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Internet
February 4, 2011
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‘The Daily’ hits the Web – unofficially

By on February 4, 2011 at 1:01 AM.

‘The Daily’ hits the Web – unofficially

Mr. Murdoch et al. took the wraps off of News Corp’s The Daily at a press conference on Wednesday. The gist of the new digital publication is that it’s a daily newspaper built for the iPad that offers original content and immersive, interactive features. Sounds cool. But what about the majority of the world, which still finds itself iPad-less in spite of all that magic? And what about frugal owners of the magical iPad who can’t be bothered to fork over a buck each week to support the hard work of The Daily’s news team and creators? Well luckily for both camps, we now have The Daily: Indexed. Programmer Andy Baio has put together a Tumblog that indexes The Daily content each day and presents it as a list of links. All of the articles linked by the Tumblog are hosted on The Daily website, though they are really only intended to be shared via email, Facebook or Twitter from within the iPad app. If you’re looking for a taste of Rupert’s new “paper” and don’t have access to an iPad to take advantage of the free two-week trial, The Daily: Indexed has the the goods. More →

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Software
February 2, 2011
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Google launches Web-based Android Market

By on February 2, 2011 at 1:53 PM.

Google launches Web-based Android Market

During a press conference on Wednesday, Google announced and subsequently launched a Web-based version of the Android Market. Providing functionality similar to iTunes where apps are concerned, the new Android Market website will allow users to browse Android software from any computer with a Web browser. Previously, users could only browse the Market on Android phones and tablets. The new Android Market site is live right now and can be reached from the read link below. More →

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Services
January 26, 2011
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Twitter rolls out new ‘Connections’ feature

By on January 26, 2011 at 2:51 PM.

Twitter rolls out new ‘Connections’ feature

Twitter on Wednesday began rolling out a new feature called “Connections.” The feature, which is already common on other social networks, gives users a new way to discover and follow people they might otherwise not have found. The Connections view is visible when browsing another user’s profile page on the twitter.com website. It provides two main views: a brief sampling of mutual followers and a brief sampling of people you both follow. Alternatively, users can view a full list of mutual followers or people in common that they follow by selection the relevant options from drop down menus on a user’s “Following” or “Followers” timelines, as seen above. Twitter first tested the Connections feature last summer and while the company has yet to announce the new feature today, Connections appears to be rolling out to all users at this time.

Thanks, Adam

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CES
January 4, 2011
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Microsoft to demo Windows TV product at CES

By on January 4, 2011 at 11:16 AM.

Microsoft to demo Windows TV product at CES

According to an unconfirmed report in The Seattle Times, Microsoft is preparing to demonstrate a new home entertainment product set to combat Apple TV and Google TV. The rumored service will supposedly be demonstrated this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Said to be powered by a “stripped-down version of Windows tailored for set-top boxes and connected TVs,” a customized version of Windows Embedded is the likely candidate for this type of product. The devices are also said to feature a UI similar to the Windows Media Center interface, and will include a “polished and familiar TV-program guide that makes it easy to blend and navigate both online and broadcast content.” While no manufacturing partners were revealed in the report, an initial round of Windows TV boxes will apparently go on sale later this year for around $200. More →

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General
January 3, 2011
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Piper Jaffray predicts 2011 Apple roadmap

By on January 3, 2011 at 9:29 AM.

Piper Jaffray predicts 2011 Apple roadmap

Predictions from Piper Jaffray’s managing director and senior research analyst Gene Munster have been compared to darts tossed at a 10-foot dartboard, but that won’t stop the man from churning out new notes. On Monday, Mr. Munster laid out his roadmap for Apple in 2011 and it actually looks like he may be in store for a few wins this year. Then again, the roadmap is based almost entirely on things we already know with near certainty — or, in some cases, absolute certainty — so these can hardly be called Munster’s wins if they pan out. Here’s how Apple’s 2011 pans out in Munster’s eyes:

Anouncements:

  • Verizon launch of the iPhone: Probability 95% (March qtr) (our est)
  • Mac App Store: Probability 100% (Jan. 6 launch)
  • iTunes cloud services: Probability 90%
  • iPad geographic expansion: Probability 100%
  • iPad subsidies from carriers: Probability 80%
  • OS X Lion: Probability 100% (summer 2011)

Hardware upgrades:

  • iPhone (March quarter). We are modeling for Apple to launch a CDMA version of the iPhone at Verizon in the March-11 quarter. The fifth generation iPhone will likely ship this summer with NFC capability.
  • iPad (spring). We believe the second generation iPad will launch in spring 2011.
  • Macs (uncertain). We have moderate confidence that Apple will release redesigned MacBook Pros in 1H11 and redesigned iMacs in 2H11.

Munster does also note that Apple may launch some nifty new Web-based services and maybe even a television in 2011, but again, these are just rehashed rumors that have been around for quite a while now.

Read

23 Comments
Software
December 11, 2010
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Google Docs desktop editor comes to iPad

By on December 11, 2010 at 8:15 AM.

Google Docs desktop editor comes to iPad

Google recently revamped its mobile Google Docs offering, providing more robust editing capabilities on several smartphone platforms. While the revised sites are quite useful on mobile devices like the iPhone and Android handsets, they’re hardly optimized for larger devices such as the iPad. As of Friday, however, the full desktop Google Docs experience is now available on Apple’s tablet, pushing third-party productivity suites one step further toward extinction. Users need only visit docs.google.com from the mobile Safari browser on their iPads to start using the Google Docs desktop editors for documents, spreadsheets and more. Google points out that because mobile browsers still aren’t as powerful as desktop browsers, iPad users can easily switch to the mobile-optimized editor if they so choose. More →

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General
December 8, 2010
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Verizon Wireless fixes 3G data network glitch; affected Web browsing only

By on December 8, 2010 at 8:47 AM.

Verizon Wireless fixes 3G data network glitch; affected Web browsing only

Verizon Wireless just sent us a statement on its brief 3G network glitch that happened last night and early this morning — our devices seemed to act fine, but apparently the glitch had to do with Internet browsing on devices. Full service has been completely restored at this point, but here’s the full statement for those who are interested:

Last night, during routine maintenance of our 3G network, a technical glitch hampered the ability of customers to reach the Internet through web browsers on their phones. This technical glitch lasted from approximately 1:40 am – 5 am ET, and covered a large proportion of our regular network. 3G network coverage was never out, just this one particular service. Full capabilities were fully restored at approximately 5 am ET. We apologize to any and all affected customers.

23 Comments
eBooks
December 7, 2010
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Amazon to announce Web-based Kindle service today

By on December 7, 2010 at 12:55 PM.

Amazon to announce Web-based Kindle service today

Amazon is gearing up to launch a web-based Kindle service accessible from any computer, Computerworld is reporting. Going on record, Amazon said that the new Kindle for the Web will “enable users to read full books in the browser and [enable] any Website to become a bookstore offering Kindle books.” While the service should be announced at some point today, it’s said that it won’t be commercially available until possibly January, right around the Consumer Electronics Show. With Amazon being a leader in the eBook store world, there’s no reason why they wouldn’t want a piece of every addressable market, and that includes desktop-type computers. Yesterday, Google announced and launched its eBook service called Google Books, which currently has over 3,000,000 available books. More →

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General
December 4, 2010
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U.S. Cellular debuts three new prepaid calling plans with unlimited texting

By on December 4, 2010 at 2:23 AM.

U.S. Cellular debuts three new prepaid calling plans with unlimited texting

Regional wireless provider U.S. Cellular has announced three new prepaid calling plans just in time for the holiday buying season. The new plans, which all include unlimited text messaging, will offer 200, 400, or 1000 talk minutes and retail for $29, $39, and $49 respectively; the 400 minute plan will also include 5GB of monthly data usage.

“With balancing the budget on the minds of many, prepaid plans can help customers stay on top of spending and don’t require a contractual agreement,” quips the press release. “U.S. Cellular’s new prepaid plans offer spending flexibility through unlimited messaging choices and graduated levels of included voice minutes.”

The prepaid offerings compliment the company’s Belief Project plans announced earlier this year. More →

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Internet
December 1, 2010
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WikiLeaks ousted by Amazon according to report [Updated]

By on December 1, 2010 at 2:05 PM.

WikiLeaks ousted by Amazon according to report [Updated]

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Amazon.com may have ended its hosting agreement with controversial website WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks returned to the spotlight recently when it published a bevy of confidential diplomatic cables. Following the release, dubbed “Cable Gate,” WikiLeaks fell under cyberattacks and has been offline sporadically all week. According to the official WikiLeaks Twitter account, DDOS attacks that exceeded 10Gbps targeted the site earlier this week. While the origin of the alleged attacks remains unknown, WikiLeaks has reportedly been taken offline by its host, Amazon.com. Though the site’s homepage remains live, all subdomains appear to be down. Amazon.com did not confirm or deny the AP’s report.

UPDATE: According to a statement from Senator Joe Lieberman, Homeland Security Committee Chairman, Amazon.com has agreed to stop hosting WikiLeaks. More →

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General
November 12, 2010
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Facebook to unveil email client at November 15th event?

By on November 12, 2010 at 8:05 AM.

Facebook to unveil email client at November 15th event?

TechCrunch is reporting that social networking giant Facebook will publicly unveil its “Project Titan” — a web-based email client — to the world at a media event scheduled for Monday, November 15th. The report cites anonymous sources and alleges that the email service will bring @facebook.com email addresses to its users. Irrelevant, but fun and sensational, TechCrunch goes on to write that Project Titan is referred to internally at Facebook as the “Gmail killer.”

Recently, both Google and Facebook have appeared in headlines together as Google now posts the below warning message to its users who try to access Facebook’s Gmail friend-importer. Sounds like things are getting a little icy between the two data-mining giants.

29 Comments
Rumor
November 7, 2010
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Five future Palm devices pop up in webOS 2.0 code?

By on November 7, 2010 at 9:07 PM.

Five future Palm devices pop up in webOS 2.0 code?

Remember how we told you about Palm’s rumored upcoming devices? Well, the folks over at WebOS Internals have been pouring through SFR’s webOS 2.0 code and have stumbled upon five device code-names: Stingray, Mantaray, Broadway, Windsor and Roadrunner (Palm Pre 2). The code-names were  found in string of code that displays: “temporarily not restoring logs for newer devices.” The holiday season is fast approaching, and we would love to add some HP-Palm hardware to our respective wish lists.

[Via Engadget] More →

29 Comments
Tablets
October 27, 2010
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$100 Maylong M-150 Android tablet now on sale at Walgreens

By on October 27, 2010 at 12:51 AM.

$100 Maylong M-150 Android tablet now on sale at Walgreens

Once thought to be a gadget unicorn, the elusive sub-$100 is ready to make a splash at… Walgreens? In an interesting turn of events, it looks like Walgreens is indeed the first U.S. retailer to make a $99.99 Android tablet widely available. Built by personal navigation device (PND) maker Maylong, the M-150 is a 7-inch tablet with 256MB of RAM, microSD support and Wi-Fi connectivity. Of course sacrifices had to be made in order to reach the magic $99.99 price point. The tablet sports an 800 x 480-pixel resistive touchscreen display, so it uses a stylus for input. It also has a 400MHz processor and the now-ancient Android 1.6 operating system on board. As a tablet for less savvy users looking mainly for a light Web browsing tool and maybe a simple eBook reader, the Maylong M-150 could be just what the doctor ordered. Hit the jump for more specs and a link to order up this mysterious budget slate, which is only available online.

[Via The Digital Reader] More →

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