Software & Apps - Page 190

Sony's PlayStation Suite SDK was shown off at the Tokyo Game Show in September, but Sony have just opened up the SDK application process for a closed beta test. This allows Windows XP and Windows 7 users in the US, UK and Japan to submit their credentials for early access.

For those who get approval from Sony will have the ability to develop apps for use on the PS Vista when it drops in February, 2012, along with the PS Suite - that "hardware-neutral" framework that will allow access from non-PlayStation branded products, including the Xperia Play, Tablet S and Tablet P, with the potential for third-party devices to come too.

The PlayStation Suite SDK uses the C# programming language, and doesn't require developers to have access to actual Sony hardware. You can apply to be a Sony developer by clicking the following link.

Opera Software have just rolled out a small update to their mobile browsers which includes some new features as well as the usual optimizations such as improved network performance and lower memory usage. Opera Mini 6.5 and Opera Mobile 11.5 now sport enhanced bookmarking functionality with a small star in the address field that lets you quickly save those links you want to keep and add them to your Speed Dial.

Opera have also added in a built-in data counter, found in the "Help" menu, the counter lets you monitor your data consumption, which could be very useful for data conscious users. Tracking your data consumption on your mobile plan is usually hard, requiring that you sign into your providers website or use an app to monitor it, but having it built into Opera (which is where a majority of your browsing will be done) is very handy indeed.

On top of this, it will gel well with Opera Turbo. Opera Turbo compresses web data by up to 90-percent before sending it to your phone. This is great for those on low data plans, mixed in with the data counter, you could keep a tab on your consumption very easily.

Google+ has added Instagram-like controls to its photo section. The section has always had basic editing, because Google+ shares its photo albums with Picasa, so any edits made there would bounce back. But now they're stepped it up a few notches and built it directly in. The new controls only work in the desktop version, and can be accessed by clicking the edit button when you're in the fullscreen light-box view and selecting "Creative Kit".

From there, you're launched into an editor which is powered by PicNik (my niece Alisha will love that). From here, you can crop and tweak photos, but also included is an Instagram-like filter where you can perform some powerful edits. Included is a "Sunless Tan" tool, which can do exactly what it says... you use a brush to apply the tan and somehow it works out where the edges are and turns anyone into a reality TV star ready for the Jersey Shore, b*tch.

Right now there is a seasonal toolkit: Halloween. This allows you to add blood spatter, gravestones, "Dracula Dermis", and other fun stuff to your pictures. The Creative Kit is Flash-powered, so if you were thinking you might hit it up by signing into the non-mobile version of Google+ from an iPad, you're completely out of luck.

AMD have invested an undisclosed amount of money into BlueStacks, a "venture-back firm" whose software allows Android apps to run "fast and full-screen" on Windows 7. I posted about BlueStacks earlier this month, and now we have AMD helping them. AMD aren't just helping them financially, either:

Manju Hegde, corporate vice president of AMD's Fusion Experience Program says:

My, my, how time has flown by. I still remember triple-booting my PC with Windows 98SE, Windows 2K and Windows XP, how has ten years gone by? Microsoft include the infographic below, which is not only cool, but it shows just how long ago 2001 was with all of the old technology (or lack thereof).

For example, in 2001 we have in-person meetings, now we have video conferencing. Working at the office, can now be done anywhere (such as me posting this news out to the world, I can do so in my boxer shorts and you wouldn't even know it - begin dreams, now). Chat rooms have been swapped for social networking, dial-up for broadband/Wi-Fi, and hard drives for "the cloud".

Microsoft also try to get people to upgrade by saying that batteries in smoke detectors, oil in your car, tires on your car, toothbrushes, and cell phones all require replacing at some point. I guess this is a push to "why haven't you upgraded to Windows 7 yet?". Going back to 2001, or Windows XP feels like a step into a time machine. Isn't it funny that at the time, it was so "magic" and "revolutionary", and now it feels like a bad hair-do, or those really embarrassing clothes that you wouldn't want to be caught dead in*.

Linux Kernel version 3.1 has popped its head up and offers support for a range of technologies such as Intel's Ivy Bridge and Cedar Trail chips, NFC and drivers for Wiimotes. It also has improved power management. It's available to download right now, but of course you may want to wait for the distro of your choice for an official update or release.

Its own summary sums it up quite well:

The Android Market has been maintaining exponential growth lately, but still lags behind Apple's App Store. In Q3, 2011 the number of active mobile applications in the Android Market was 319,161. Not bad, but considering Apple have 459,589 in the App Store, that's quite the stab in the chest.

But, looking deeper, research2guidance have said that Android developers are much more productive when compared to Apple's. They noticed that the averageAndroid-based publisher has placed more than 6 applications in the Market since launch, compared to just 4 apps on average for the iOS-based developers.

The actual total number of applications published on the Android Market was over 500,000 in September 2011. Where as Apple saw just over 600,000 successful submissions to their App Store: just 20-percent more. The problem here is that 37-percent of the applications published were later removed from the Android Market for various reasons; where Apple's App Store removed only 24-percent of published apps.

Razer introed Synapse five years ago now, which let gamers store macros, key binds, and profiles directly into their Razer devices' onboard memory. Today, they've taken this one step further by introducing Razer Synapse 2.0, which allows your personalised peripheral settings to sit in the cloud.

While this won't help everyone, it will be a great thing for users such as tournament gamers, or those who use more than one computer for gaming. The problem is with this, is that people still have to take around their mouse and keyboard, with Razer hardware storing it inside the peripheral itself, cloud-based peripheral settings don't really have a need, but as I said, there are still uses for it.

Synapse 2.0 does however make the process that much easier, saving time on re-binding keys, etc and takes it all down to a simple login and sync process. The software will also automatically download drivers, game add-ons, and firmware updates to ensure your Razer hardware is always up-to-date.

In a new posting on Microsoft's MSDN Blog pages we can get a better idea of how the search function available in the start menu will work, and it is indeed quite different to what we're used to with the likes of Windows 7.

While the start search in Windows 8 takes up a lot more space, it is a lot easier (and quicker) to make use of when it comes to looking for a program, file(s), or settings windows. As there will inevitably be a ton of apps included with Windows 8, which would only grow a lot more once all the 3rd party stuff starts getting installed, Microsoft has made the decision to split the search feature into three sections.

One section will focus solely on all the apps and programs installed; another will be dedicated to listing settings and Control Panel items, while the third will display files and gives a range of filters to trim down the search.

Well, its not everyday your smartphone can be a superhero, but for some poor fello in NYC, it seems the latest iPhone incarnation has. The MacRumors forum is buzzing from a story that this man found out that his wife was lying to him. The man is actually already filing for divorce, and you can find all of the details in the below quote and picture:

Of course, this news does raise some serious concerns. Privacy for one... yes this woman may (I can't prove this) have been cheating, but it was only through an Apple device that she was found out. Her husband had to enable an app in her phone to do this, so if she was not in fact cheating, that is a breach of her privacy from her husbands paranoia. Second, this now creates buzz across the world, thousands if not, millions of people who had never heard of Find My Friends will now be using this application.