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.
Tweet, tweet, Twitter for Android and iOS get big updates
Suddenly mobile Twitter makes lots of sense to me, and I wonder what good the desktop or web clients are at all. Versions 3.2 and 4.2, available today for Android and iOS, respectively, improve discovery, search and, more importantly, interaction with others and topics that matter most to you.
Not that Twitter mobile was bad before, it's just whole lots better now -- and where you need it most. On the go. Most of the goodness is behind the Discover tab, which after being much of a wasteland before is now lively and filled with streaming content relevant to you.
Walmart lets online shoppers pay with cash
Cash as a form of payment is rare these days as plastic takes over, and online it is all but nonexistent. Not anymore, though -- Walmart now allows online customers to pay for their orders with the good ol' Greenback.
Here's how it works: customers place their orders on the website, and select "Cash" as the payment option. They then have 48 hours to take a printed-out copy of the order form and pay at any local Walmart store. Walmart's demographics seem to support such an offering, so it is obvious why the retailer would offer cash as a form of payment.
VMware source code leak: 'IT equivalent of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill'
VMware has confirmed that a portion the the source code for its ESX hypervisor was compromised, although the code dates back as early as 2003. That said, a fairly significant portion of the company's customers are still using the platform as VMware works to push them towards its newer hypervisor called ESXi.
A hypervisor in the simplest terms is a virtual machine management platform on which several virtual machines can run concurrently. The hypervisor controls the sharing of virtualized hardware resources. ESXi has a far smaller attack surface, which limits the available avenues of attack on a installation.
Facebook opens antivirus download shop to broaden security resources
Popular social network Facebook has partnered with security vendors Symantec, McAfee, Microsoft, Sophos, and Trend Micro in a program to simultaneously improve Facebook's security and broaden the availability of the antivirus software from each of the partners.
Since 2008, Facebook has kept a URL blacklist, and any time a Facebook user posts a link to one of the blacklisted URL, Facebook pops up an interstitial warning page before the browser actually connects off to the suspicious destination. Facebook's parters in this effort included McAfee, Google, Web of Trust, and Websense.
Google Drive: perfect for a 'Nexus Tablet' that takes on Kindle Fire
Google on Tuesday finally rolled out the long-rumored Google Drive cloud storage platform to compete with the likes of Dropbox, Skydrive, Box, iCloud, and all the rest.
But let's put cloud storage competition aside for a moment. When Google Drive was announced, I was immediately reminded of a recent quote in the New York Times:
Google Drive arrives -- and what a shock, it's really an upgrade for Docs
One of the most eagerly anticipated online storage services -- and one of the worst kept secrets in computing -- has finally seen the light of day. Google Drive has, at long last, been unveiled after years of rumors and speculation, working in much the same way as the likes of Dropbox and providing users with 5GB of cloud storage free of charge.
In many ways, the release of Google Drive can be seen as more of an update to Google Docs, and this is clear for Android users who will find that their Google Docs app will update and become Google Drive.
Windows Server 2012 release candidate coming in June
This just in from Microsoft: Windows 8 release candidate won't be the only one coming your way in less than six weeks. Expect Windows Server 2012, too. "The Windows 8 Release Preview will be publicly available in the first week of June 2012", Microsoft's Jeffrey Snover says. "We plan to deliver a release candidate of Windows Server 2012 in the same timeframe".
Windows & Windows Live President Steven Sinofsky revealed the June RC for the desktop operating system earlier today in Tokyo. Concurrent Windows Server 2012 release candidate isn't surprising given the operating systems share common code and development has tracked closely all along.
SkyDrive user? You're about to lose two-thirds of your storage space
Microsoft on Monday launched a new version of SkyDrive, bringing the cloud-file sharing service to the desktop. This move did not come without a cost -- new users will have far less space, and current users only have a "limited time" to keep the generous storage the Redmond, Wash. company provides. But more on that a bit later.
The enhancements address problems with SkyDrive's browser-based interface which irk critics and customers. With desktop integration, cloud storage becomes a drag-and drop-process.
What happens when your online game does too well?
Indeed, these are the kinds of problems we would love to have, but when they actually occur we need solutions nonetheless. So, how do you handle the issues that occur when audience demand overwhelms the infrastructure you have provisioned to serve your content?
A few years ago, my company was approached by Latin Interactive Network (LIN), a publisher of online games across Latin America, including countries like Peru, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. LIN handles several successful MMOs in these territories, including the Spanish-language version of Audition Online, a unique free-to-play dance battle game. Audition is a big favorite, and in Latin America alone, the game is now played by half a million players per month. This is welcome news for LIN, of course, but not always so welcome for Audition gamers who may be stuck using outdated and underpowered infrastructure...
You can use the new link to Dropbox feature like Megaupload (kinda)
Popular file storage and sharing service Dropbox on Monday announced users can now share the contents of their Dropbox via a direct link that anyone can open, even if they're not a Dropbox user.
The feature is noteworthy because it deviates slightly from the traditional Dropbox sharing model. Instead of sharing files between Dropbox users, this feature simply links to content and makes it viewable.
Adobe Creative Suite 6 takes to the cloud
Adobe took the wraps off Creative Suite 6 on Monday, introducing the largest release to date of the content-creation platform. CS6 now includes up to 12 programs and two companion applications, Bridge and Encore, and is available in four editions: Design Standard, Design and Web Premium, Production Premium, and Master Collection.
The CS6 beta is one of the most successful in the company's history, with one million downloads over the past month of availability alone, a record for Adobe. The move was slightly unusual considering the company typically does not offer large-scale betas of its products.
Microsoft enterprise licensing changes favor Windows RT, put Android and iOS in their place
If you can't beat them, manage them. It's a strategy that has worked well for Microsoft in the past, and it is emerging as a key element in announcements last week about how Microsoft will license Windows 8 in all its variations, including the x86 consumer, Professional and Enterprise editions, the embedded Windows RT and the cloud-based Windows Intune.
While Microsoft's primary goal is to stop Apple's growth in the enterprise, which it will do by tilting licensing policies in favor of Windows tablets, the company has a Plan B that will help monetize Apple and Android devices in the enterprise through management.
Amazon launches beta of new site for commercial and industrial supply
Leading web retailer Amazon.com on Monday launched the beta of AmazonSupply, a new site dealing in tools, materials, machinery, office equipment, and supplies for business, industry, and commerce.
AmazonSupply launches with approximately 500,000 different items, which are separated into fourteen different classes: Lab & Scientific, Test, Measure & Inspect, Occupational Health & Safety, Janitorial & Sanitation, Office, Fleet & Vehicle Maintenance, Power & Hand Tools, Cutting Tools, Abrasives & Finishing, Material Handling, Materials, Hydraulics Pneumatics & Plumbing, Fasteners, and Power Transmission.
RIAA's Waterloo? Anonymous Looks to set streaming music free
Streaming music content is too restrictive, believes hacktivists Anonymous. Six members of the group have released Anontune, a web-based application that aims to aggregate streaming music online and place it in a central location. AnonTune currently accesses the catalogs of YouTube and SoundCloud, although the developers plan to add content from other services including Yahoo Music, Myspace Music, Bandcamp and others in the future.
True to the groups name, users will be able to listen to tracks anonymously, and Anonymous itself will not store the tracks. Instead it depends on the catalogs of the services it aggregates, thus leaving the sticky copyright issues to those sites. Recording Industry Association of America's Waterloo, indeed. The next one, if Napster wasn't enough a computing generation ago.
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