Software & Apps - Page 113

AMD today revealed its plans to signficantly enhance its upcoming 10.2 and 10.3 Catalyst Driver Suite for Radeon graphics cards in both desktop and mobile form. The company has been working hard to put together a whole host of new features and improvements that grant a lot of peoples wishes and give a better overall support package.

FutureMark has just finished updating its entire lineup of benchmarking applications which offer improved system hardware detection, fix several issues and add improved GPU clock detection.

Amazon is doing very well with its Kindle eReader and the device is one of the most popular readers on the market. Amazon is being forced to up the pricing of the digital books that go along with the reader, thanks in large part to Apple.

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Amazon announced a while back that it was launched a new Kindle Developers Program that would allow devs to build active content for the reader. Amazon announced recently that the KDK program was now rolling in limited beta and offered a few more details on the active content the program will produce.

Three pricing options for the content developed with the KDK will be available. The free option requires the app to be under 1MB in size and use under 100KB/user/month of wireless data. A one-time purchase plan will be for apps with data use of no more than 100KB/user/month. A monthly subscription plan will be used for apps that use more data. The largest app size allowed is 100MB and apps larger than 10MB will only be available to upload via USB.

Mozilla's highly popular internet browser, Firefox has just seen a significant update, moving version 3.6 out of beta phase into final status.

In its final set for 2009, AMD has just released the Catalyst 9.12 drivers for XP, Vista and W7 in both 32 and 64-bit flavours.

The folks at bit-tech have learned quite a bit about a new app from Google it calls 'Goggles' which has already hit the Android and is said to be due for the iPhone in the near future.

Its purpose is to make for significantly easier information searching when on the go. We're not talking about using a more advanced version of a search field, nor voice recognition for that matter. This works where you can simply use a photo of an item you've taken on your phone; this is then submitted and analysed by Google in such a way that it looks for cover images, recognisable text, barcodes etc. to work out exactly what the image is and then it searches for that item accordingly.

A video demonstration below shows how well it works even though its still in its infancy. The user had taken a photo of the front cover of a book, submitted it using Google's Goggles service and very quickly it reported back reviews and product links all about that book :-

At 10:00am Pacfic Time (6 PM GMT) today. Google will announce an update to their Chrome OS in a live webcast. According to the infromation in the invite they will be covering the latest version and what has changed since we last heard from them. Chrome OS has been a highly debated subject ever since the first rumors surfaced. It should be fun to see what Google has planned and if it will indeed be an OS aimed only at the smart and netbook market or if it will be one that will suit a range of systems. Hopefully we will find that out today and also see how Google plans to distribute it.

We will be covering the event in as close to real time as we can get. Keep checking in here for updates as they happen (F5 will be your friend).


LIVE BLOG:

1:04 PM EST - We get to see the opening slides but it looks like Google is running a tad behind.

1:05 PM EST - and we are starting, they are saying there will be no launch today, that is about a year away...

1:06 PM EST - Chrome is just faster, they use Google Voice as an example... not sure about that one though.

Wow, who would have thought that social networking would force its way into the world of console gaming. Well it has and can be accessed now even on the Xbox 360. Yep that's right, earlier today a few updated (and free) applications were released for the Xbox 360 (and Live Gold subscribers). The fun new stuff includes access to Facebook, Twitter, and a new version of the video marketplace called Zune Video. This last one allows you to view On-Demand 1080P HD video through your Xbox 360. You can even share your viewing with up to seven friends by using voice chat and what they call Avatar Integration.

The last of the new features is pretty nice but has a couple of tiny, little itty-bitty issues. This is Last.FM an internet connected radio stations (like Pandora) this allows you to create your own mix through the use of Bans, and Loves. The tiny problem we talked about is that it cannot run in the background.

In all the new updates, are interesting but I have to wonder how quickly they will lose their luster and become just another un-used thing on your console.

Over the last few years there has been an explosion of flash video. This really got going when YouTube hit the scene but was beginning its climb even before then on certain, um ...questionable sites. But the problem has always been one of performance, it is true that the modern desktop can run flash without any problems but we start to have issues when we get into the personal media players and netbooks/nettops. These systems do not have the available CPU power to spare for larger or high resolution flash video.

NVIDIA has been working to change this, together with Adobe they have developed a new version of the Flash Player that can run on the GPU (thanks to the use of NV's CUDA technology). Again on the average desktop or even laptop this is not much use. But when you drop it onto a nettop or netbook equipped with ION or GF9400M then you have something. Suddenly you open up a whole new vista of Flash video capabilities on the "net" product and even open up the possibility for flash video on smaller devices (like those powered by Tegra).

Unfortunately at the time if this writing the new player has limited support and only runs on NV products running under Windows. Still it is an improvement we are glad to see and one that does hold promise for the future.

Today is a good day as the latest in the Office series hits Technet officially. Yup that is right Office 2010 has just hit Technet. Granted it was out on a few um...less than reputable sites a little early but there was also word that those copies were riddled with viruses and did more than a few nasty things to your PC (like resetting permissions and ownership on registry keys).

Still now that the first Beta is officially here it is really only a matter of time before we see the real thing up and running. We will be taking a look at some of the new features offered and will let you in on what you can expect from the next Office version.

For now we will just show you what MS has decided to push up to Technet. I hope their servers are up to it. I know they weren't when Windows 7 hit.

Quickly following on from the launch of Windows 7 last week, details have already begun to surface regarding its first service pack. Microsoft's engineers are said to be already working on hot fixes galore for application compatibility and reported bugs.

A chap going by the name of Wzor has learned that the first beta of Windows 7 SP1 will be released sometime in January of next year, with the full schedule being two beta releases and two release candidates prior to announcing the final build for OEMs sometime during the summer months (June/July/August) 2010, and making its way to end users in the Autumn (September/October/November).

It's been discovered that Google's new Wave service will get its own App Store. For those of you that don't know, Google Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

What is a wave?

A wave is equal parts conversation and document.
People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is shared.
Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

A wave is live.
With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

With third party extensions of all kinds becoming available for the messaging platform by the bucketload via its App Store, this should really enhance the overall flexibility and capabilities of Wave beyond comprehension.

Now that the DirectX 11 capable Windows 7 operating system is officially launched along with the existing availability of AMD/ATI's DX11 capable Radeon 5000 series graphics cards, a few DX11 based tech demos have become available for download on the net.

So the Zune HD launched over a month ago along with a new and improved version of the Zune Desktop and Marketplace. Just before the launch we heard the gang from Redmond telling us how they would stock their version of the App Store with incredible applications and games for the Tegra inside the Zune HD.

However one month later and we have not see even a single new game or App in the Zune Marketplace. This is highly disappointing and a sure way for Microsoft to lose the fight with Apple and their iPod Touch and iPhone. When we reviewed the Zune HD here we found the hardware and performance to be outstanding and more than a match for the Apple offerings (in many cases much better). The problem as we saw it then (and now) is that MS does a terrible job at follow on and marketing.

This is a perfect example; their decision (surely a marketing one) to keep their Marketplace closed has probably driven many developers away from it. Yet MS has not done anything to add to this area either. We do not see any of the graphically impressive 3D games we were promised before launch. We do not see anything.

MS needs to pull their collective heads out and get to work here or they will surely lose the PMP fight and very quickly. This is despite the far superior hardware they have with the Zune HD.

Coinciding with the launch of Windows 7, ATI has chosen to release its latest Catalyst driver suite, the 9.10s. These are the first Catalyst drivers to bring full official support for AMD/ATI's latest range of Radeon 5800 series GPUs.

The Windows 7 Blog page has just made mention of two new tools available pertaining to Windows 7 migration. These tools comprise the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor and Compatibility Center which together will give you enough information for you to feel comfortable making the transition without any issues.

If you had any doubts that Windows 7 is going to be a good thing for Microsoft you only have t look at the news from Amazon this morning. Apparently the new OS from the team in Redmond, Washington has pre-orders that exceed those made for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Right now the only item that has sold more copies in the same time frame is the Dan Brown Book The Lost Symbol.

This is an impressive feat for an operating system and shows that many early naysayers about Windows 7 might be proven seriously wrong in the end. As for how Windows 7 is doing Vs Vista... Well according to Amazon they have more preorders right now than total Windows 7 orders.

However, this is a consumer based number and as yet does not show how businesses are adopting Windows 7. So while the case seems to be rapidly closing for Windows 7 in the consumer market in the US, the jury is still firmly out for business adoption. Then again, those numbers will be slow to show up anyway as they usually take a year to 18 months for adoption of a new OS in any medium to large company.

It looks like Microsoft is going to launch the new Microsoft Store in conjunction with the launch of Windows 7. The Microsoft Store is an interesting idea from the marketing minds out there in Redmond. On the surface it is supposed to compete head to head with the Apple stores but more subtly it creates an actual market presence for MS.

Why is that important? Well it is important in that it gives MS something they have never had before. Direct consumer contact. With this contact they can feel the impact of their marketing choices first hand. It also allows them to directly comment on their performance in the marketplace. Now I am not saying their information will be accurate or that it will change any opinions, it just allows them to remove a common complaint about them.

The launch alongside Windows 7 is smart also. As of this writing Windows 7 actually is being anticipated by the consumer. People are looking for a replacement for the venerable Windows XP , but do not want to trust to the often maligned Windows Vista. Their answer is Windows 7, so Microsoft is looking to piggy back on the good press from that event and get the Microsoft Stores out on the high note.

You know it's been a long time since we have seen a major screw up by a graphics company when it comes to driver optimization. The last big one that I remember was ATi and Quake.exe.

This time it seems it is Intel that is running afoul of the community. They have introduced application specific optimizations in their latest graphics driver. Now optimization for games and applications are nothing really new, they are often built into to allow for better or more stable performance. However, this is not the case here. You see with Quake on ATi and Futuremark Vantage on the Intel GMA. The optimizations actually reduce graphical quality to gain the extra performance edge.

They do this by detecting the application that is running by name. Back when ATi did this the game was up when someone renamed Quake.exe to Quak.exe and noticed that the performance fell dramatically.
The same thing is being seen here, if you rename 3DMarkVantage.exe to 3DMarkVintage.exe or anything else you see the performance fall.

Interestingly enough AMD are the ones that brought this to light. It seems that they have been working overtime to get information out about all of their competitors. They are also behind the recent NVIDIA "Fake Card" leak. Now do not get me wrong, tinkering with drivers like this is bad and it deserves to be uncovered and something should be done about it. I just think it is interesting that AMD seems to be behind much of the whispering going on this month.

So I know you are wondering what Intel did to increase performance. Well if the Information that The TechReport has is accurate Intel is offloading much of the work onto the CPU. This is evidenced by a reduction in CPU usage when using a renamed exe.

This does not bode well for Intel at a time when they are getting ready to push Pine Trail and others out the door using a similar GPU. But then again what is bad for Intel is good for AMD.

There is good news for users of Brite-View's CinemaTube. They have found a way to make this product work with Windows 7. As of right now this is a work around but still for most it seems to do the trick.

The problem had to do with Windows 7 and the way that it handles network share requests. CinemaTube users were not able to access their shares as the device would ask for a password even when one was not setup on the Windows 7 systems.
XP and Vista users were not affected by this problem. Brite-View was able to find a workaround though so all would seem to be good in the world now.
The workaround involves heading into your system registry and changing the way that Windows 7 handles security for network shares.

Here is the work around they have right now for Windows 7

We want to create a shared folder in Windows 7 which may be shared with CinemaTube.

In order to create a password-free shared folder, we need to modify the 'Registry' on Windows 7.

In the following paragraph, we use 'MACHINE' instead of 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE'.

First, click on "Start". Type the command:
->regedit
...and execute it.

Look for and modify these parameters as the following:

MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetControlLsa
On the right side find 'everyoneincludesanonymous'; change the value to 1
Find 'NoLmHash' and change the value to 0

MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServicesLanManServerParameters à 'restrictnullsessaccess'; change the value to 0

Close the registry editor and restart the computer. Restart your CinemaTube as well using your remote control.

Understand that this also allows for anonymous access to any shares that include the everyone group so care should be taken to make sure that the everyone group does not have too high a level of access to your shares before using this edit to get your CinemaTube working with your Windows 7 install.