Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on September 14, 2009 by CyberNet.

Welcome to the WrapUp by CyberNet. This is a collection of news stories, downloads, and tips that we have collected over the last few days, but never got around to writing about. Don’t forget to send in your own tips, or just leave a comment on this page if you think you’ve got something we should include.

–News–

Windows 7 Relaxes CableCard Restrictions
Microsoft released information last week stating that Windows 7 would give all PC owners the ability to add CableCards to their machines. Prior to this you could only buy CableCards with select OEM PC’s. What does this mean? Basically with CableCards you’re able to record encrypted cable channels using Windows Media Center. This could prove to be some stiff competition for Tivo considering there are no monthly service fees associated with a Media Center PC.

Leaked iPod Touch with Camera Photos were Real
Last week Apple released new iPod Nano’s with video recording capabilities, but many people were left puzzled when the same functionality was left out of their high-end iPod Touch product line. The internals of the new iPod Touch show striking similarities to the photos that were leaked prior to Apple’s announcements, and provide some solid evidence that the iPod Touch was indeed supposed to have a camera.

Dropbox Adds More Functionality
Dropbox is an amazing way to keep files in sync between all your machines, but their web interface has always been a little lackluster. They’ve added some new functionality including keyboard shortcuts, interface and usability improvements, and true bulk operations that make their website a lot better.

Attach 100MB Files in Yahoo! Mail with Drop.io
Yahoo! only lets you attach files up to 20MB to your emails, but thanks to some third-party integration that limit is now five times larger. To use the service you’ll have to click the “Get Started” link on this page to enable the use of apps, and then you should see an option in your mail sidebar to “Attach Large Files.” It’s not as integrated as I’d like to see it, but it’s still nice being able to send 100MB attachments without leaving the Yahoo! Mail interface.

Google’s “Jump to” Option in Search Results
When performing certain searches on Google you may find a “jump to” option offered right before the description of the result. Clicking on this link will take you directly to the part of the page related to what you’re searching for. For this to work Google is looking for “internal bookmarks/links” on a page. That’s why you’ll often find that Wikipedia results will show up with this option since it uses internal links in their table of contents to jump to various parts of the page.

–News in Brief–

Opera to Unveil “the Next Generation in Mobile Browsing”
Opera has put together a teaser page for something they will be unveiling very soon.

Chrome Turns Extensions on in Dev Channel
Google Chrome users running the developer version of the browser should be pleased to hear that you can now install extensions by default, which means this feature should be getting closer to prime time.

Windows 7 RTM not Affected by Latest Flaw
A recently discovered vulnerability makes it possible for a hacker to remotely control a system, but only affects Windows Vista, Server 2008, and pre-release versions of Windows 7.

Android has 10,000+ Applications Available
The Google Android mobile OS now has over 10,000 applications available for download, and 65% of those apps are free.

Firefox 3.5.3 Introduces Flash Update Notifications
In an attempt to keep users safe, Mozilla will now display a notification for anyone running Firefox if they have an old version of the Flash plugin. In the future the browser will also look for updates to other common plugins.

Facebook Lite Keeps Things Simple
Facebook users in the U.S. and India can now take advantage of a simpler Facebook interface that feels a bit Twitter-like.

Hotmail Getting More Improvements
Hotmail is rolling out some changes including auto-saving of drafts, keyboard shortcuts that closely match what’s used in Gmail, mobile improvements, and more.

Opera Unite Hits Beta Stage
The first Beta of Opera Unite has finally been released, and it’s significantly more stable than previous versions according to Download Squad.

Hubble Takes more Amazing Photos after Repair Mission
These are the first photos sent back from the Hubble Space Telescope after undergoing a rather extensive repair and service mission.

Google Earth 5.1 Gets Faster
The newest Beta of Google Earth not only uses less memory than previous versions, but is also 25% faster at starting up.

–Tips, Tutorials, and Reviews–

Windows 7 Login Background Changer
Want to freshen up that background image you see when you login to Windows 7? This free and open source application will let you select an image you want to use when logging into your machine. What I really like about this WPF-based solution is that it doesn’t modify any system files on your machine.

iTunes 9 Introduces a “Watched” Folder
iTunes 9 has finally added a highly requested feature: a watched folder. This folder resides in your music library, and any music added to it will automatically be imported into your library. Unfortunately this directory cannot be changed, and I suspect that Apple added it for the new “Home Sharing” features that let you automatically add music from other libraries on your network. It’s still nice to have though.

How to Access Gmail when it’s Down
With the recent Gmail outages some people are trying more than ever to make sure that they’ll still be able to access their messages even when the service is down. Normally when Gmail’s web interface goes down the IMAP/POP3 is still functional, and that’s what most people turn to. This article provides a few other alternatives such as checking the mobile version, using the iGoogle gadget, and more.

Postbox Email App Leaves Beta, Charges $40
Over the last few months Postbox has definitely been one of the most talked about desktop email clients. It was available for free when it was in the Beta stage, but now it will run you $40 for a license. It is definitely a nice email client, but they are in a tough spot. There are a lot of free desktop email clients out there, and I’d venture to guess that a majority of the money spent on desktop email clients goes towards Outlook. And then there’s also the fact that the web interfaces for email services like Gmail are evolving at a rather rapid pace.

Google Spreadsheets Gets SQL-like Syntax
Anyone familiar with SQL might enjoy the new “QUERY” function that was recently added to Google Spreadsheets. This function uses Gviz syntax to imitate SQL syntax right there in your document. It’s still a bit limited at this point… “SELECT” statements are the primary use, but you can add “ORDER BY,” “GROUP BY,” “LIMIT,” and more within your query. Hopefully it will branch out to become even more powerful.

–Tips in Brief–

iTunes 9 has Jump List Support in Windows 7
iTunes 9 was released last week, and anyone using Windows 7 can already take advantage of the included Jump List support. If you hover over the icon you can pause, play, or skip music, and you can receive additional options by right-clicking on the icon.

Pause Incoming Emails
This Outlook 2007 add-on from Microsoft will let you pause incoming emails so that they are not shown until you are ready to read them. This keeps you from getting distracted while you’re trying to work, and can also keep things quiet while you’re giving a presentation.

Coral IE Tab for Firefox
This Firefox extension is based on the popular IE Tab add-on, but takes it one step further. It is able to save your cookies and also works with Adblock Plus, which are things the original extension can’t boast.

Google Voice Adds Email Forwarding/Replies to SMS
Google will now let you view and reply to any SMS messages received through Google Voice right from your Inbox.

Another Free Backup Utility
As we’ve said in the past… there’s never a shortage of free backup utilities. What makes this one a bit different is that you can use it to backup and restore an entire partition or drive.

–Downloads–

• Avant Browser 11.7.37 [Mirror]
• Avast Home 5.0.104 ^Beta [Mirror]
• CDBurnerXP 4.2.5.1541 [Mirror]
• FeedDemon 3.0.0.35 ^Pre-Release [Mirror]
• Firefox 3.0.14 [Mirror]
• Firefox 3.5.3 [Mirror]
• Google Chrome 4.0.206.1 ^Beta [Mirror]
• Google Desktop 5.9.909.8267 [Mirror]
• Google Earth 5.1.3506 ^Beta [Mirror]
• iTunes 9.0.0 [Mirror]
• Maxthon 2.5.7.1143 ^Beta [Mirror]
• Maxthon 3.0.2.2 ^Alpha [Mirror]
• QuickTime 7.64.17.73 [Mirror]
• Sandboxie 3.39.13 ^Beta [Mirror]
• uTorrent 1.8.4.16381 [Mirror]
• uTorrent 2.0.16407 ^Beta [Mirror]
• VirtualBox 3.0.6.52128 [Mirror]

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Once again, the whispers were true. Microsoft has proudly announced on this fine day that September 15th will mark the official launch of the Internet Explorer 9 Beta, but details beyond that are scant. We do know that the Big M will hold a gala in San Francisco to celebrate “The Beauty of the Web,” and once it hits the tubes, you’ll need either Vista or Windows 7 to use it (sorry, XP loyalists). ‘Course, it remains to be seen if IE can catch up to Chrome and Firefox in the technical department, but at least you can start preparing your existing squeeze for somewhat of a letdown next month. Let ’em down easy, okay?

Internet Explorer 9 Beta launching September 15th, might enter a beauty pageant originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fool us once, shame on us. Fool us twice? Fuhgetaboutit. Apple has a thing for introducing new iPods each fall, and given that the existing touch is being given away gratis with a new student computer (not to mention how long in the tooth it is), we’re guessing the tradition will continue in 2010. We’d heard earlier on in the year that Apple may toss FaceTime over to the iPod line whenever it finally gained a front-facing camera, and now the evidence is nearly too strong to ignore. In the latest iOS 4.1 beta (numero three, if you’re keeping count), there’s an option to connect to a contact via FaceTime by ringing their digits or by pinging their email address. We’re guessing that the latter is there mostly for iPod touch users (the ones without Apple Peel 520s, anyway), and it’s the most glaring sign yet that the next generation touch will flippin’ finally boast a camera (or just a way around that SMS-based activation?). Still, we wouldn’t get our hopes up too high — falling ain’t no fun, you know?

Email-based FaceTime support surfaces in iOS 4.1 beta 3 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Aug 2010 14:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Slightly ahead of schedule, Microsoft has dished out Service Pack numero uno for Windows 7. The hot-selling OS has been a revelation since its release and it’s therefore no surprise that this update pack does nothing remarkably new or important. It collates all of Microsoft’s patches since launch into a neat little (well, not really, it’s 1.2GB in size) package and throws in a few other hotfixes to boot. Microsoft treats its betas rather unceremoniously, however, so don’t expect any support with this thing until it goes final — which we’re hearing might not be until early 2011. We’d say that’s a long way out but it’s not like Windows 7 isn’t treating us well enough already. Hit the source to obtain the download, if you must.

[Thanks, JagsLive]

Windows 7 SP1 public beta now ready for download originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Too lazy to cancel your $99 MobileMe automatic subscription renewal and make the jump to one of the many free alternatives? Don’t worry, your lethargy has paid off this morning as Apple introduces its new MobileMe iDisk 1.2 app and a beta version of its new MobileMe Calendar. iDisk is pretty much the same app you know and ignore only now it’s optimized for the bigger iPad screen, tweaked to support iOS 4 multitasking, and offers the option to open iDisk documents in compatible apps — like using iBooks for PDFs for example. The faster loading MobileMe Calendar beta (login to MobileMe to request an invite) features redesigned day, week, and month views; calendar sharing amongst friends, family, and predators (if you like); the ability to publish a calendar to a team or group; and event invitations to anyone holding an email address (me.com or not) with RSVP support and automatic change notifications. Best of all, the Calendar beta uses the CalDAV standard, you know, just like that free Calendar from the company that rhymes with frugal.

Apple’s MobileMe iDisk App updated for iPad, redesigned Calendar goes beta originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Jul 2010 04:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  MobileMe (Calendar), MobileMe (iDisk)  | Email this | Comments