Sep 21

Existing Windows Phones to get Mango update within the next two weeks

Posted in: firmware, firmware update, FirmwareUpdate, mango, Microsoft, mobilepostmini, refresh, Software, software update, SoftwareUpdate, Today's Chili, update, Windows, windows phone, WindowsPhone, Wp7
We’ve already witnessed the launch of a Windows Phone with Mango and seen several others announced, so when’s the update rolling out to devices still operating on NoDo? According to Microsoft’s official Windows Phone Blog, we need only wait another week or two before the update begins rolling out. The Windows Team indicates it won’t be pushed to your phone OTA when the time comes, so you’ll want to ensure you have the right software (Zune for PC, Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac) installed on your computer before this all goes down. Now, a word of caution: we’d be completely taken by surprise if every phone received the update on the same day — after all, the NoDo rollout spanned several weeks before it was delivered everywhere — so it’s best if you exercise a degree of patience if your particular handset isn’t ready the very first day, just in case.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Existing Windows Phones to get Mango update within the next two weeks originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Sep 2011 13:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 21

Adobe’s launching Flash Player 11, Air 3 bringing HD video and 3D gaming to all

Posted in: adobe, Android, Apple, GoogleTv, hdpostcross, ios, ipad, Linux, mobile, mobilepostcross, os x, OsX, playbook, Today's Chili, video, Windows

While we’ve had access to Adobe’s Flash Player 11 in beta form for months, the company announced it will finally get official, along with Air 3, next month. Among the many new features included are support for accelerated 2D and 3D graphics with a claimed 1,000 times faster performance than Flash Player 10 and Air 2. That’s enough to enable “console-quality” gaming on both computers and connected TVs and on mobile devices (Android, iOS, Playbook) with a pre-release version of Flash 11 (a production release you can take on the go is expected in “the near future”). Other new options include allowing developers to package Air 3 along with their apps in a single install, HD video quality on multiple platforms including iOS, DRM for video rentals, 64-bit support and more. Check out Adobe’s pitch to developers with a press release and demo videos after the break, including a look at the hit iPad game Machinarium which was built with its tools.

Continue reading Adobe’s launching Flash Player 11, Air 3 bringing HD video and 3D gaming to all

Adobe’s launching Flash Player 11, Air 3 bringing HD video and 3D gaming to all originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Sep 2011 07:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 20

Microsoft to offer discounted hardware, software to students from low-income families

Posted in: education, Microsoft, money, PC, price, Software, Today's Chili, Windows

You don’t need a PhD in economics to realize that times are pretty tough right now — especially for those at the lower end of the income ladder. Fortunately, though, Microsoft has announced a new initiative aimed at providing one million students from low-income families with discounted hardware, software and broadband service. This three-year digital inclusion program is an extension of Redmond’s Shape the Future campaign, which, over the course of five years, has already put computers in the hands of more than 10 million underprivileged children around the globe. Under this public-private partnership, Microsoft will work with a variety of nonprofit, corporate and governmental organizations to provide low-cost PCs, educational software, job skills training and high-speed internet to those who need it most. The ultimate goal, of course, is to bridge the achievement gap dividing students with at-home internet from their less digitally-equipped peers. According to the Federal Reserve, children who don’t have online access at home graduate high school at a rate that’s six to eight percentage points lower than those who do. Inflating national poverty rates and widening income gaps probably won’t do much to remedy that discrepancy, but we’re certainly hoping that Microsoft can make a difference. Find out more in the full PR after the break, or at the source link below.

Continue reading Microsoft to offer discounted hardware, software to students from low-income families

Microsoft to offer discounted hardware, software to students from low-income families originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 20

IOGraph: Turn Mouse Movement into Artwork

Posted in: Freeware, Linux, Mac, Software, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on June 09, 2010 by CyberNet.

iograph.png

arrow Windows Windows; Mac Mac; Linux Linux arrow
I’m not a huge fan of Java-based apps, but IOGraph is actually kinda cool. There isn’t any real purpose to the app… it is really just for your own amusement.

Once you fire up IOGraph all you have to do is hit the play button to have it start recording your mouse movements. As your mouse strolls across the screen the path will be saved as lines, and anytime your mouse comes to a rest it will create a black circle. The longer you leave your mouse sit in the same spot, such as when you’re typing, the larger the black circle will be.

After you’re all done you can choose to overlay the pattern on to a screenshot of your desktop… which could be ery interesting if you remain within the same app during the entire duration of the recording. You can then save your output, with or without the background, as a PNG image.

IOGraph Homepage (Windows/Mac/Linux; Freeware)
[via ShellCity]

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Sep 20

iTwin’s filesharing USB gets official OS X compatibility, still plays nice with Windows too

Posted in: mac os x, MacOsX, minipost, os x, OsX, Today's Chili, usb, usb drive, UsbDrive, video, Windows
Sure, iTwin’s USB filesharing drive has had Mac OS X (Lion and Snow Leopard) support in beta for some time now, but things just got official. If you’ll recall, the iTwin’s a double-sided splittable USB plug that allows you to play James Bond and remotely access files over the web under AES encryption of the 256-bit variety. Whether you’re moving files between two Windows rigs, OS X devices or Mac to PC while globe-trotting, the iTwin promises to easily let you get your secure share on. As it stands, the iTwin remains priced at $99, and if you need a refresher on how it works, check out the video and PR just past the break.

Continue reading iTwin’s filesharing USB gets official OS X compatibility, still plays nice with Windows too

iTwin’s filesharing USB gets official OS X compatibility, still plays nice with Windows too originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Sep 2011 07:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 19

Vuzix Wrap 1200VR video eyewear does 3D with head-tracking for $600, now available

Posted in: 720p, ps3, Today's Chili, Windows, xbox 360, Xbox360
If you scored yourself Vuzix’s Wrap 1200 side-by-side 3D video eyewear last month, you may want to know the company’s VR variant is now available for $600 (about 100 bones more). With the Wrap 1200VR, you’ll again be viewing a simulated 75-inch, 3D (or 2D, if you’d prefer) 16:9 display at ten feet away. The shades feature a single 852 x 480 monitor per eye and support input resolutions of up to 1280 x 720. The VR bit comes from the included Wrap Tracker 6TC with compass, which enables head-tracking with three degrees of freedom. Better yet, its coupled drift control should maintain silky smooth visuals when you’re tilting your noggin’ to scope out the on-screen action. Out of box, these specs are said to play nice with most Windows machine’s graphics cards and VGA connections, but adapters are required to rock them with your PS3 or Xbox 360. If your eyes are already tearing up with joy, you’ll find full details in the PR just past the break.

Update: We initially reported the that the Vuzix Wrap 1200VR outputs video in simulated 720p, when it actually supports input resolutions up to 1280 x 720 — both WVGA monitors have a resolution of 852 x 480. We’ve updated this post accordingly.

Continue reading Vuzix Wrap 1200VR video eyewear does 3D with head-tracking for $600, now available

Vuzix Wrap 1200VR video eyewear does 3D with head-tracking for $600, now available originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 19

Logitech Wireless Touchpad for Windows

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, logitech, multitouch, Today's Chili, Windows

Logitech’s fugly trackpad is the perfect match for your Windows PC

The target market for Logitech’s Windows-only Wireless Touchpad is a strange one. It consists of people who are sufficiently Apple-aware to want a wireless multitouch trackpad, who have $50 lying around to buy one, and yet — inexplicably — haven’t actually bought a Mac.

Despite this odd start, Logitech seems to have got everything else right: The styling is sufficiently ugly and cheap-looking to match any PC, the battery life is a very respectable four months (on 2 AA cells) and it can be used with one, two, three or four fingers simultaneously. It also has a couple of buttons at the bottom, like a traditional laptop trackpad (in contrast to Apple’s whole-pad clicks) and it uses Logitech’s excellent 2.4GHz receiver.

These receivers are great. They’re tiny, and they make all your Logitech input devices appear as USB mice/pads/keyboards to the computer. They’re also way more reliable (and responsive) than Bluetooth peripherals.

If you can stomach putting this ugly chunk of plastic on your desk, you can have one right now, for the aforementioned $50.

Wireless Touchpad product page [Logitech]

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Sep 18

Switched On: The great slate debate of Windows 8

Posted in: column, Microsoft, slate, switched on, SwitchedOn, tablet, Today's Chili, Windows, windows 7, windows 8, Windows7, Windows8

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Just as Windows Phone 7’s “touch-only” interface threw away the past to create a streamlined, more approachable experience, Microsoft is creating a “touch-first” experience for Windows 8 that has more in common with its new phone software than previous versions of Windows. This “Metro-style” UI will be able to run on virtually any modern PC, with screens from 10- to 30-inches and above. The touch interface will be only occasionally relevant on desktops, though, more so on laptops. Where it’s obviously meant to shine is on pure slates — will consumers really flock to Windows 8 for such slates, though?

Continue reading Switched On: The great slate debate of Windows 8

Switched On: The great slate debate of Windows 8 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Sep 2011 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 18

Say Goodbye to 32-bit Windows; Vista SP1 Sighting

Posted in: Apple, Microsoft, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili, Windows, Windows Vista

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:

Server 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:

Vista SP1

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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Sep 17

Using Google Calendar Sync Without Your Default Calendar

Posted in: Freeware, Software, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on July 29, 2009 by CyberNet.

google calendar sync-1.jpgAt work I use Outlook to manage my email and calendar, but I was looking for a way to sync my calendar with Google. It wasn’t that long ago that Google decided to release an Outlook syncing tool so that you’re able to do exactly what I wanted. Well, almost what I wanted.

The only problem I was having was that it wanted to sync with the default calendar on my account. I use the default calendar for personal stuff, and I didn’t really want the two intermingled. Similarly I wanted to leave my personal calendar as the default since that is what I add the most events to.

So how could I get around this problem? I was casually talking with a friend and I brought up how unbelievable it is that Google wouldn’t give you the option to pick which calendar you want to sync with. This kind of thing seems like a no-brainer to me, but it’s ultimately their product and they’re the ones calling the shots. He ran into the same issue, and his workaround was rather clever.

What he does is use two Google accounts: one is his primary account and the other is a secondary account dedicated solely for work events and appointments. He syncs Outlook with the secondary account, and then shares that calendar (both read and write access) with his primary account. Pretty clever. Here’s a breakdown for those of you that like pretty numbered lists:

  1. Create an extra Google Calendar account, or you can just reuse one of the many you probably have already.
  2. Share the default calendar from the secondary account (a.k.a. the work account) with your primary account. This can be done in the Google Calendar settings, and you’ll want to be sure to give the user both read and write access to the calendar.
  3. Download the Google Sync tool, and get it installed on your machine. Configure it to use the secondary account that you just created.

That’s all there is to it. Once you’ve completed those steps you will be proudly syncing your Outlook Calendar to the non-default Google Calendar located on your primary account. It might sound like more work than it’s worth, but I guess it all depends how badly you want this kind of setup. Really though, it only takes a few minutes to get it going.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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