Software & Apps News - Page 149

The latest and most important Software & Apps news - Page 149.

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Microsoft announce three Windows 8 Editions

Anthony Garreffa | Apr 16, 2012 8:15 PM CDT

We all know Windows 8 is baking very nicely in Microsoft's ovens right now, and they're just some more information surface now in the form of the editions we should expect. Microsoft are going to release Windows 8 in three editions: Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro and Windows 8 RT.

The differences? Well, the first two edition's are for x86-based systems, both in 32- and 64-bit. Windows 8 will be the OS for most people, as it includes most of the features you need, plus an updated Windows Explorer, Task Manager, better multi-monitor support as well as the ability to switch languages on the fly, which was previously an exclusive feature to the Enterprise and Ultimate editions of Windows.

Next up is Windows 8 Pro, which is designed for tech enthusiasts and business/technical professionals. It includes all of the features of Windows 8 as well as encryption, virtualization, PC management and domain connectivity. Windows Media Center is now considered an economical "media pack" add-on for Windows 8 Pro. Finally, we have Windows 8 RT. This is the newest member of the Windows family, which is something Microsoft have been calling Windows on Arm, or WOA.

Continue reading: Microsoft announce three Windows 8 Editions (full post)

Autodesk Smoke 2013 for Mac is coming, costs just $3,495

Anthony Garreffa | Apr 15, 2012 11:32 PM CDT

Autodesk have been tinkering with their video editing and post-shot visual effects tool, Smoke, and will release it later in the fall. Smoke 2013 brings a bunch of new features, such as a unified interface that mixes the traditional, editorial track-based editing with Autodesk's own interface elements.

A node-based compositing tool, ConnectFX, allows editors to insert advanced effects without having to jump to a separate interface. New specific tools make the jump to the 2013 edition of Smoke, including a Color Warper for pro color adjustment, a Master Keyer for faster chromakey editing for green screens and stereoscopic 3D editing, and a 3D visual effects workflow with real 3D effects for elements like logos and titles.

All media is also put into a central area, called the MediaHub. Hardware requirements have been actually lowered, and not increased for Smoke 2013, where users can also now take advantage of Thunderbolt-based external drives and video peripherals to get the same kind of editing one would receive from the high-end Mac Pro.

Continue reading: Autodesk Smoke 2013 for Mac is coming, costs just $3,495 (full post)

Flashback Removal Tool hits the web, find out of your Mac is infected

Anthony Garreffa | Apr 11, 2012 9:09 PM CDT

If you haven't already heard, Mac-based users have been hit by quite the virus scandal over the last few days in the form of "Flashback". In case you're wondering if you're infected, F-Secure are now offering an AppleScript that you can download, and run.

The tiny bit of software checks your Mac for Flashback, and if it finds it, removes it. Apple reportedly has a tool on its way too, but that's not here yet and F-Secure's is. If you want to check your system and feel a bit more secure, you can grab it here.

I just ran it on my MacBook Pro, and I'm clean. I didn't think I'd be infected, I was pretty confident, but I'm the kind of person who would rather be safe than sorry. Run it even if you don't think you're infected, and pass this news onto any of your Mac-based friends and family. Your enemies, well, I'll leave that devious decision to you.

Continue reading: Flashback Removal Tool hits the web, find out of your Mac is infected (full post)

Nicholas Merrill's Non-profit ISP start up promises fully encrypted, private Internet

Trace Hagan | Apr 11, 2012 5:36 PM CDT

Sticking it to the man or sticking up for the consumer? I'll let you be the judge. Nicholas Merrill is creating a new non-profit ISP which he describes as a "non-profit telecommunications provider dedicated to privacy, using ubiquitous encryption." His goal is to create a system that is so encrypted that not even the ISP itself can snoop on its customers.

The system, theoretically, could make it impossible for the ISP to respond to copyright infringement requests or authority requests. You may ask how is this legal. Well, according to Merrill, it depends on a provision in a 1994 federal law called CALEA. The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act makes sure that ISPs are not held responsible for decrypting data if they don't have the information to do so.

If Mr. Merrill creates the service properly, not even the ISP would know what's going on in the system. This would allow them to operate directly under the protection of the CALEA law. Merrill dealt with the government and FBI in a legal battle for 6 years over his NYC ISP. That caused him to come up with this plan to protect himself and his users. He is attempting to raise $2 million in the next couple of weeks before the service launches.

Continue reading: Nicholas Merrill's Non-profit ISP start up promises fully encrypted, private Internet (full post)

OnLive Desktop, that popular app that gives you a VDI has changed over to Windows Server 2008

Trace Hagan | Apr 11, 2012 12:25 PM CDT

OnLive Desktop, that popular app that gives you a hosted Windows 7 environment and full Office 2010 support, will no longer be giving you a Windows 7 environment. Instead, you will now be receiving a Windows Server 2008 environment. The App that was first shown to the world back at CES 2012 in Las Vegas immediately sparked a debate about licensing terms.

Microsoft had remained silent about whether or not the app was breaking their license terms. In March, however, the software giant spoke out saying that they didn't believe that the app was operating inside licensing terms. They said that they were in talks with OnLive to reach an acceptable license agreement.

"We're pleased to have been told that the OnLive Desktop application is now accessing our software by hosting it on Windows Server, an important step in delivering any Microsoft-licensed desktop-like service to the public. Based on this information, we will work with OnLive to take a closer look at its service and ensure it is operating according to its license like thousands of other partners and utilizing our standing pricing and licensing terms," Microsoft said in a statement to The Register.

Continue reading: OnLive Desktop, that popular app that gives you a VDI has changed over to Windows Server 2008 (full post)

Google's Chrome OS begins to take shape, looks more like Windows than a browser

Anthony Garreffa | Apr 10, 2012 8:12 PM CDT

Google's Chrome OS has been in development for quite a while now, and has since late-2010 had the same system interface, until now. The latest developer version of the operating system sports a major redesign in its UI, and it is not only looking great, it's looking more and more like Windows, which isn't a bad thing.

The first thing people are going to do with Chrome is think "is it Windows?" and once they realise its not, they're going to attempt to use it. If they've never used the Chrome browser before, it'll feel very alien, much like OS X does the first time you use it after using Windows for X amount of years. Chrome OS now looks like a traditional OS, with a full-blown desktop and window manager instead of just a browser and tabs.

Chrome's next-generation use interface framework, known as "Aura", makes its public debut with the new developer version of Chrome OS. This is a huge change, as previous iterations of Chrome OS were just an operating system, within a browser that very closely resembled Google's popular web browser. This is a great move, something that I applaud Google for doing. You can sometimes think outside of the square, but sometimes floating outside of that square makes you think you require a triangle to be 'better' or 'evolved', a simplistic UI will go a long way to ensure that Chrome OS is a serious contender for the OS wars to come.

Continue reading: Google's Chrome OS begins to take shape, looks more like Windows than a browser (full post)

DriverTT: NVIDIA GeForce 301.24 beta

Anthony Garreffa | Apr 10, 2012 1:32 AM CDT

NVIDIA have posted some new 300-series GeForce drivers, with the release of GeForce 301.24 beta. These new drivers are actually compatible with "all GeForce 8-series and later GPUs". Previous 300-series drivers only worked on the new GEFORCE GTX 680 GPU. These new drivers add support for features with the GEFORCE GTX 680, including Adaptive Vsync, NVIDIA's Frame Rate Target scheme, and an option to enable FXAA through the control panel.

The new GeForce 301.24 beta driver also offers performance improvements for single- and multi-GPU setups. Also on offer are new features for NVIDIA Surround Vision setups:

The 301.24 beta also adds a bunch of new SLI and 3D Vision profiles. SLI support has been baked in for Alan Wake, and Valve's upcoming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Continue reading: DriverTT: NVIDIA GeForce 301.24 beta (full post)

Google launches an Android app to help improve indoor accuracy of maps

Trace Hagan | Apr 6, 2012 11:31 AM CDT

Google, Bing, and many other start up mapping companies have offered indoor maps for a while now. But these maps suffer from some issues that outdoor maps don't: accuracy. When outdoors, a user's GPS is remarkably accurate and if that fails, a user can use cell tower triangulation to at least get close.

Inside, however, GPS doesn't work very well and cell tower triangulation isn't accurate enough for the smaller scale that is indoors. Also, neither of these technologies are able to accurately tell you which floor you are on when inside a massive venue such as an airport. This is a key detail so that Google knows which floor's map to show you.

Google has a solution now, though. They have uploaded an Android app that will allow a venue owner who has uploaded maps of the venue to walk around with that app. The app will collect data such as WiFi access points as well as data about nearby cell towers to be able to later use this information to better locate a user inside.

Continue reading: Google launches an Android app to help improve indoor accuracy of maps (full post)

Testing shows Internet Explorer is most efficient with power usage

Trace Hagan | Apr 6, 2012 9:07 AM CDT

While Internet Explorer may not be winning any awards for being the most feature-filled or quickest browser around, it is winning accolade from one user for giving his aging desktop replacement notebook the best battery life. User Ciprian Adrian Rusen put IE9, IE10, Chrome 18, Firefox 11 and Opera 11.62 to the test and found that both IEs lasted longer.

His machine is a two and a half year old HP Pavilion dv7 2185dx with a 2GHz Core 2 Quad Q9000, a Radeon HD 4650 and 6GB of DDR2 RAM. Not exactly a power friendly configuration! Many like to use Chrome for its minimalist design--I'm using it right now--but it is pretty clear that it likes to use power in exchange for its snappiness.

Chrome was 126% faster than IE10 but yielded only 85 minutes of run time whereas IE10 ran for 108 minutes. However, since IE10 had to be ran on Windows 8, some of these power savings could be attributed to Windows 8. Microsoft has been touting that Windows 8 is more energy efficient. If you're going for battery life, it looks like the best choice is IE10.

Continue reading: Testing shows Internet Explorer is most efficient with power usage (full post)

SwiftKey 3 Beta is here, includes Smart Space, a new UI, themes and more

Anthony Garreffa | Apr 5, 2012 9:24 PM CDT

SwiftKey is something I simply can't live without on my Samsung GALAXY S II, it's an amazing piece of kit, and the developers behind it have just let loose SwiftKey 3 Beta. The latest version of their multi-award winning Android keyboard that they've been working "flat-out" on for the last six months.

The new version includes a larger spacebar with an improved typing UI, but they've touting that "SwiftKey 3 is also the most advanced touchscreen keyboard the world has to offer". Them be fighting words. They reckon they've cracked one of the hardest problems that exist in text entry: how to correctly determine when a user has missed spaces.

SwiftKey 3 sports the developers new "Smart Space" technology, where SwiftKey 3 can figure out when you've missed a space, or accidentally hit a letter across long strings of sloppy text. The software is smart enough to work out if you accidentally type "Lleasexqllme", it knows that you meant "Please call me". There's a video above that even shows this off, and it seems to work impressively well.

Continue reading: SwiftKey 3 Beta is here, includes Smart Space, a new UI, themes and more (full post)