Hasta La Gadget!

When Microsoft takes the stage May 24th to preview the next release of Windows Phone, will there be any surprises left for the peanut gallery? In the last week we’ve seen numerous features announced or leaked, an awfully big coincidence given the timing of next week’s event. More cats were let out of their bags today at Microsoft’s annual TechEd conference keynote, as several enterprise-related capabilities were shown off that both companies and consumers have sorely missed on their phones.

First up are pinnable email folders, giving users the opportunity to pin a specific folder of higher priority — such as emails from your boss or wife — to your start screen. Toss in email threads complete with conversation view, and now Mango is looking even more drool-worthy. But there’s more, folks: Exchange users frustrated by online having access to recent correspondence can look forward to server search — a new function that’ll enable you to sift through your entire email collection if need be. Rounding out the grocery list of new updates is Lync support, complex alpha-numeric passcodes for higher security, Information Rights Management support, and — hallelujah — the ability to connect to hidden WiFi networks natively. About time, right? Take a peek at the full breakdown of the new features at the source link.

Update: Now with video, after the break!

Continue reading Microsoft outlines new enterprise features coming to Windows Phone ‘Mango’

Microsoft outlines new enterprise features coming to Windows Phone ‘Mango’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 14:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Are you quietly proud of the girth of your social circle? Do you think having 146 Facebook buddies is impressive? Snap out of it, saddo. Some Gmail users have thousands upon thousands of contacts in their list — so many, in fact, that they’ve been begging Google to increase its 10,000 limit. The Big G has now obliged these jabbering fiends, yanking the limit up to 25,000 and also boosting available cloud storage to 128KB per contact instead of 32KB. We imagine this could be of some help to business users perhaps, or those nice strangers who send out stock tips. But for the rest of us, the gesture is about as inconsequential as the professionally good-looking.

Gmail now stores up to 25,000 contacts for the insanely popular originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 May 2011 06:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cadbury aside, nothing says Easter quite like a good resurrection tale, and this story’s got it — starring a rabbit, no less. Owners of Nabaztag, the email-reading / weather-forecasting / and generally adorable WiFi-enable desktop buddy, have been reporting a massive die-off of their beloved ambient bunnies, a tragic end due to a recent server move. The rabbits’ manufacturer tells us that the network issues should be resolved by next week — something of a belated Easter celebration. The rebirth is also perfectly timed to welcome Nabataztag’s second coming as Karotz — those who pre-ordered should start seeing the glowing woodland creature in their mailboxes next week.

Karotz to start shipping, Nabaztag to return from dead for Easter originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Apr 2011 17:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re subscribed to any of TiVo‘s email-based communiqués, now would be a good time to make sure your spam filters are up to scratch. Epsilon, TiVo’s email service provider, has reported the discovery of a security breach that has compromised the privacy of some customers’ names and / or email addresses. A rigorous investigation has concluded that no other personal data was exposed, however it’s not just TiVo that’s affected — other big names, such as JPMorgan Chase, Citi, US Bank, Kroger, and Walgreens have also seen their users’ deets dished out to the unidentified intruder. As we say, no credit card numbers or any other truly sensitive data has escaped, so the only thing you really have to fear is fear itself… and an onslaught of spam.

Update: Best Buy and the US College Board have also joined the extremely broad list of affected organizations now, judging by the warning emails they’ve been sending off to our readers. Valued Best Buy customers should expect an email similar to the scawl posted after the break.

Update 2: You can also count Chase Bank customers among those also affected — not their bank accounts, mind, but their e-mail addresses.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Epsilon breach exposes TiVo, Best Buy email addresses, spambots stir into action

Epsilon breach exposes TiVo, Best Buy email addresses, spambots stir into action originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 Apr 2011 07:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on July 13, 2007 by CyberNet.

Microsoft sent out an email the other day that outlined some of the most requested Windows features according to real users. These responses were taken from the "Windows Early Feedback Program" that started back in November 2006 as a way for Microsoft to find out where their shortcomings are.

The email, which I have posted below, has just under 70 suggestions from the 1700+ submissions. You had to be invited to take the survey, and unfortunately I was never given that opportunity. Even though I wasn’t selected to give my feedback, I was still able to get my hands on the email that was sent out by someone who did take the survey. I don’t believe that the results were supposed to be posted like this, but that’s what they get for not including me in the program and making me agree to some sort confidentiality clause. Isn’t the Internet wonderful?

In the email below you will find a decently long list of features that the Windows Beta team has "recommended" to be incorporated or fixed in future versions of Windows. The bold text was done by me to indicate the features that I would personally like to see, and some are a little unrealistic (come on, like Microsoft would be able to incorporate antivirus protection without security-related companies raking them over the coals).

Without further ado I present the email…

Since November of 2006 we have received 782 New Feature Suggestions, 562 Change Feature Suggestions, and 384 Defect Reports from members of the Windows Early Feedback Program. During periodic reviews we look at those issues that have acquired the highest number of your votes. Although the total number of votes is the most important it isn’t the sole determinant of whether or not an issue is recommended for consideration. We also contemplate other factors such as business, technology inputs, and our ability to reproduce reported issues.

So far the Windows Beta team has recommended that the below issues be incorporated, or a fix made, into future versions of Windows operating systems.

This is not a complete list and it will be updated periodically as we receive more votes and suggestions. As always our recommendations do not assure that the listed issues will be addressed in the future versions of Windows. You can, however, rest assured that the Windows Beta team is doing its best to make sure your voices are being heard and acted upon. There is an excellent chance that you will see some of your suggestions addressed in the Beta1 of the next version of Windows!

Your feedback is extremely important to us so we encourage you to keep up the great work! We would also like to encourage you to review existing feedback generated by your fellow participants in the Windows Early Feedback program and vote on issues that are important to you. Lastly it has been wonderful to see so much activity in the microsoft.beta.windows.earlyfeedback.customer_discussion newsgroup. We look forward in continuing to share your vision, thoughts, and passion for the Windows operating system. See you there!

The Windows Beta Team

[FEATURES]
246472 Basic download manager for Internet Explorer
246644 Image (ISO, BIN) support in Windows
248426 Family license
246465 Multi-session Remote Desktop
246493 IE7 should include a session restore feature
247399 Allow other Windows PCs to act as Media Center Extenders
246638 Allow Reordering Taskbar (Application) Buttons
246650 Extended Windows Update to cover 3rd party application updates and 3rd party driver updates
246656 Virtual Desktop Feature
246703 No dialog should take keyboard focus away from what you are doing
249765 Freely Open-Up UXTheme.dll allowing users to apply their own Visual Styles to Windows
247679 Windows should allow deactivation on non OEM machines
244352 Record live tv when you rewind
247237 Built-in Codec Manager
246702 Multiple taskbars for mult-monitor
276001 Include Pinball into next version of Windows
247201 Need Tweak-UI power tool for next version of Windows
246494 Implement Vector GUI in the next version of Windows
247209 Patch operating system without having to reboot
246508 Add Folder Size to data displayed in Windows Explorer
247021 Live CD or DVD to boot from to recover from a crash or virus that would allow to transfer files
244119 Allow users to customize indexing more effectively
246502 Disallow removable (usb/firewire) drives to default to next available drive letter when the letter is already used by other network drives
246777 Windows Mail should be minimizable to the system tray
247215 User needs simple way to indentify and obtain driver for UNKNOWN devices displayed in device manager
263788 Windows Internet Explorer: Add "Undo close tab" option (as in Firefox)
246515 Windows Backup should have more file choice options and should allow user to back-up specific files he selects
247584 Command Prompt should be improved
246674 Integrated Anti-Virus
246575 Built-in spell checker for Internet Explorer
246534 More desktop themes should be offered in the default installation of the next version of Windows
246591 IE direct file download – do not download to temp folder
246706 Allow different background pictures per monitor
247380 Apply the Aero UX guidelines consistently throughout Windows
267872 Allow windows user to submit feedback on installations from Windows Update
270404 Internet Explorer MUST have inline find
247161 Add a feature to parental control letting you choose how much time children can connect, not only when.
270643 Updated, powerful Partition Manager built into Windows
246790 Low Disk Space Warning should have individual settings for each partition
247130 Create a new user type for Child with a protected desktop controlled by parent.
246752 Windows Media Extenders should be able to play DivX and Xvid files
246496 Add a message to the "Computer Locked" screen
244127 UAC Badge on all icons that will require UAC prompt
246844 Support Boot from EFI ( Extended Firmware Interface ) or UEFI
246920 Screen resolution saved in profile
247239 Replace error ID number with plain language explanation
248520 Add An Icon To Programs Running With Elevated Rights

[BUGS]
252302 Calculating time remaining takes forever before files are actually copied
247025 OS needs enforced Tabbed Browsing Settings in IE7 Vista
246570 Explorer unable to remember views for folders
251427 Calendar Crash on Startup and crash each time have to remember an appointment
246556 USB devices are not active when returning from S3 or S4 sleep
253896 DVD/CD drive tray should not open automatically
246959 Vista: Regedit: Open Folder and Close Folder have the same icon
277724 Address bar or search box becomes unfocussed during loading a page
246564 Windows Activation does not always work through proxy servers
246580 no way to stop windows defender form showing msconfig as an unwanted startup item
271026 Disk Cleanup can not delete shadow copies and restore points in x64 because of an incorrect shortcut in the Start Menu
245720 Setup changes Time when changeing TimeZone when eg living in The Netherlands
252381 Sidebar gadget creep on desktop
251119 Disk manager displays drive letters as "available" when already assigned to drives
252163 UAC requirement not shown on network connection context menu
246992 Change menu color doesn’t work; it only append a line of the choosed color to the end of the menu
246964 Wizards should not have fixed size backgrounds
276363 Update KB931768 breaks IE 32 and 64 on Vista 64
272357 high cpu useage with animated dreamscenes
245946 twice asked for kind of network environment to be used
246705 MCE: Rapid REW and FWD causes TV playback to loose frames
277089 USB drive with corrupted filesystem and ReadyBoost gives stop error 0×00000023 after inserting

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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