January 2009
Internet provider Comcast is performing Wi-Fi hot spot trials near NJ Transit rail stations in the state to grant subscribers access to the Internet on their mobile devices, according to a Friday DSLReports post. The service in these Wi-Fi Hot Zones requires subscribers to sign in using their existing Comcast.net usernames and passwords. The company has confirmed the trials, saying it is gauging...
iSkin has released the solo FX, the newest design in the companyís line of iPhone 3G protector cases. Modeled after the basic solo cases, the FX series adds designer patterns to a high-gloss finish, along with a new mirror film used for screen protection. The film protects against scrapes or scratches, and offers a reflective feature that turns the screen of an iPhone into a mirror when the phone...
A number of customers attempting to upgrade existing iTunes albums to the new DRM-free Plus format have reportedly run into problems, according to Macworld. Some people were charged the full price for an album, instead of the discounted price which is typically only 30 percent of the retail cost. A customer’s notification to Apple received a response that acknowledged the problem and claimed...
Take A Note ($5) is a note taking application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that supports voice, drawing and photo memos in addition to the text notes. The application can also users to connect to the iPhone as a shared network drive allowing them to browse notes, sound and image files, and copy these files to the computer. Users can also copy whole folders with text, sound or image files to...
A v2.3.2 update is now available for Checkout, Werck’s Mac-only point-of-sale software. The app handles a variety of cashier tasks, such as sales, receipts and invoices. The software can also be used to manage inventory stocks however, and generate reports on several forms of connected information….
GPS maker Garmin has recently introduced the FR60 fitness watch that can connect wirelessly to compatible ANT+ fitness sensors such as heart rate monitors and foot pods. Meant for hardcore fitness aficionados, the FR60 is also compatible with select fitness equipment at gyms or homes and allows users to upload data to their PCs or Macs to keep detailed track of their workouts and fitness...
The focus of a Securities and Exchange Commission probe into the health of Steve Jobs is likely to concentrate on his sudden leave of absence, a source tells Bloomberg. The departure of the Apple CEO is viewed as sudden, having come just nine days after he admitted to a “hormonal imbalance” with simple if prolonged treatment. SEC efforts are being directed from a San Francisco office,...
Macgamestore.com has announced that Flyboys Squadron is now available for digital download. The game replicates World War I fighter-plane action, following a group of history’s first fighter pilots. All 12 single-player missions are based on the movie, while each of the 10 airplanes is modeled after the actual aircraft used in the war. Special dynamic missions are also available online, with...
Virtual Programming has released A Vampire Story, a new adventure game for the Mac. A Vampire Story follows a young opera singer named Mona De Lafitte that’s been captured by a vampire named Baron Shrowdy von Kiefer. Turned into a vampire herself and kept locked in Shrowdy’s castle in Draxsylvania, players take control of Mona on a night where her Vampire keeper has not returned, so...
Apple is reducing shipments of iMacs in what’s likely a move to clear inventory ahead of an update, alleged sources tell AppleInsider. The contacts claim that Apple has notified third parties that the bulk of the line will see “limited availability” in the next few weeks and that the 3.06GHz model is likely to be entirely unavailable, both characteristic signs Apple has given in...
Digital Film Tools has launched Light for the iPhone and iPod touch. The app attempts to add realistic light or shadowing effects to pictures, using digital versions of the pattern library created by Gamproducts. Patterns can be applied to a whole picture or a designated area, and are divided into five different categories: breakups, foliage, lights, sky and windows….
Only about a tenth of computer buyers would consider using netbooks as their main systems, ABI Research says in a new study. About 11 percent of Americans asked about the devices say they would use one of the small but low-cost portables as their only or primary computer while majority at 79 percent only consider a netbook a companion device to either a main desktop or regular notebook. The...
The Apple iPhone and RIM BlackBerry Curve have taken the place of cheaper devices as the most popular mediums for downloading cellphone games, according to a new comScore study. The iPhone in particular is said to have accounted for 14 percent of all game downloads in November, helping to displace Motorola’s RAZR — and other low- to mid-range devices — as a primary platform. Some...
T-Mobile USA in a new interview has revealed that it will expand its Android phone line to include more than just the G1. Senior engineering VP Neville Ray tells FierceWireless that there will be “more G series phones” in the year and thus backs HTC’s claims of a second model in April and potentially the known plans for a third phone as well….
DEVONtechnologies has released the second public beta of DEVONthink 2.0 and DEVONnote 2.0. DEVONthink now allows PDF and text files to be split and merged, while PDF pages can be copied and pasted between documents. For both programs, the use of multi-threading is claimed to make RSS updates work much faster, and new options allow customization of how feeds are handled. Documents can be e-mailed...
Stone Design has posted updates for its two dedicated Twitter clients for the iPhone and iPod touch, Twittelator Lite and Twittelator Pro. Both attempt to simplify tweeting from an Apple handheld, which might otherwise require awkward browsing. The Pro software includes features such as subgroups, multiple accounts and extra themes….
Dell’s increasingly rumored first smartphone may hinge on borrowing the philosophy behind its computers if a new, alleged leak to Alley Insider late Thursday proves accurate. The tip alludes to the device tentatively being called the MePhone in a clear attempt to play on the iPhone name and would appropriately center on customization, though whether this would simply include shell colors and...
A text description found in a JavaScript file for Google Pack has confirmed work on a multi-platform online storage service. At least tentatively referred to as GDrive, the service will be Google’s first alternative to services like Microsoft’s SkyDrive and is characterized as a general purpose, multi-platform service that would let users access any kind of file, including from...
Several reports have pointed to problems with iTunes crashing after installing the v2.2.1 firmware update on the iPhone. After running the update, a number of users have claimed that iPhones will no longer sync with iTunes. In some cases iPhones may sync for a short period of time, but eventually crash when attempting to delete songs….
Apps in my Pocket has released PocketPhonics, an iPhone and iPod touch application designed to help children aged three to seven with their spelling and pronunciation. The program includes the alphabet and over 50 letter sounds, used to teach writing and pronouncing each letter individually. The app also teaches kids how to blend specific letter sounds together, in order to sound words out. In...
Fujitsu has revealed that it plans to push Google’s Android platform deep into home electronics with a new initiative known as Services Built for Android. The program will see the Japanese company offer its consulting, engineering and other expertise to help run the open-source mobile OS on embedded hardware. This could include media devices like portable media players as well as cellphones,...
The new unibody version of the 17-inch MacBook Pro has started shipping, its Apple Store product page reveals. Shipping information has quietly switched over from pre-order status, to an estimated delivery time of seven to 10 business days. The timeframe is still significantly longer than that for other MacBook Pros, which are shipping within 24 hours….
Aerielle has released a new audio accessory, the i2i Folding Portable Speakers. The device consists of two speakers and a base station in the middle, which allows the speakers to either be leaned up or folded beside the base station when being transported. A 3.5mm headphone jack comes in the back of one speaker that can be used to plug into any iPod, MP3 player, i2i Stream, or other portable...
Dell may be edging much closer to its emergence into the smartphone market, according to the Wall Street Journal. Although earlier speculation indicated a tendency toward the Windows Mobile platform, the latest report suggests the company has been experimenting with Android as well. The move could serve to hedge against difficult conditions in the PC market. The company will allegedly focus on...
Iconfactory has released Twitterrific 3.2, an update to its Twitter client for Mac. The latest version increases the number of posts (or “tweets”) that can be read in a userís timeline to 200, while a menu is now available on the Dock icon if enabled through the settings. The update also automatically marks all old tweets as read when the application is opened. All communications are...
Archiware has released PresSTORE 3.1, the latest version of its data management software. The update claims to offer considerably faster synchronization speeds, especially with data transmitted over a WAN. Users can now establish an expiry date for data, enabling the software to automatically purge unneeded documents to clear space for new data. Another new feature allows the software to detect...
QuickPWN has already managed to release a jailbreak for the iPhone 2.2.1 firmware. The program does not yet provide a solution for owners of unlocked 3G phones, however, as the latest Apple firmware will revert any of the handsets back to a locked state. Nonetheless, the QuickPWN program will jailbreak the iPhone, iPhone 3G and first-generation iPod touch, but currently requires Windows for...
Quark has released the latest version of its publishing software, QuarkXPress 8.02. The update adds user interface localizations for Danish, Norwegian, Czech, Portuguese and Finnish. The program also now supports the latest Pantone Goe color libraries, while offering an improved installation process for large workgroups. Users can also take advantage of a streamlined activation process that...
R.P.A Tech has released an application that turns the iPhone/iPod touch into a wireless remote for the computer, Air Mouse Pro. The program lets users surf the web, browse pictures in a photo library, and control music or movie players while sitting away from the computer. Air Mouse uses the built-in accelerometer to translate hand motions into mouse movements on the screen. With the applications...
ShaggyMac has launched a new screen protector for the 17-inch Unibody MacBook Pro. The ShaggyMac lays on the keyboard surface and cushions / protects the screen while the lid is closed, preventing scuffs and marks on the screen surface. The screen protector is made from an optical polishing cloth and will keep the MacBook Pro’s screen & glass trackpad clean and free from smudges. It is...
Pinch Media has provided more details surrounding the ‘iPhone 2,1’ device that could represent the next-generation iPhone. The first time the handset popped onto the Pinch Analytics radar occurred early in October 2008. The devices appeared occasionally until mid-December, when usage escalated. A few dozen unique ‘iPhone 2,1’ phones have been logged, using a combination of...
KavaSoft has released the newest update to its web-photo downloading tool, HyperImage 2. Designed to help users download online pictures onto their computer, people can simply place a website address into HyperImage and the program will find and retrieve all the pictures on that website. The new version includes an image browser that contains infinitely resizable thumbnails, and allows users to...
Xnet Communications has released Captain FTP 6, the latest version of its file transfer and automation program. The update adds support for Amazon’s S3 backup service, along with synchronization scheduling and WebDav editing for remote documents. Users can now automatically e-mail a URL link to a remote file or folder, or add duplicate entries in the address book. The program also allows...
Intel plans on dropping the price it charges computer makers for some of its Core 2 Duo mobile processors in the second quarter of the year, according to a Thursday NotebookItalia report. The chipmaker’s 2.8GHz T9600 CPU with 6MB of L2 cache will reportedly cost $309 per unit, a 40 percent discount from its current $517 price. Meanwhile, the slower 2.53GHz T8700 CPU’s price will be...
SanDisk on Thursday announced that it and Toshiba have changed up the terms of their joint venture agreement to manufacture 300mm flash memory chips. Under the new agreement, more than 20 percent of the venture’s output capacity will be transferred to Toshiba, with SanDisk receiving about a third of the deal’s $890 million worth in cash and the rest going to reduce SanDisk’s...
Tension Software has released Calcboard 1.0, a Cocoa-based application for mathematical calculation in technical fields. The document-based software pairs equations with lists of variables and constants, and allows the substitution of values for generating new outputs. It can solve equations within any nested level of parentheses, and is said to work with most mathematical functions….
Apple has removed a graphics update from support pages only days after its release, browsing shows. The NVIDIA Graphics Update 2009 patch was intended to improve HD video playback on unibody MacBook Pros — equipped with NVIDIA’s GeForce 9600M card — as well as on older Macs utilizing the GeForce 7300 GT. It was also said to fix cursor movement when using the Mini DisplayPort...
Intel will give its first public look at an 8-core Xeon processor in less than two weeks at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference, the show’s schedule (PDF) reveals. The unnamed chip will double the core count of existing Xeons and is based on the same 45 nanometer manufacturing process and Nehalem architecture that underpins the Core i7. The shift adds Hyperthreading and will...
Here are URLs that were submitted to our queue on Jan. 25, 2009
but didn’t make it into actual stories… This is an automatically generated list of URLs which found
their way into our URL queue, but were not picked up by writers
due to a limited writer pool, lack of sufficient time, peril,
floods, or hangovers. It has not yet been reviewed by a…
There are plenty of options for creating webpages. Professionals typically opt for editors like DreamWeaver, while hardcore designers may choose to dive into the HTML code. It’s theoretically possible to use ordinary word processors, but the resulting pages are often too simplistic. For the average person who wants to create professional-quality pages without taking design classes — or...
Apple has met and pushed past its target of 1 percent of world cellphone market share in 2008, according to an ABI Research study. iPhones now represent 1.1 percent of the entire cellphone market and grew in dramatically from just 0.3 percent during 2007, when the iPhone was only available for half of the year and only in a limited number of countries. The number puts Apple on par with phone...
Makeshift Games has released a new puzzle title for the iPhone and iPod touch, Chuck the Ball. The player’s goal is to guide Chuck the Ball around the screen while avoiding obstacles, in an attempt to collect all of the lost stars before time runs out. In order to direct Chuck, players simply swipe their finger along the screen to tell him where to go. Some of the obstacles include spikes,...
Charter Communications recently announced it will launch the fastest residential service available from a telecommunications provider, capable of delivering 60Mbps download speeds and 5Mbps uploads. Called Charter High-Speed Internet Ultra60, the service will initially be released in downtown St. Louis before expanding to other, unnamed markets. At the same time, the Internet provider says it...
UtiliTouch has released a new musical application for the iPhone and iPod touch, TappyTunes. Designed to react whenever a user taps anywhere on-screen, each press will result in the next note in a song being played until it is finished. Users have access to 70 built-in songs, and can play as fast or as slow as desired….
Despite arriving months later, Research in Motion’s BlackBerry Storm is ultimately more expensive to make than its competitor from Apple, iSuppli says in a breakdown of the component costs of the two phones given to Business Week. The research group estimates that the Storm’s pure manufacturing costs come to slightly less than $203, or more than the $200 asking price for the phone...
Palringo has announced Palringo Instant Messenger 1.2.4, an update to its app for the iPhone and iPod touch, which now allows users to see how far away their contacts are from them. The change can be found under the contact list section of the app, and makes it possible for users to see both the town and distance of users. The company notes that in a subsequent update, it will enable users to...
Hawkscope 0.4 (free) is a tool that allows users to access their hide drive contents from a dynamic menubar item. The update has added HTTP proxy authentication for update checks, features better handling of resources and smaller memory consumption, has added the possibility to use operating system icons if they are available and is now Java 5 compatible allowing it to run on Mac OS X 10.4 and...