Windows 8: Roaming Options, syncs to Microsoft's fluffy cloud

Anthony Garreffa | Software & Apps | Apr 27, 2011 9:50 PM CDT

Microsoft are doing a bang-up job on Windows 8, every week theres a new feature leaked and nearly every single one has sounded like a great idea and really adds to the upcoming Operating System. Today we have the "Roaming Option" which looks like it allows a user to link their Windows account to their Windows Live account.

With Roaming Option, there are six types of customizations which you can move to a different computer: Personalization (Desktop background image, glass color), Accessibility (Ease of access control panel, magnifier, on screen keyboard, narrator, and speech recognition settings), Language Settings (Language profile, text prediction preferences, and IME dictionary), Application Settings (Application settings and search history), Windows Settings (Taskbar, Explorer, search, and mouse settings), and Credentials (Wireless network profiles and saved website credentials).

From the screenshot above we can also see that there are two "Network options" within the Roaming Options category. One is "enable roaming on paid networks" whilst the other is "enable roaming on low bandwidth". From these options it looks like Windows 8 will be able to differentiate between network speeds, for example someone on a 3G connection (mobile, smartphone, tablets) will be limited versus someone on a full broadband connection. Nice.

Continue reading: Windows 8: Roaming Options, syncs to Microsoft's fluffy cloud (full post)

AMD release Catalyst 11.4 drivers

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | Apr 27, 2011 8:52 PM CDT

AMD have released the Catalyst 11.4 drivers for Windows with various enhancements and issues resolved. First up AMD have included enhancements to the AMD VISION Engine Control Center / AMD Catalyst Control Center with new task-based Display Management controls (which is meant to simplify the configuration of displays and display settings), a new Eyefinity setup group and AMD Catalyst update notification.

There are various performance gains, which aren't too bad at all:

The AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series and AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series of products will see the following performance gains:

Continue reading: AMD release Catalyst 11.4 drivers (full post)

iPad 2 lands in Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Eight other countries this week

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Apr 27, 2011 8:10 PM CDT

Apple's super-famous iPad 2 is making it's way to Japan on Thursday, April 28 and Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and eight other countries on Friday, April 29. The iPad 2 will be available at Apple retail stores at 9am local time, select Apple Authorized Resellers, and online through the Apple Store beginning at 1am.

Additionally, the iPad 2 with Wi-Fi will be available in China starting from Friday, May 6. The Wi-Fi only iPad 2 will see the light of day in Hong Kong, India, Israel, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey and UAE on April 29 for a retail price of $499 (US) for the standard 16GB model. 32GB will sell for $599 (US) with the 64GB model priced at $699 (US).

As for the Wi-Fi + 3G model, pricing is set for 16, 32 and 64GB as $629 (US), $729 (US) and $829 (US) respectively.

Continue reading: iPad 2 lands in Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Eight other countries this week (full post)

PopCap's Plants Vs. Zombies Hits Nintendo DS

Trak Lord | Gaming | Apr 27, 2011 7:14 PM CDT

Not a huge story, but if you've ever played this game you know how awesome it is. PopCap, makers of games like the insanely addictive office favorite BeJeweled, have released their highly successful and original title Plants Vs. Zombies for the Nintendo's handheld.

Basically, zombies are trying to attack your house. Whether it's your front door, your backyard (in which you somehow install a pool halfway through the zombie apocalypse), or your roof, the zombies are out to get you. And they'll attach you day, night, even when it's very foggy and visibility conditions are terrible. Especially when visibility is terrible, come to think of it. And they're in wetsuits, dressed like Michael Jackson from Thriller, riding zambonis and bobsleds, and totally out to eat your brains. The only thing standing between you and them is an arsenal of anthropomorphic plants ready to stop them, literally, in their tracks. From IGN's screenshots, it looks as though the DS version even gets some new levels.

PvZ made PC Mag's top 75 iPad apps list, of which only 15 were games. If you've played this epic "stave-off-the-hordes" game, you know why it did so well. It's extremely addictive, and with all sorts of clever achievements, easter eggs, and challenging game formats, this will occupy your DS for a very long time.

Continue reading: PopCap's Plants Vs. Zombies Hits Nintendo DS (full post)

YouTube Founders Make Delicious Deal

Trak Lord | Business, Financial & Legal | Apr 27, 2011 3:23 PM CDT

Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, founders of YouTube have acquired Delicious. Wait what? Didn't Yahoo acquire Delicious back in 2005 for like $10 million? The answer is yes, but evidently Yahoo is selling off its acquisitions.

Delicious, formerly "del.icio.us" is a social bookmarking site- it allows you to keep track of bookmarks and access them from any computer, thus eliminating the frustration of having to access particular browsers on particular computers. We're not sure about the details of this reacquisition, but it can't an altogether bad thing to be under the auspices of the guys that brought us the most addictive website since.....uh.....ever?

Delcious will continue under Yahoo until July of 2011, and if you're a current user, the transition will be "seamless". Check out their site and/or the press release below for more details.

Continue reading: YouTube Founders Make Delicious Deal (full post)

PapayaMobile Nets $18 Million In Funding: Mmmmm, Papayas.

Trak Lord | Mobile Devices | Apr 27, 2011 2:42 PM CDT

The leading mobile social game producer on Google's smartphone Android operating system has nabbed $18 Million in Series B funding from Chinese Venture Capital firm Keytone and global VC firm DCM.

Since launching in June of 2010, Papaya has seen a 375% growth rate, so this latest round of funding does not come as a surprise. Papaya provides a diverse suite of free mobile games for Android smartphones, including Whacksy Taxi, Papaya Fish (once again: Mmmmm), Papaya Farm, and about 50 others. And 15 million users is nothing to sneeze at, either.

The funding is geared toward what will be a "staggering" projected growth of Android users in China, where Papaya calls home in Beijing (though they have an office here in San Francisco as well), and will go to expanding the developer network in Europe and North America. And of course, more games. Which means more fun.

Continue reading: PapayaMobile Nets $18 Million In Funding: Mmmmm, Papayas. (full post)

Hulu Reimburses Users, Covers Respective Backends

Trak Lord | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Apr 27, 2011 1:19 PM CDT

The recent PlayStation Network outages have affected more than just downloadable content and online gaming- online streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, the latter of which has reportedly given PlayStation 3 users a refund for this past week of PSN outages:

Dear XXXX,

Unfortunately, due to the outage on PlayStation® Network, Hulu Plus

Continue reading: Hulu Reimburses Users, Covers Respective Backends (full post)

White iPhone 4 Ships April 28th To Verizon & AT&T

Trak Lord | Mobile Devices | Apr 27, 2011 12:18 PM CDT

Almost a year ago, Apple announced at the World Wide Developer's Conference that they would eventually be offering a white iPhone 4 in addition to the black version. Now it's finally here, shipping April 28th, tomorrow, at Apple retail stores, Apple's online store, AT&T stores, Verizon stores, and select Apple Authorized Resellers. Pretty much everywhere you can get a black iPhone 4- probably even the dodgy channels.

That's not a whole lot more to this- the white iPhone 4 is exactly the same as its black predecessor, coming in both 16GB ($199 USD) and 32GB ($299 USD) with a contract from either Verizon or AT&T- your choice. Smartest thing to do would be to save up the cash to buy the phone without the contract, jailbreak that @#$%er, and ride out the shiny unlimited data package from Sprint, because otherwise your white Post-PC device will put you in the red if, you know, you want to use Pandora.

If you're not an American, fret not! White iPhone 4 hits Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Macau, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, and the UK the very same day. Then again, if you're in Benelux, you might already have it.

Continue reading: White iPhone 4 Ships April 28th To Verizon & AT&T (full post)

Sony admits PSN is down, also admits your credit card details and other personal info may have been stolen

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Apr 26, 2011 9:00 PM CDT

The Sony Saga is ongoing and while the PlayStation Network is still down, more information is leaking out on just how severe this hack has been for Sony. The intrusion started nine days ago and it [the PSN and Qriocity services] have been down for six days.

Sony have stated they've hired a "recognized security firm" to conduct a complete investigation into what happened and have taken steps to enhance security and strengthen network infrastructure.

Patrick Seybold, senior director of corporate communications for Sony Computer Entertainment of America wrote on the official Playstation blog today:

Continue reading: Sony admits PSN is down, also admits your credit card details and other personal info may have been stolen (full post)

Friendster To Delete All Data- Just Letting You Know

Trak Lord | Internet & Websites | Apr 26, 2011 3:05 PM CDT

Does anyone remember Friendster? Better yet, does anyone still have a Friendster account? Deemed "the social network pioneer", Friendster began in 2002- and that's pretty much it. It began in 2002.

For some reason, Friendster was just a tad too early to enjoy what would become a social media boom- then again, MySpace hasn't really fared any better. It has been the subject of nigh infinite malign ever since its inception- including one my favorites by the Onion- which will now be just as outdated as its subject:

Internet Archaeologists Find Ruins Of 'Friendster' Civilization

Continue reading: Friendster To Delete All Data- Just Letting You Know (full post)