Hasta La Gadget!

Amazon’s Appstore hasn’t set the world on fire just yet — perhaps due to the fact that it was a US-only store since launch. That could soon change, with a number of Amazon customers reporting that the curated Android marketplace is now open for business across western Europe, also working in India and Australia. We’ve tested it for ourselves, and can confirm it’s functioning with our Amazon UK account, though its dedicated webpage is still based at Amazon.com. Register with the site, and you’ll be able to rush the free daily app downloads, which has previously offered the likes of Angry Birds Rio and SwitftKey — worth a regular visit, regardless of what time zone you’re in.

[Thanks Nate]

Update: Looks like we jumped the gun, as the Appstore is now no longer functioning for our friends across the pond. (Thanks, Felix)

Amazon Appstore goes global: available now in Europe, Australia and India (update: not so fast) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Sep 2011 21:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Digital Reader, Androidos.in, Ereaders.nl  |  Amazon  | Email this | Comments

This article was written on May 17, 2007 by CyberNet.

Microsoft is closing the doors on all 32–bit versions of Windows after Server 2008 ships later this year. This announcement came during the second day of WinHEC as Microsoft posted an updated version of their Windows Server shipment schedule:

Image via Todd Bishop

This move to 64–bit operating systems will definitely be for the better, even thought the transition probably won’t be pretty. I can already picture it now when home users go out to purchase the next version of Windows only to find out that their computers aren’t capable of running it. The result could be quite a nightmare, and probably similar to the experiences of switching from 16–bit (ex. Windows 3.11) to 32–bit (ex. Windows 95).

64–bit computing definitely has its benefits, but the transition will take some time and cause a lot of headaches. The hardest thing for most people when switching to 64–bit Windows are finding compatible drivers for their hardware. Software applications can typically be started in a “compatibility mode” that gives 32–bit applications the ability to run in 64–bit Windows, but the same thing cannot be done for drivers. This means that the operating system either has to include all of the drivers you need, or the device manufacturer needs to produce the necessary drivers. Up to now there has really been no motivation for these device manufacturers to develop the drivers, but now that they know what the future has in store for them they might start shifting their priorities.

Also at WinHEC, WinFuture.de managed to snap an image of Vista Service Pack 1 running on one of the PC’s:

Mary Jo Foley was starting to think that Microsoft might not even ship a service pack for Vista after all the talk about how great the Windows Updates were. This sighting at least shows that they are thinking about creating a Service Pack 1 even though a list of enhancements and a release date is still not available.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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This article was written on March 19, 2007 by CyberNet.

Microsoft Word 2007 Tips: Part 2

Last week we started our mini series covering Microsoft Word 2007, and began with a few tips and tricks for minimizing the ribbon, using quick access buttons and more.  This week we’ll be covering mail merges and how to use them. Mail merges tend to be one of the most helpful features included with Microsoft Word, yet many people don’t use them because they don’t know how.  It sounds intimidating, yet it’s so easy to use.

The purpose of a Mail Merge is to help speed up the process of creating a document that would be sent to multiple people, but yet it’s customized with names, perhaps even addresses, and/or other details.

The first thing you’ll do is start by opening up a new document in Microsoft Word.  In Word 2007, there’s a tab just for mailings. 

1. Start by clicking the “Mailings Tab.” Here you’ll find everything you need to complete your mail merge.
   
2. Click “start mail merge”
3. Select the type of document that you want to create – you can choose to do a form letter, envelopes, address labels (with different address on each label), etc.
   
4. Select the recipients (there are a few options here):  You could use an existing list (like a spreadsheet in Excel that has separate columns for names, addresses, and phone numbers), pull in Outlook Contacts, or create a new list right in Word (pictured below).
   
5. Insert Merge Field – this means that you will insert each of the different fields that you want included.  For example, the fields that I chose to insert into my form letter included the typical address fields like first and last name, address, city, etc. The first image shows the list of fields to insert, and the second image below shows what my document looked like with the merge fields inserted.
    
6. Next you can preview the results to make sure that everything looks the way you want it to. The image below shows what each document would look like after the information from the recipient list was placed into the document.
   
7. Once everything looks just the way you want it to, you’ll click “Finish & Merge.” You’ll have a few options there. The first will be to edit the individual documents.  If you choose this, it will create a separate page for each entry in your recipient list. You’ll be able to make any edits if necessary. The next option would be to print the documents, and the final option would allow you to send each of the pages as an email message.
   

Mail merges are one of the most useful, time-saving features included with Microsoft Word, yet people don’t use it .  If you’re sending out invitations to a party, a wedding, or batch mailings of any kind, this would be a HUGE timer saver. They even offer a Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard under the “start mail merge” feature that will guide you through the entire process every step of the way.

Stay tuned to next week with Part 3 of our mini series to help you make the most out of Microsoft Word 2007!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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This article was written on November 15, 2006 by CyberNet.

Tracking Down Great Software For You!

Turning off or restarting your computer will no longer be a pain when you can’t get to your PC. Thanks to a freeware program called Shutter you’ll be able to remotely shutdown a computer or even schedule the computer to turn off after it meets certain criteria.

The image above shows the different options that Shutter has for each drop-down menu. Yes, there are many different things that you can choose from but here is a nice listing of the options:

• Events you can choose from:
  • Countdown
  • On Time
  • Winamp Stops
  • Low CPU Usage
  • User Inactive
  • Battery Low
  • Window Closes
  • Process Stops
  • Ping Stops
  • File Size Limit
• Actions you can choose from:
  • Shutdown
  • Reboot
  • LogOff
  • Lock Workstation
  • Sleep
  • Hibernate
  • Monitor Turn Off
  • Mute/UnMute Master Volume
  • Hang Up
  • Alarm
• It is able to play a custom sound and/or run a program of your choice in addition to the simple shutdown message.
• Optionally, Shell Links can be created to immediately execute any of the supported actions from the desktop.
• Web Interface – allows Remote Execution of any Action, it also displays some run-time information about the computer:
  • Logged In User
  • Up Time
  • List of Processes
  • Screenshot of a Desktop
  • Command Line Execution

How is that for an exhaustive list of features? In case you were wondering the Web interface looks like the screenshot to the right.

I mean really, what more would you want this program to do? I’m normally not too picky about freeware applications but this one goes far beyond what I would have expected it to do.

You can view more screenshots of Shutter or download the full program. On the site you’ll find an installation download so that it will run through the typical setup in Windows or you can just download the ZIP file if you don’t want to install anything. That way you can also throw it on a USB drive and use it on whatever computer you want in a matter of seconds!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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This article was written on May 29, 2008 by CyberNet.

For Mac users, Apple has released the update, Mac OS X 10.5.3. You’ve probably already seen the update available for download in the Software Update, but you may not be aware of what this new update does. One of the biggest things, of course, is that it includes some general operating system fixes which you can read all about here. There’s a pretty long list of minor changes that were made all across the operating system. A new feature though, is the option to sync your Google Contacts with the Address Book Application (our review here).

The Official Google Mac Blog points out this feature and explains how you do it. They recommend that before you get started, you back-up your Google Contacts as well as your Address Book. Once you’ve got that done, just open up Address Book, then Preferences, and then you’ll see the option to “Synchronize with Google” (right below Synchronize with Yahoo).

If you just followed those steps and you don’t see the option, it’s probably because you have never hooked up an iPhone or iPod Touch to your computer. See, Apple made a small mistake here and the only way the option will appear is if you’ve hooked up the previously mentioned devices. Of course not everybody that has a Mac owns an iPhone or iPod Touch, and so what are they to do? Thankfully there’s already a solution which Lifehacker writes about here. It sounds simple enough and should only take a few minutes.

Both Ryan and I installed this update without any issues (it’s a big one, 420 MB) but not everybody was so fortunate. Blogger jkOnTheRun wrote a post saying that the update crashed his MacBook Pro. He says, “It downloaded and installed fine, indicated it was “patching files,” and then never would boot up again.” The problem he had is the only problem I’ve seen mentioned around the Blogosphere regarding this update, so I’m sure you should be able to update without a hitch too. As a precaution though, be sure to back-up your files as Apple recommends you do anyways.

Thanks to Omar and Nimrodguy for the tips!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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