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Apr 12

WrapUp: New Xbox 360, Speed Up Your Boot Time, and More

Posted in: ipad, Today's Chili, WrapUp, xbox 360

This article was written on June 15, 2010 by CyberNet.

Note: This WrapUp is a bit longer than usual since we are making up for two weeks of news, instead of the typical one week.

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 in Brief–

New Xbox 360 Revealed
Yesterday was launch day for Microsoft’s “revamped” Xbox 360 priced at a modest $299. It’s got an updated look and is said to be much quieter (hallelujah!) than previous models. Included with this new console is a Kinect port, Microsoft’s system for detecting body and hand gestures which launches in November.

Hotmail Removes Taglines from Emails
Microsoft has reevaluated their practice of including one-liner ads for Hotmail at the bottom of email messages. This is one change among many that they made to “respect your inbox.”

Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Available
Adobe Flash Player is still a much needed browser add-on, much to Apple’s dismay. Adobe recently launched the 10.1 download which includes performance enhancements.

Google Voice Integrating with Gmail
How would you like to be able to make and receive Google Voice calls right from the convenience of your Gmail account? This is a feature Google has been pretty quiet about, but one that they are currently tinkering with.

Hacker Gets Email Addresses of 114K iPad 3G Owners
As an iPad 3G owner who subscribes to a service plan through AT&T, it was disappointing to hear about the iPad security breach that recently made the news. The good news is that it was ‘just’ email addresses that were exposed. The bad news is that as a result, over 114,000 email addresses were exposed and those individuals could potentially receive more SPAM, among other things.

Office 15 Revealed
Want a glimpse into what the next, next version of Office will be like? Codenamed Office 15 and rumored to be released in 2013, this version of office will feature an updated interface. We don’t know whether to expect subtle or drastic (think Office 2007) changes.

IP Addresses of First Hurt Locker Victims Revealed
A list has been released of the first 700 IP addresses and associated Internet providers of BitTorrent users who were sharing a copy of Acadamy Award Winning “The Hurt Locker.” If you’re concerned that you might be on that list, check it out.

Google Integrates “Caffeine” for More Up-to-Date Results
Appropriately named “Caffeine,” Google’s new web indexing system promises to provide links to content much quicker than they ever have. The “latest” will be much easier to come across including images, content from blogs, news sources, and more.

Google Continues to Enhance Chrome Frame for IE
For those who just can’t break away from Internet Explorer but want to get a taste at what the Google Chrome rendering engine can offer, Chrome Frame is for you. It renders pages faster and is more standards compliant, but offers all this within the familiar looks of IE. It just went beta, check it out.

iTunes 9.2 on the Horizon
When Apple’s new iBooks gets released, you’ll need to get the new iTunes 9.2 if you want the PDF syncing support. iTunes 9.2 isn’t available quite yet, unless you are a developer (or you “search” around the web).

Office Now Available Through SkyDrive
With the anticipated upcoming launch of Office 2010 comes the announcement that Office Web Apps on SkyDrive are now available. This will allow users to upload Office Documents to their SkyDrive and edit them right then and there, within their browser.

Safari 5 Released with Extension Support
We can speak from first hand experience when we tell you that Safari 5, Apple’s latest update to their browser, is quite speedy. In addition to noticeable speed improvements, extensions are now available (this opens up a whole new world for developers) as well as additional support for HTML5.

iPhone 4 Overview
If you weren’t able to catch Steve Jobs’ keynote at WWDC, you missed out on the introduction (or re-introduction, should we say?) to Apple’s new iPhone 4. Aside from the changes in appearance are features like FaceTime, Apple’s version of video conferencing.

Preview the New Windows Live Essentials
Windows Live Essentials includes apps like Writer (a favorite of ours), Photo Gallery, and Movie Maker. They’ve got a new release in the works, and one of the biggest improvements with these applications is the Office 2007-like ribbon that has been added.

Add Background Images to Google’s Homepage
Microsoft did a great job with Bing.com and the interactive backgrounds that change daily. Similar to this is Google’s new feature that will allow users to add a background image to the Google homepage. It’s not interactive like Bing.com, but it adds a nice personal touch to the search page many of us visit numerous times throughout the day.

Grandfathering in Your Unlimited AT&T iPhone Data Plan
There’s been lots of buzz surrounding AT&T and the changes they’ve made to their data plans. This is largely due to a new tiered pricing plan. The good news is that iPad owners who already have active unlimited plans will be allowed to keep those plans going forward. This also goes for existing iPhone owners.

–Tips in Brief–

Speed Up Your System Boot with Soluto
This free Windows app helps you track down the things that are slowing down your boot-up, and tries to make recommendations that can shave a little time off the dreaded reboot/boot cycle.

Roc: A Web-Based Music Maker
From the creators of Aviary, an online image editor, comes a GarageBand-like music maker.

Extension Syncing Appears in Chrome Source Code
Download Squad noticed that an addition to the Google Chrome source code points to what will likely become the ability to sync your browser’s extensions.

Scan a Website for Malware/Spyware
Just enter an address into URLVoid, and it will check with Google, McAfee, Norton, and MyWOT to see if the site is safe.

Several Tools for Dual Monitor Users
With these apps you can do things like restrict the mouse to a certain monitor, quickly move windows from one screen to another, and more.

Embedded Google Maps in Gmail
A new Gmail Labs will show embedded Google Maps right there in your email whenever an address is detected.

Find Duplicate Photos
This free app can scan your photos looking for duplicates… even if they’ve been resized or compressed.

Smooth Tab Animation in Firefox
This nice little Firefox extension will give you smooth animations when creating a new tab or closing an existing one.

Screenpresso Takes Even Better Screenshots Now
The latest version of Screenpresso includes an option to “clean” your Aero glass screenshots by removing any background objects that would otherwise be seen through the transparency.

Better Cleanup Options for Your Recycle Bin
RecycleBinEx is an app that adds some advanced cleanup and management options to your Recycle Bin… such as removing files older than 2 months.