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May 23

Google reportedly acquiring satellite start-up Skybox

No stranger to big acquisitions, Google is said to be interested in Satellite start-up Skybox. The deal, reportedly worth $1 billion, would roll the service in-house, and likely keep a … Continue reading

Dec 12

WrapUp: Sign Into Multiple Gmail Accounts in Firefox, Windows Phone 7 Series, and More

Posted in: Firefox Extensions, Today's Chili, WrapUp

This article was written on February 16, 2010 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 Phone 7 Series Hands-On
At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Microsoft unveiled the next generation of their mobile operating system called Windows Phone 7 Series. They have essentially scrapped everything you knew about Windows Mobile, and started from scratch to make an interface that is much more like the Zune. It’s clean, fast, and all first impressions from reviewers are extremely positive. You should expect to see Windows Phone 7 Series devices in time for the holiday season later this year.

Office 2011 for Mac Getting a Ribbon UI
Microsoft has released some information regarding Office 2011 for the Mac, and in the mix is a slightly revamped UI that will match more closely what Windows users see when they fire-up Office. This already looks much better than Office 2008 in my opinion, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Not to mention the fact that this will actually include Outlook for handling emails instead of the frowned upon Entourage app.

–News in Brief–

Google Buzz Adapts to User Feedback
Google has received a lot of complaints about Buzz (mostly in regards to security), and they have quickly rolled out changes to help address the high-priority issues.

Google Maps Gets Labs
Labs has found it’s way into another Google product… Maps. Some examples of what you can do are things like find the latitude/longitude of your cursor’s position or draw a box around an area you want to zoom into.

Windows Patch Cripples XP with Blue Screen
One of the Windows Updates pushed out by Microsoft incapacitated some machines and threw them into an endless cycle of reboots.

Opera 10.5 Beta Released
Opera posted the first Beta release of version 10.5, and it boasts private browsing, a faster JavaScript engine, and a redesigned interface.

Google Announces Experimental Fiber Optic Network for Consumers
Google will be pushing out a fiber optic Internet connection to upwards of 500,000 consumers, and are taking nominations for areas in the U.S. that are interested.

Opera Mini for the iPhone
Opera showed off the “mini” version of their browser at Mobile World Congress that is designed specifically for the iPhone.

–Tips, Tutorials, and Reviews–

Automatically Organize Your TV Shows
Downloading TV Shows from the Internet via BitTorrent or other sources can be annoying for those filename neat-freaks out there. Often times the files are named in obscure manners that can make the files difficult to identify, or at the very least not easy to read. The free app called TVRename assists with that issue by renaming the files into a more friendly format automatically for you.

Sign Into Multiple Gmail Accounts in Firefox
The MultiFox Firefox extension lets you create multiple cookie sessions in the browser so that you can sign into more than one online account at a time. This is particularly useful for me because I have multiple Gmail accounts, and with this I don’t have to sign out of one before switching over to another.

–Tips in Brief–

6 Best Tools for Scheduling Twitter Updates
Use these various services and tools to automatically schedule your tweets to post at a certain time/day.

Automate File Management with Belvedere
This free Windows utility will let you automatically manage files (delete, move, etc…) based on extension, date created, and more as they get added to a folder that you choose to monitor.

Emailing Photos to Windows Live SkyDrive
This guide explains how you can quickly add images to your free 25GB SkyDrive account via email.

Google Picasa Album Download Tools
Bulk download your images using one of these free tools… including one that is a Firefox extension.

Smart Note Taker & Clipboard Manager
OrangeNote is a free note taking application for Windows that is one of the best-looking sticky note apps I’ve seen.

iPhone Explorer for the iPhone & iPod Touch
This free Windows/Mac app will let you navigate the files on your iPhone without having to jailbreak.

Wedding Planning with Google Docs
Google announced some free templates and tips for people who want to use Google Docs for planning a wedding.

Keep Background Tabs from Loading in Firefox
This Firefox extension will keep background tabs from loading until you actually switch to them.

Turn Chrome’s New Tab Page into a Google Tasks Page
View your Google task list each time you open a new tab in Google Chrome.

Spruce Up Windows Find-as-You-Type
Listary adds a visual reference to the find-as-you-type functionality in Windows Explorer.

–Downloads–

AbiWord 2.8.2 [Homepage] [Mirror]
AIM 7.2.3.10 ^{Beta 1} [Homepage] [Mirror]
Defraggler 1.17.172 [Homepage] [Mirror]
Digsby Build 76 ^Beta [Homepage] [Mirror]
Firefox 3.7 ^{Alpha 1} [Homepage] [Mirror]
Google Chrome 5.0.322.2 ^Beta [Homepage] [Mirror]
Growl 2.0.1 [Homepage] [Mirror]
Microsoft Zune 4.2 [Homepage] [Mirror]
Miranda 0.8.14 [Homepage] [Mirror]
Opera 10.50.3247 ^{Beta 1} [Homepage] [Mirror]
PeaZip 3.0 ^Beta [Homepage] [Mirror]
VirtualBox 3.1.4.57640 [Homepage] [Mirror]
Vuze 4.3.1.4 [Homepage] [Mirror]

CyberWare: Firefox Extension To Manage Multiple GMail Accounts

Gmail Notifier Pro Does More Than Just Check for New Email

Google Adds Mail Fetcher To Gmail

Gmail Open to Everybody? Nah… Just Teasing Again!

Nov 01

Google Street View walks through parks, so you don’t have to

Posted in: Google, london, Today's Chili, video

Need to take a walk through the park, but hate all of the fresh air, foliage and sunshine that comes with it? Good news: Google has added a number of parks to Street View, including New York City’s High Line, elevated train tracks that have been converted into a 1.5 mile plant-filled walkway. Also on the list are the statue-filled Kensington Gardens in London and Tokyo’s cherry blossom-lined Koganei Park. The parks and their blurry-faced visitors can be easily accessed in the source link below. There’s also a video of the High Line project after the break.

Continue reading Google Street View walks through parks, so you don’t have to

Google Street View walks through parks, so you don’t have to originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Official Google Blog | source Google Maps | Email this | Comments

Oct 29

Apple reportedly acquires C3 Technologies, iOS Maps overhaul on the horizon?

Posted in: Apple, ios, Ios5, ipad, iPhone, maps, mobilepostcross, navigation, rumor, Today's Chili

Last we saw of C3 Technologies’ 3D mapping software it was making an appearance on Sony Ericsson’s X10, but if 9to5Mac turns out to be right, its next stop could be the iPhone. According to the publication, Cupertino recently scooped up the Saab spin-off and C3 execs have since been working closely with the iOS division. Earlier this year, Apple posted job listings, looking for developers to “radically improve how people interact with maps and location-based services.” On a related note, the outfit previously acquired Poly9, a web-based mapping company. So is the fruity one looking to up its street (navigation) cred? Is it finally ready to give Google Maps the boot? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Apple reportedly acquires C3 Technologies, iOS Maps overhaul on the horizon? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Oct 2011 19:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source 9to5Mac | Email this | Comments

Oct 28

Google Walking Directions are Live

Posted in: Google, Today's Chili, Web Sites

This article was written on July 22, 2008 by CyberNet.

google walking directions-1.jpg

A few weeks ago we wrote about a new feature, walking directions, that select people were seeing when using Google Maps. The good news is that Google has apparently unleashed the new feature for anyone that wants to use it, and from what I can tell it works pretty darn good.

When you are getting directions on the Google Maps page you should notice that there are “By car” and “Walking” options located immediately above the directions (pictured above). When it comes to getting walking directions it looks like Google tries to provide the most direct route possible, whereas driving directions try to get you to the destination by using the fastest roads.

The walking directions also adjust the time it will take to get to your destination based upon a reasonable walking speed. I’m not 100% sure what that speed is, but it looks to be about 3 miles per hour (0.05 miles per minute) give or take some. I looked around and 3mph is commonly referred to as the average walking speed for women, and for men it’s normally about 3.5mph. From my calculations Google is using the 3mph for their directions. I tested their walking directions out on paths that I’ve walked before, and the timing is generally pretty accurate.

There’s just one thing that I’m hoping for with this now, and it’s an option on the iPhone to get walking directions using the Google Maps application. This would be very handy when trying to navigate cities and unknown areas on foot.

Thanks Google! I’ll definitely be using these walking directions in the future.

[via Search Engine Land]

Windows Live Local Virtual Earth Gives You A Cars View

CyberNotes: Google Maps Firefox Extensions

Maps & Directions in Your Firefox Sidebar

Directions and Street View Combine in Google Maps

Oct 27

Google Maps Gets Terrain Mode, Replaces Hybrid View

Posted in: Google, Today's Chili

This article was written on November 27, 2007 by CyberNet.

Go to Google Maps and you’ll notice the addition of a Terrain Button which is in the location where the “Hybrid” button used to be. This new Terrain feature reminds me of what you’d see if you looked at a geographical map (versus a political map). The main difference between a geographical map and what Google’s Terrain feature offers is that in large cities like Chicago or New York, you’ll see outlines of buildings. In mountainous areas like Colorado and Utah, you can get an idea of the elevation of the mountains and the area around it which can be seen below:

google terrain

Chicago

google terrain 2

Colorado

Is this feature really going to be helpful to the general population? Probably not, but it is still interesting to take a look around the map while in Terrain mode. For those of you disappointed that the Hybrid button is no longer there, don’t worry. Google incorporated the hybrid feature into the satellite mode. Just click Satellite and then you’ll notice a checkbox appear which says “show labels.” If you check the box, the streets will be labeled just like they were in Hybrid mode.

Source: Google Blogoscoped

Google Maps Gets Zoom Enhancements

Helpful Vista Tip: What is Hybrid Sleep Mode?

View Google Maps Using Windows Media Center

Video of Google Earth 4.3 in Action

Oct 27

Google Maps Gets A Makeover

Posted in: Google, Today's Chili

This article was written on July 30, 2008 by CyberNet.

Yesterday when I pulled up Google Maps, a site I frequently visit, Ryan looked over and right away noticed that the interface was different. My response was, “it is?” I stared at the sight for a good minute trying to figure out what was different and finally Ryan pointed out the changes. Google did in fact give Maps a makeover, but our guess is that some of you won’t even notice.

Here’s what’s different:

According to the Lat Long Blog, their goal was “less is more” which helps explain why they went from three tabs under the search box displaying “search the map,” “find businesses,” and “get directions,” to no tabs under the search box. Previously they had orange as one of their main colors, now it’s blue.

For those of you looking for where you’d get directions, it’s now moved right below the “Google Maps” logo in the blue bar that runs across the screen. Also keep in mind that you can get directions simply by using the search bar. Just enter: (starting location) to (ending location) in the search bar and Google will return step-by-step directions with an estimated time it will take to get from your starting location to your ending location.

GOOGLE MAPS OLD.png

GOOGLE MAPS NEW.png

One minor complaint we have with these changes is that if you are planning a vacation and you have multiple points along the trip (also called waypoints), you can’t reorder any of those waypoints. For example, if you decided you wanted to add a stop to your trip, you can add a waypoint, but it automatically puts it at the bottom of your list of stops and there’s no way to move it anywhere in the middle.

Overall, once I noticed the changes I thought they looked nice. They are subtle, so there is a chance that you may not even notice, especially if you don’t use Google Maps regularly.

Google Maps Gets Yahoo’s Dynamic Movement Feature

Google Maps Saves You Money With Coupons

Google Adds “Saved Locations” To Google Maps

Use Google My Maps To Create Your Own Map Mashups

Oct 24

Google My Location – Look Ma, No GPS!

Posted in: Google, gps, maps, Today's Chili, videos

This article was written on November 28, 2007 by CyberNet.

Google has launched a service called My Location, and it could be a huge breakthrough in mobile mapping technology. My Location is available at no cost to those who use Google Maps on a mobile device, but don’t have GPS capabilities built-in. Technicalities aside, it uses cell towers to approximate the location of the user so that it is easier to find out where you are headed.

Naturally this is not going to be as accurate as GPS, but they say that it will get you within 1,000 meters (a little over 1/2 mile) on average. That does sound like an awful large variation, but for not being triangulated through a GPS receiver it’s actually rather good.

Sounds pretty cool, huh? Here’s a video demonstration that Google put together to show how it works:

This would be a great addition to the iPhone, and I’m sure iPhone owners will start pushing Apple to integrate this into the already powerful Google Maps application that comes with the device. It might not be perfect, but it’s better than having nothing, right?

And since privacy is always a big issue Google assures us that they are not storing any of our information, and that they don’t even see the name or phone number associated with a device. Who knows though … this could just be one more step in Google’s ~~evil plot to take over the world~~ quest to provide users with wonderful, yet free services.

My Location Press Release [via jkOnTheRun & Google OS]

Google Maps Gets A Makeover

Google Latitude Update Interval for Android, iPhone, and BlackBerry

Google To Begin Type of Advertising Via GPS?

Offline Version Of Google’s New Docs & Spreadsheets?

Oct 22

Mobile Miscellany: week of October 17, 2011

Posted in: Android, Google, Miscellaneous, mobilepostmini, samsung, Today's Chili, vodafone

This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here’s some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of October 17, 2011:

The HTC Rezound (codenamed the Vigor) started showing up in Cellebrite systems, just another indicator of its impending arrival — and likely name. [Droid-Life]
AT&T’s current lineup of Windows Phones, such as the Samsung Focus, LG Quantum and HTC Surround, are now showing up as EOL — End-of-life — likely in preparation for the trio of incoming devices we saw earlier this week. [WMPowerUser]
Cricket added another ZTE feature phone to its lineup this week, called the Memo (shown above). It’s got a full QWERTY keyboard and is available for $100. [Cnet]
Google Maps for Android was the beneficiary of yet another update. This time, version 5.11 makes one critical feature change: it offers different-sized maps for phones with different screen resolutions. Thus, if you have a 3.5-inch HVGA screen, you’re not forced to download a map designed for a 4.3-inch qHD display, saving space on your phone in the process. [MobileBurn]
Vodafone 360, launched in 2009 as a LiMo-based cloud synchronization and backup service, will be officially closed by the end of the year. The carrier stopped developing handsets that took advantage of the plan last year, so it really was a matter of time before this happened. [Wall Street Journal]
Toshiba Mobile Display announced this week that it’s working on a new type of mobile display optimized for wide-angle viewing. Dubbed the “Soludina,” it’ll be shown off at next week’s FPD International in Japan. [Nikkei]
Sprint announced a new plan called Wireless CapTel that’s designed for those who are hard of hearing. The service, which can be used on Android devices, allows the caller to view conversations in real time as word-for-word captions on their phone’s screen. [BusinessWire]
Telus will officially launch the 4G Samsung Galaxy S II X on October 28th, according to its website. [Unwired View]

Mobile Miscellany: week of October 17, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Oct 2011 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 19

Google’s Street View takes to the rails in Switzerland

Posted in: Google, Today's Chili

Google’s Street View has made its way around the world and gone off the beaten path in a few places, but until now it hasn’t hitched a ride to capture some scenery by rail. That picturesque view above comes from a section of the Albula / Bernina railway in Switzerland — a UNESCO World Heritage site — all 122 kilometers of which were recently mapped out and photographed by Google using its usual Street View camera gear. Unfortunately, while that part of the process is done, the results haven’t yet made their way onto the internet — you can apparently look for that to hit Google Maps in the coming months. In the meantime, you can check out the source link below for some more shots of the capturing in progress.

[Thanks, Hanspeter]

Google’s Street View takes to the rails in Switzerland originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source macprime.ch | Email this | Comments

Hasta La Gadget!

Google reportedly acquiring satellite start-up Skybox