Software Blog

Verizon Tips Its 4G Handset Hand

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:50:46 +0000

Verizon will have the first handset running on its Long-Term Evolution 4G network by the middle of next year — about six months ahead of schedule — according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The development of LTE means faster cellular data transfers than the 3G networks now in widespread use by U.S. carriers, though exactly when LTE will become common has long been a source of uncertainty. “Reports have had LTE available by 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and nobody was quite sure when,” Chris Nicoll, a research fellow at the Yankee Group, told TechNewsWorld.

PlayStation’s Got the Moves, but Who’s Got Game?

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:12:16 +0000

Sony demonstrated its Move motion controller for the PlayStation 3 console at the 2010 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, following up on its first demo at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles last June. Together with the Move, Sony will release the Move sub-controller, a one-handed controller that’s similar to the Nintendo Wii “nunchuck” and is an optional accessory for some games. Sony said the Move and its sub-controller will be launched worldwide this fall. It says 35 game publishers and developers have signed up to support the Move.

Vlingo Faces Off With the Dragon: A Speech-to-Text Smackdown

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0000

When Apple enabled in-app purchases for iPhone applications, it seemed as though the days of “free” and “paid” versions of any given app were coming to an end. Soon, I thought, everything in the store would start out free as a teaser and then charge for an upgrade. That hasn’t exactly panned out universally, but Vlingo’s new voice application does charge in the way I thought all apps would charge by now. You can download it for free, but getting to the premium features costs $10. Vlingo is a speech-to-text app that can use that text in any of six general ways.

Ubuntu Dumps the Brown

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Color is not typically a topic of much discussion on the Linux blogs, but in recent weeks, it’s been drawing a lot of attention. Why, you ask? Simple: Ubuntu recently announced a major change to its longstanding “Human” earthtone-palette theme and branding. “I don’t know whether to call it ‘poo brown’ or ‘dirt brown,’ but either way it is seriously awful,” said Slashdot blogger hairyfeet. The new theme is meant to focus on the concept of “Light,” and it uses primarily hues in the dark purple and orange ranges.

Corel’s X3 Photo Editor Paints a Pretty Picture

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0000

In the Windows world, photographers looking for an alternative to Adobe Photoshop that will save them cash without skimping on power typically have turned to Corel’s PaintShop Photo Pro. The program has consistently kept pace with the evolving needs of shutterbugs over the years and the latest “X3″ version of the software continues that tradition. Among the new features in X3 are a number of improvements to enhance a photographer’s workflow. Workflow is important to shooters because once an image is captured, they are going to want to find it again eventually.

EFF Knocks Apple for Dumping on Devs

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:17:12 +0000

The first rule of Apple’s App Club is: You do not talk about App Club. Any developer who writes an app for the App Store is forbidden from making any public statements about the iPhone Developer Program Licensing Agreement. Second rule of App Club is: Said developers also can’t sell their apps to other app stores, even if that app is eventually rejected by Apple. Third rule of App Club: You can’t reverse engineer anything having to do with the App Store software development kit or the iPhone OS.

Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday Party Gets Troublesome Surprise

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:01:56 +0000

This month’s Patch Tuesday arrived with a rather unwelcome security surprise. Microsoft had expected things to be somewhat sedate; however, instead of two vulnerabilities that it expected needed patching, it got hit with four, including a new zero-day Internet Explorer exploit. Further, Microsoft has had to update its Malicious Software Removal Tool to include Win32/Helpud, a Trojan that’s been around since 2008. In addition, it’s keeping an eye on a VBScript vulnerability that could allow remote code execution.

Google Maps Out Happy Trails for Bicycle Riders

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:46:06 +0000

In a move sure to make the grade with cyclists across the United States, Google on Wednesday added bicycle routes to its Google Maps service. Biking directions and extensive bike trail data are now available for the United States through Google Maps, giving cyclists nationwide a way to customize their trips, figure out the most efficient routes, make use of bike lanes and avoid big hills. More than 12,000 miles of trails are now included in biking directions and outlined directly on maps through the service thanks to a partnership with the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.

Atol Delivers Flawless File Management With No Frills

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Some system utilities do a variety of things well. They come with tools to give users lots of solutions in one package. Other system apps like the Atol File Manager perform a dedicated function flawlessly without adding other specialties. Atol took a while to grow on me, but now this app is one of my most-used Linux tools. When it comes to file manager applications, that comparison spells out the philosophical design differences of the Atol Twin Panel file manager and the Krusader file manager, also a twin panel app, which I recently reviewed.

Perceived Security vs. Real Vulnerability: Is Your Data at Risk?

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0000

With global organizations depending on the sharing of sensitive information to support everything from financial transactions to patient care records, many believe they are relying on secure methods to exchange data with trusted partners. However, there is often a significant and alarming gap between perceived security and real vulnerability. To handle transmission of valuable company data, typical methods that are considered secure include FTP technology, “secure email,” regular email, courier services and the postal service.

New Cisco Router Boasts Breakneck Speeds

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:19:26 +0000

Cisco Systems announced on Tuesday the CRS-3 Carrier Routing System, a new Internet networking architecture that is designed with the huge growth of video transmission, mobile devices and new online services in mind. The Cisco CRS-3 provides more than 12 times the traffic capacity of the nearest competing system, according to John Chamber, chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems. The new routing system is designed to accelerate the delivery of new services, new revenue opportunities for service providers, and new ways to collaborate in the workplace, according to the company.

HP Flashes a Few Slate Details

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:12:57 +0000

Sometime later this year, HP will release its Slate tablet PC device. What we know now is that it will run Windows 7 as well as Adobe Flash and Air, according to information revealed by an HP executive. However, it appears that the company is attempting to be quite selective about how and when it doles out further details on the device. The Slate’s ability to work with two significant Adobe technologies widely used on desktops and laptops is demonstrated in a new video posted by Phil McKinney, HP’s chief technology officer, on his blog.

Valve Opens Pipeline for Mac Gaming

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:09:58 +0000

Valve one of the largest distributors of online games, has announced that it will make its Steam online gaming service and proprietary gaming engine, Source, available on the Mac. The service, Steamworks for the Mac, comes equipped with Steam Play, a feature that allows play on either a PC or Mac at no additional charge. It also supports Steamworks APIs. The inclusion of WebKit into Steam and of OpenGL into Source gives the company a lot of flexibility, according to John Cook, director of Steam Development.

The iPad’s Cruel Teaser

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Apple debuted its first TV ads for the iPad during the Academy Awards television broadcast on Sunday, doing what Apple does best: showing us dozens of things we can do with an iPad in just a few seconds, all to the tune of some hip music we’ve never really listened to before. Yet these ads are like walking into a restaurant where the menu doesn’t arrive — we’re hungry and salivating, but in this case, the key that holds the fine-print details won’t arrive until April 3. In just 30 seconds, Apple showed off all the core features of an iPad.

New Project Puts Open Source Spin on Data Center Design

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0000

A new industry group hopes to improve the design and construction of data centers through the application of open source principles. Dubbed the “Open Source Data Center Initiative,” the group was formed last week by GreenM3 along with the University of Missouri and ARG Investments. The University is providing administrative support, while ARG hopes to implement some of the resulting ideas at its Ewing Industry Park location. Nokia’s Michael Manos, vice president of service operations, is serving as an adviser.

Two Can Play at the Wired War Game

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0000

As the United States military increases the use of robots like unmanned drones in battle, it increases the danger that our enemies will take and adapt the technology to use against us, according to Peter Warren Singer, senior fellow and director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution. “Just like what happened in software, warfare is going open source,” he told an audience last week at RSA 2010 in San Francisco. This means terrorists and other enemies of the U.S. can not only get their hands on top-of-the-line technology, but they can also get it cheaply.

Energizer Jolts PCs With Malware

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:48:50 +0000

If you’re using Energizer’s Duo USB battery charger software to monitor your battery charging status, it’s probably a good idea to shut it down and uninstall it pronto. The software designed to work with the Duo contains a backdoor Trojan that lets unauthorized users access a PC remotely, among other things. The Duo was introduced in 2007; it charges nickel metal hydride batteries from both wall outlets and USB ports. The product also encourages users to download companion software that allows them to monitor the charging status of the batteries when the Duo is plugged into their PCs.

Security and Privacy? Forget About It

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:32:20 +0000

As the Obama administration grapples with the thorny issue of beefing up the United States’ cybersecurity infrastructure, and as security experts warn of impending cyberwarfare, a debate is raging over how much surveillance is enough. One of the biggest problems about implementing cybersecurity is that it involves a measure of surveillance, and the line between surveillance and snooping is razor thin. Thin enough, in fact, that Einstein 3 has aroused privacy concerns because it can examine the content of email.

Aperture’s Makeover Delights Photogs

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0000

The new features in Apple’s makeover of its image editing and archiving program Aperture appear to be a hit among photographers, even though the initial release of the application was so flawed an upgrade had to be released within two weeks of its launch. Aperture 3.0 ($199) has more than two hundred new features, including geotagging; face recognition; spot application of editing effects; powerful presets for manipulating an image’s exposure, white balance, highlights and color; and a robust slideshow function.

Microsoft and the Incredible ‘Internet Usage Tax’

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0000

It’s not often that Linux Girl is struck speechless by some tidbit of news in the tech world, but every once in a while it happens. Last week, it happened. Amid all the high-level discussion of Internet security at the RSA Conference 2010 in San Francisco, Microsoft’s Scott Charney — who holds the ironic title of “corporate vice president for trustworthy computing” — actually suggested a government tax to help the company improve Windows security.

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