Sep 26

Nuance adds WP7 support, gives devs better service with NDEV Mobile developer program

Posted in: app, apps, developer, developers, mobilepostcross, Today's Chili, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone7, Wp7

You know Nuance right? They’re the folks who make Dragon speech recognition software for Macs, iThings, Blackberrys, Androids and cars. Earlier this year, the company released its Dragon Mobile SDK to provide the tools needed to get folks talking to their phones, instead of with them. Now, Nuance has added support for Windows Phone 7 (no Mango support… yet) and upgraded its developer program to provide devs with more support so it’s easier to make voice-enabled applications. Additionally, it’s added eight new languages to its repertoire — Canadian French, Americas Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Korean, Taiwanese Mandarin, and Cantonese — with more to come.

We got to speak with Nuance about its new program, now called NDEV Mobile, and were told it’s broken into three tiers: Silver, Gold, and Emerald. NDEV Silver is the base level that gives devs free access to Nuance’s text-to-speech and voice recognition technology. Gold service provides SSL data encryption and access to cloud-based speech recognition and TTS servers over the web (rather than using a client-side API) through per-user or per-transaction pricing models. At the top end, the Emerald level rolls out the red carpet with integrated custom vocabulary and grammar — for creating apps that recognize industry jargon — and dedicated account management. The company sees the Emerald tier appealing most to enterprise customers, but it’s available to any dev willing to pony up for the extra Nuance TLC. So, intrepid app-makers, now that you’ve got the tools to make our phones understand us better than ever, how will you use them?

Continue reading Nuance adds WP7 support, gives devs better service with NDEV Mobile developer program

Nuance adds WP7 support, gives devs better service with NDEV Mobile developer program originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Sep 2011 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 26

The Cost of Piracy in the Software Industry

Posted in: Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on June 01, 2007 by CyberNet.

Economist.com recently posted about the current state of piracy around the world according to the Business Software Alliance, which is a trade body. As you can imagine, it’s really not too good. No information was given about how they got the numbers that they did, but the calculation that was reported was based upon the number of computers in each country, and the dollar amount of pirated software per computer.

In terms of dollar amount and total losses, the United States tops that list at $7.2 billion, and China was next with $5.4 billion. But because this report focused on the amount per computer, The United States didn’t make the list. Topping the list was Azerbaijan with over $250 of pirated software per computer, and following behind was Iceland with over $200 of pirated software per computer. In total, the cost of piracy in Iceland was $32 million, however that’s divided among few computers in comparison to the $7.2 billion divided among all computers in the United States.

Piratedsoftware

The report stated that piracy cost the software industry $39.6 billion dollars, as in lost revenue, however those that choose to pirate probably wouldn’t ever purchase the software in the first place if pirating wasn’t an option. Can it really be considered lost revenue then?

Source: Economist.com [via Digg]

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Sep 26

Google Picasa Web Albums Get Some Much Needed Features

Posted in: Google, Today's Chili

This article was written on December 14, 2006 by CyberNet.

Picasa Web Albums It has been a little while since we have seen some updates to Google Picasa Web Albums but it looks like there are some nice things just in time for the holidays. Here are the new features that I am sure you’ll love:

  • Anyone can upload videos using Picasa – Finally, a way to share those digital camera movies with friends. Learn more
  • Search and tag your photos. Search over your friend’s public photos – Hey, we’re Google. Search across album descriptions, captions, our new tags and more.
  • Order prints and photo products – If one of our print providers sells it, you can order it.
  • Embed an album or photo in your MySpace profile or a blog

Upgrading from the limited 250MB of storage space is still quite expensive as I mentioned the other day:

  • 6.25GB ($25 USD per year)
  • 25GB ($100 USD per year)
  • 100GB ($250 USD per year)
  • 250GB ($500 USD per year)

Google really needs to step things up now to compete with Flickr because their upgraded plan, which costs less than Google’s cheapest plan, offers you unlimited everything. One thing that Google definitely has going for them is the smooth integration with the free Picasa photo management software and without that I don’t think many people would be using their online photo service. I’m actually surprised that Yahoo! (the owner of Flickr) hasn’t tried to develop their own photo management software to really try and hit Google where it counts.

News Source: Google Operating System

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Sep 26

Crapgadget: ‘it seemed like a good idea at the time’ edition

Posted in: Apple, charging, ipad, iPhone, Today's Chili

We’re sure that most inventors out there are genuinely looking to make the world a better place, but the best intentions don’t always produce the best inventions, and while the following gadgets will all likely appeal to someone, somewhere, we can’t exactly recommend, say, an ear-shaped iPhone case or a $300 toothpaste squeezer. But as the saying goes, “one man’s crapgadget is another man’s treasure.”

Read – It’s like a beanbag chair for your iPad! For your lap!
Read – At $300, this toothpaste tube squeezer should pay for itself exactly one day before the sun burns out.
Read – How is this iPhone case different than all other iPhone cases? Simple: it makes it look like you’ve contracted some sort of engorged ear disease. Never get bothered during important phone calls again!
Read – It’s a battery charger! For the ladies!

View Poll

Crapgadget: ‘it seemed like a good idea at the time’ edition originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 22:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 26

New Windows Live Writer Released

Posted in: Newly Released, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on September 27, 2006 by CyberNet.

Windows Live Writer

A new version of Windows Live Writer was just released and it has quite a long list of changes. I have been using Windows Live Writer ever since it was opened to the public and I couldn’t imagine not writing with it now.

Here is a list of the new features:

  • Tagging support
  • Support for Blogger Beta
  • Categories are sorted by name and support scrolling, plus improved support for reading categories from your blog
  • Improved startup performance
  • Paste is enabled for Title region and TAB/SHIFT+TAB navigation between title and body supported
  • Insert hyperlink added to context menu when text is selected
  • Title attribute in Insert Link dialog
  • Custom date support for Community Server
  • Improved keyboard shortcuts for switching views
  • Change spell-check shortcut key to F7
  • Add ‘png’ to insert image dialog file type filter
  • More robust image posting to Live Spaces
  • Improved style detection for blogs 
  • Fixed issues with pasting URLs and links
  • Remember last window size and position when opening a new post
  • Open post dialog retrieves more than 25 old posts

The biggest problem that I still have is that Windows Live Writer doesn’t support nested categories. However, the category list now has a scrollbar, a refresh button, and is now alphabetized by category name. That means I will still upload a post as a draft in order to ensure all categories and information are correct before the article gets published.

There are also six plugins available for those who are looking to add new features that Windows Live Writer currently doesn’t offer:

  • Blog This For Firefox – The “Blog This” Firefox button launch Windows Live Writer prepopulated with content from the current web page. Use it to quickly blog about interesting content you find while browsing the web.
  • Blog This For Internet Explorer – The Blog This for Internet Explorer adds a button to IE which starts a new Windows Live Writer blog post prepopulated with content and title from the current web page. Blog the whole page, or just selected snippets. Interacts with other registered plugins to parse and structure web content where appropriate. Blog quickly when you find something of interest on the web.
  • Event Plugin – Create your own events or find existing events through intergrated search of the Eventful.com website. Format the event, add a picture, edit the description, customize what data is displayed. The published post included correct hCalendar microformatting. The plugin also enables pastes of Live Clipboard copied events and Blog This of events from the Eventful.com website.
  • Flickr4Writer – Flickr4Writer is a plugin that enables interaction with the Flickr(tm) services. You can browse by tags, photosets, or a simple photostream. After browsing, the plugin enables inserting the image reference into a post. A Flickr(tm) account is required. See http://www.flickr4writer.com for more information and screenshots.
  • Acronyms Plugin – This plugin lets you search for an acronym description and insert it the acronym with the description in the blog post.
  • Insert Spaces Emoticon – This plugin allows you to select one of the many Live Spaces emoticons and put them onto your blog. The best thing about this plugin is it’s not limited to just Live Spaces. You can use this plugin for any type of blog and still have the Spaces’ emoticons on it.

I think that Windows Live Writer is really starting to come along nicely. They still have some work ahead of them but it is definitely evolving into a nice piece of software.

News Source: Windows Live Writer Blog
Thanks for the tip Radu!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Sep 26

Android powered 56 percent of smartphones sold in the last three months

Posted in: Android, Apple, BlackBerry, Google, ios, iPhone, market share, marketshare, meego, mobilepostcross, RIM, symbian, Today's Chili, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone7
Nielsen survey

When last we checked in with Nielsen (which was earlier this month) Google’s mobile OS had a sizable lead, powering just under 42-percent of smartphones sold, while Apple had cornered a more than respectable 28-percent of the market. In the few short weeks since, Android has seen its share grow to 43-percent. More interestingly, of the over 25,500 surveyed who had purchased a smartphone in the last three months, a whopping 56-percent chose to go with the Goog. Apple held a steady 28-percent across the board. Big G’s gains came at the expense of RIM (only 9-percent of phones sold in the last three months were BlackBerries) and the ambiguous “other” (Symbian, Windows Phone 7, Bada, MeeGo, etc… accounted for 6-percent of sales). More important than choice of platform though, is that smartphone sales in general are climbing — accounting for 58-percent of all handsets sold in August and driving smartphone penetration to 43-percent.

Android powered 56 percent of smartphones sold in the last three months originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 21:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 26

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 WiFi hits the FCC in tabtastic glory

Posted in: Android, Google, honeycomb, Ifa2011, samsung, tablet, Today's Chili, wifi
It may have gone MIA at IFA 2011 earlier this month due to an ongoing legal battle, but the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 is certainly no figment of our imagination. Far from it: the device, dubbed the GT-P6810, just got put through its paces in the hallowed halls of the Federal Communications Commission, and came out unscathed and with some decent diagrams that actually show off the tablet in a somewhat flattering manner. The version seen going through the FCC is most likely a 16GB WiFi-only version, as no mention of wireless bands could be found. Whether or not it’ll hit US shores is an uncertainty, as passage through the government doesn’t guarantee it’ll actually be sold here, but the Galaxy Tab series has already had plenty of time to pick up a popularity point or two.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 WiFi hits the FCC in tabtastic glory

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 WiFi hits the FCC in tabtastic glory originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 26

ASUS Ultrabooks to arrive in New York City on October 11

Posted in: ASUS, release, Release Date, teaser, Today's Chili

The Ultrabooks are coming, and it looks like ASUS’ first foray into thin and light computing will officially arrive on October 11th in New York. According to a UX series landing page, we need only wait 15 more days before getting our hands the ASUS UX21 and its larger, but still svelte sibling, the UX31, once again. Frankly, we can hardly wait for their arrival, but patience is a virtue, right?

ASUS Ultrabooks to arrive in New York City on October 11 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 19:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 26

The Deleted City visualizes GeoCities as it was, today

Posted in: Today's Chili, video, web
GeoCities may be no more, but, unlike some other bits of internet past, its entire contents were thoroughly archived before the site was completely shut down in 2009. That opened up some interesting possibilities for anyone interested in playing around with the 650 gigabyte archive, and this so-called “Deleted City” project may well be the most interesting yet. Described as a “digital archaeology of the world wide web as it exploded into the 21st century,” the project appropriately visualized GeoCities as one large city, which can be dived into and explored at will (complete with a soundtrack supplied by “nearby” MIDI files). Unfortunately, it’s not clear when or if folks will actually be able to try it out for themselves, but you can at least take a guided tour in the video after the break.

Continue reading The Deleted City visualizes GeoCities as it was, today

The Deleted City visualizes GeoCities as it was, today originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 19:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 26

What Ever Happened With The Gold Xbox 360 Faceplate?

Posted in: gaming, Today's Chili, xbox

This article was written on December 15, 2005 by CyberNet.


Gold Xbox 360 Faceplate

Did you, like a lot of people, forget about that gold Xbox 360 faceplate being sold on eBay. Well, the seller had pulled the auction, removed the pictures and description, and replaced the pictures with one saying “SOLD”. The reason from eBay for it being pulled is that the seller said the item is no longer available. So did it really sell, or was the lie just catching up? Guess we will never know because we can’t wait to see if the seller gets feedback.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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