Apple Store app gets mini-makeover, too
Heading to an Apple store is an experience like no other, but for those times when you are just not able to make it to a physical store, there is an iOS app to tide you over. If you want to check out the latest iOS devices and Macs, the Apple Store app is on hand to enable you to browse through a range of Apple products so you can conduct a little research before making a purchase.
Apple's retail stores have just undergone something of a mini-makeover, and the same is true of the iPhone app -- oddly there is no native iPad version available. As well as the familiar features such as the Apple product catalog, the app can also be used to make online purchases and reservations. While the previous verison of the app allowed for standard products to be bought, the updated 1.3 edition allows for system customization, so if you want to add a little extra RAM to your next Mac, you can easily do so.
Like browser tabs? Now you can have them in Microsoft Office
If you're the kind of person who finds themselves moving backwards and forwards between multiple documents in Word, Excel or PowerPoint, you'll know how frustrating and fiddly it can be. Office opens each document in a separate window, which can prove bothersome if you're constantly copying and pasting from one document to another, or need to reference two or three while editing a fourth.
The logical approach is to allow users to open multiple documents in the same window using a series of tabs: it revolutionized the way we use our web browsers, and it's something already pioneered in the free Office alternative, Lotus Symphony. But if you don't want to switch office packages simply to access all your open documents from a single program window, check out Office Tab Free Edition instead.
California State University opts for $49 e-book over expensive biology textbook
Nature Publishing Group and California State University (CSU) on Tuesday announced a three-year partnership that will eliminate paper textbooks from certain classes, and replace them with interactive e-books instead.
College textbooks are some of the most expensive pieces of disposable literature around. A book that a student uses for approximately four and a half months can cost as much as $200, and every semester, students spend upwards of $1000 just on the textbooks for their classes.
Yahoo Mail puts final touches on the big makeover
Yahoo Mail is coming out of beta over the next couple of weeks, Yahoo announced today at the Witching Hour. I'm scratching my head asking "Why tell us today, if it's rolling out in weeks?" The whiles of public relations timing stymies me.
The new service, which started beta testing in October, will be available to 284 million users in 43 markets and 26 languages. "This is the largest redesign of Yahoo Mail in six years, and we rebuilt it with a focus on performance to make it at least 2x faster than previous versions," according to a post on the company's Yodel Anecdotal blog. "In addition, we upgraded our spam technology to ensure that you aren't receiving unwanted messages. Did you know that Yahoo! Mail already blocks more than 550 billion spam messages per month?"
With Mac OS X Lion coming this summer, is 2012 too late for Windows 8?
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has let the cat out of the bag -- again. Microsoft's biggest breacher of new product information calls the next big operating system "Windows 8" and reveals that it's coming "next year." Ballmer has done this kind of thing before, causing massive, collective PR staff heart failure and rapid response along the lines: "that's not what he meant." I wonder what the excuse for Ballmer's big mouth will be this time.
Ballmer made the missives rather oft-handely earlier today to Microsoft Developer Forum attendees in Tokyo. In context, he speaks about the present: "We're obviously hard at work on the next version of Windows. Windows 7 PCs will sell over 350 million units this year. We've done a lot in Windows 7 to improve customer satisfaction. We have a brand new user interface. We've added touch, and ink, and speech."
Foxconn: Weekend explosion at plant won't affect iPad shipments
An explosion that rocked the Foxconn factory over the weekend in Chengdu, China responsible for manufacturing the iPad would not cause supply disruptions, the company has said. The blast -- blamed on combustible dust that ignited in an air duct -- killed three and injured 15.
The incident is only the latest in a series of embarrassing issues for Apple when it comes to one of its primary manufacturing partners. Foxconn has had a well known suicide problem that has given it bad press for more than two years now, and allegations of poor working conditions as early as 2006, which Apple was forced to address.
Will Steven Sinofsky break the Windows 8 silence?
Just eight days before the D9 conference kicks off in Rancho Palo Verdes, Calif., Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft Windows & Windows Live president, has agreed to participate. Talk about booking gigs at the last minute. Speakers for a conference of this calibre typically book many months in advance. Could it be Sinofsky has something important to say about Windows 8?
Microsoft already is gearing up for the operating system's launch. Today, in remarks made during the Microsoft Developer Forum in Tokyo, CEO Steve Ballmer described the next version as "Windows 8." Ballmer told attendees: "As we look forward to the next generation of Windows systems, which will come out next year, there's a whole lot more coming. As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors."
Payments and the disappearing cash register: Your phone is your wallet
Betanews is taking an extended look at how mobile and wireless technology are affecting retail and the exchange of money between consumers and businesses. We'll be examining such trends as the shift to digital payment systems, near field communications (NFC), new concepts in retail cash registers, as well as Point of Sale software and retail data management and security. All of these factors will contribute to the eventual obsolescence of the old-fashioned cash till.
For more than six years, Visa has offered a contactless, NFC-based (near field communications) payment system in select North American markets. This Fall, as a part of its new Digital Wallet initiative, this contactless payment system will be available to customers across the United States.
Ballmer: 500 new 'features' in Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango"
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told attendees of the Japanese Microsoft Developers Forum Monday that the next version of Windows Phone -- codenamed "Mango" -- will contain approximately 500 new features. Ballmer was light on specifics, although rumors may provide some insight.
Mango is expected to include support for multitasking, as well as better integration with Microsoft's Office productivity suite. Internet Explorer 9 will also ship with the new OS, and e-mail will be enhanced with better search and a new thread view. People Hub is also expected to pick up Twitter support.
Could cable cutters give TiVo a second life?
Hulu Plus is now (finally) available for TiVo premiere, which puts me about 10 steps closer to pulling cable's plug and going over-the-air and digital downloads/streaming -- that is if fraking AT&T Internet doesn't cap my bandwidth first.
Hulu popped the announcement this morning for the second time since September. But it's no foolie this go around. Hulu Plus really is available for TiVo Premiere.
Kobo fights Kindle and Nook with new touchscreen e-reader
E-reader company Kobo on Monday revealed a new touchscreen e-reader that will continue the company's tradition of low-cost but widely distributed e-reading alternatives to Amazon's Kindle and Barnes and Noble's Nook.
The new Kobo eReader Touch Edition sports a 6" E Ink Pearl display endowed with Neonode zForce infrared touch technology. It runs on a Freescale i.MX508 processor and has 1GB of built-in storage with a microSD slot that supports cards up to 32GB in size.
Miro 4 bulks up from music to media management
The Participatory Culture Foundation has released version 4 of its popular cross-platform, open-source audio and video player. Miro 4 sees the application transform from a powerful video player into a more all-purpose media management tool.
Miro 4 beefs up its music management capabilities with a host of new features. It's now a capable music library, thanks to improved music organization and search tools and the introduction of new features like the ability to automatically import content from iTunes and improved options for creating playlists.
Got Android? Get Firefox 5 beta, but don't expect Flash
The final version of Firefox 4 hardly seems to be been available for all that long and hot on its heels is the beta version of Firefox 5. As well as being made available for desktop platform, Mozilla released Firefox 5 for Android beta. While there are not major new features to get excited about, there's still enough to make it worth checking out.
Performance is impressive in the beta, and it is clear that a good deal of work has gone into squeezing the best possible page load times out of any connection, be it 3G or WiFi. Mozilla is obviously also very keen to blur the boundaries between mobile and desktop web browsing, and the Android version of the browser does a great job of mimicking its big brother.
Microsoft EMET puts you in control of Windows security
DEP, SEHOP, ASLR -- Windows has plenty of interesting security technologies, each carefully designed to help protect you from common hacker and malware exploits. So it's a shame that most of them are so hard to find and use.
Windows has a Data Execution Prevention (DEP) interface, for instance, but it's not exactly easy to spot. And Structured Exception Handler Overwrite Protection (SEHOP) or Address Space Layout Randomisation (ASLR) are handy at protecting key data structures from attack, but they're normally only available if you know exactly where to look in the Registry.
Want better weather on Windows 7? Take Metro Home
While it's easy enough to check the time on your computer by looking at the clock in the system tray, and the weather by visiting any of a number of web sites, you may still want to check out Metro Home. This is a Windows desktop widget that displays the date time and weather in a stylish and customizable interface that fits the Windows Phone 7 look.
The widget comes from the same stables as HTC Home, a similar widget that apes the look of HTC's Android widget, but in this case the information is displayed in a form that will be familiar to Windows Phone 7 users as it closely mimics the Metro interface.
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