it avoids the need to work your way through an unwieldy Start Menu or struggle to locate the icon you are looking for on an overcrowded desktop. A customizable list of program shortcuts can be accessed by moving the mouse to one of the corners of the screen. You can choose any of the four corners, so JumpPad can be used in conjunction with other apps that are hotspot activated.

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In a stunning defeat. The country's highest court ruled against Microsoft in its appeal regarding XML patents.

A lower court had ruled that Microsoft violated i4i payments, which was upheld on appeal. Rather than seek a reversal on the patent claims, or address whether or not Microsoft essentially pilfered i4i's XML technologies, the software giant attacked the patent process and how evidence about it is presented in court.

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Thursday, American chipmaker Texas Instruments unveiled a new 2.4GHz wireless audio streaming chip and wireless headset development kit designed for portable audio players and audiophile-level consumer audio solutions. Texas Instruments says the headphone reference design is capable of 22 hours of usage (double the current average battery life) with an electronic material cost of only $5.

At just about one year old, Texas Instruments' PurePath Wireless audio family is a low-power Radio Frequency protocol in the unlicensed 2.4GHz ISM band like Bluetooth, WLAN, Zigbee, ANT, and RF4CE.

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There was a time when important people claimed that Java was the future of computing and major industry companies -- even Microsoft! -- bought into it. Sun Microsystems founder Scott Mcnealy proclaimed Java as the future of, well, everything -- like the light switch to the room where you're reading this sentence. Now Java has degenerated into an unpleasant legacy technology that causes way more problems than it solves. Sun is gone, having been bought by Oracle. Is Java a corpse stinking up the room it was once meant to power? You tell me after reading my list of 10 things that suck about Java.

1. "Write once, run almost everywhere. Usually." Sun always grossly exaggerated the possibilities of portability with Java. So my Java database server won't run on my Java smartphone? What's up with that? But even conventional tasks that you would expect to work, say, on Mac and Windows, don't always. Version proliferation (see #5) exacerbates the problem.

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As a knowledgeable PC user, experienced in the ways of Windows, you're probably used to helping out your friends with their various computer issues. You can't rely on them having the security or diagnostics programs you'll need to solve their problems, of course -- so when you're next off on a computer support mission then it could make sense to bring along a portable troubleshooting toolkit of your own. And WebPost Tools is a good place to start.

If you suspect malware infection, for instance, then the program allows you to download avast! Free Antivirus, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, SUPERAntiSpyware or Spybot-Search&Destroy at a click. Or, if they're installed already, then a series of buttons give you easy access to the program you need.

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Dropbox is a versatile tool: it's used for backing up, syncing and file-sharing, but it's not without its drawbacks. Like any other folder on your Mac, you only know something has changed when you manually check it. That might not be a problem if your Dropbox folder is kept for personal use, but if you're using it as folder repository for the purposes of collaboration or work, you might wish you were more in the loop with any new or updated files that arrive from other sources.

What you need is some kind of notification, alerting you to any updates to your Dropbox folder. And guess what? We have just the solution -- if you're a Mac user at any rate -- in the form of the small, but perfectly formed DropIn. It offers an elegant and highly configurable means of keeping you fully informed. And at just $1.99, it won't break the bank either.

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The first true Honeycomb tablet went on sale yesterday -- preorders for most folks and actual hardware for people lucky enough to be in New York and close to the Best Buy Union Square. I got the 16GB Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi late Tuesday afternoon, from Samsung for review. I highly anticipated the Tab 10.1, simply because it's not iPad, it packs Android 3.1 "Honeycomb" and has impressive hardware specs.

A Matter of Dimensions

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Microsoft is sending notifications to Windows Mobile 6.x users this week that it is discontinuing My Phone service, and shutting down the Windows Marketplace for Mobile site for the legacy mobile OS family.

Beginning on July 15, http://marketplace.windowsphone.com  will
no longer be open for business, and apps for Windows Mobile 6.x will only be available in the Marketplace app or through third party app stores.

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We selected Winamp as one of Android's 15 best apps for 2010 because it offered wireless music syncing, music control from the lock screen, and integration with SHOUTcast streaming radio. Today, the music management service has received a number of updates that concentrate on delivering more free content.

Firstly, the app is now integrated with AOL Music's Full CD Listening Party which lets users stream the week's new featured albums in their entirety for free.

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As coverage of the apparent hack of the iTunes Music Store expands, so have the reports from readers. The newest round of reports indicate that the issue is not limited to the US: Betanews has been able to identify victims in at least five foreign countries. Worse yet? It's no longer just Sega's Kingdom Conquest anymore: several other games have now been identified. Betanews first reported about the spreading hacks one week ago.

To date, reports have been received primarily from the US. However, since then reports have been received from Britain, Ireland, and Germany. Betanews has also been able to source reports through its investigation to New Zealand and Canada as well. Since the reports are not centered to one particular region per se, it's likely this has become a worldwide problem for Apple.

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I just called the Best Buy Union Square, which is selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 nine days before the official launch. There are still 10.1s in stock, but one sales associated said to "hurry." The New York store started selling the tablet a few hours ago. If you live in NYC and can't wait, don't hesitate.

I called and spoke to two different sales associates. Neither would give an exact number of Tabs received for sale, but both indicated a fairly large number -- at least in the hundreds, based on indirect answers to my questions.

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