"It's yet another in a long series of diversions in an attempt to avoid responsibility." - Chris Knight
Archive for the ‘Software’ Category
gPhone Software: “Everything You Need To Run A Phone”
November 3rd, 2007 by iDunzo
Google’s Monday Revolution will be a suite of software based on Linux and codenamed “Android,” according to a story published at News.com.
This suite is implied to be an operating system (“it’s said to include everything you need to run a phone”) to be followed immediately thereafter by an SDK.
The rest of the story is standard gPhone preview: weasel-worded blather like “backed by some of the largest wireless industry companies in the world” and “carrier X is said to be heavily involved.”
Buried deep, however, are nuggets like JumpTap executive Dan Olschwang wondering if the whole thing is just a giant trap to get people to write expansions to Google’s software.
Tim Hanlon of Denuo points out that if the gPhone’s framework is anything like what’s described here, the carriers would be loathe to let it in their playground at all.
With all the buzz the past year or so with talks of a Google phone, would you be interested in Google gPhone software?
I’m all for this sort of “geek to the core” phone technology, especially if Google has a say in it.
Posted in Google + Software + Technology + Wireless | 
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Apple Pushes Out First Leopard Updates
October 29th, 2007 by iDunzo
Well that didn’t take long. Apple has already pushed out some Leopard-related upgrades that reportedly fix issues with Keychain passwords, Wi-Fi support, Aperture and Backup.
The most significant upgrade, and the only one that applies to all Leopard users, is the Login & Keychain Update 1.0.
The update addresses a rather obscure Keychain issue that affects accounts originally created in OS X 10.1, but also includes fixes for those having trouble “connecting to some 802.11b/g wireless networks.”
A couple of commenters on our Leopard first look story and other posts I’ve seen around the web reveal that the Wi-Fi troubles have plagued a fair number of users. Hopefully this update will fix the problem.
The other Leopard-related update released today is Aperture 1.5.6 which improves reliability when recovering Aperture libraries from a Vault (Aperture’s backup files) on Leopard, as well as a few other small fixes.
The updates are available through Software Update or directly from the Apple site using the links above.
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Apple Updates iLife Suite For Leopard
October 26th, 2007 by iDunzo
Apple has rolled out a set of updates for its iLife suite. Some are intended to improve compatibility with today’s launch of the new OS X 10.5 Leopard, but others are aimed at Tiger users as well.
Apple’s release notes offer little hint of what’s changed beyond the usual vague statements about stability enhancements, compatibility improvements and “other minor issues.”
Suffice to say these are not major upgrades unless you’re moving to Leopard.
I can tell you that the GarageBand 3.0.5 is solely for Leopard and didn’t even show up in Software Update on my Tiger install.
iDVD 6.0.4, however, seems to be intended for all users and reportedly “improves overall stability” in addition to providing Leopard compatibility.
The iLife support app has also been updated for Leopard and “improves overall stability, addresses a number of other minor issues, and supports general compatibility issues.”
Of course Apple recommends this update for all iLife ’08 users.
Since I plan to do a clean install of Leopard this afternoon, I’ve skipped the iLife updates for the time being, but I haven’t seen any reports of problems from those who have upgraded.
As always, YMMV and make sure you have a backup before diving in.
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AT&T Adds Napster For Wireless Customers
October 22nd, 2007 by iDunzo
AT&T said this morning that it will soon make available a music service from Napster, allowing its wireless customers to download more than five million full-track songs on their mobile devices.
AT&T customers will have a choice of downloading five tracks a month for $7.49 with the Napster Mobile Five-Track Pack plan or purchasing songs for $2 each without the plan.
Napster Mobile will come with a feature that sends a music track to a mobile device wirelessly and at the same time makes a duplicate copy available for download to a PC.
AT&T claims it is the only wireless carrier in the United States that will let customers buy full-track songs wirelessly from both Napster, a mainstream nationwide provider of digital music, and eMusic, the largest retailer of independent music.
The carrier was the first to offer the iPhone, which has a built-in iPod for listening to music and watching video. iPhone customers can purchase music from Apple’s iTunes store.
As a comparison, songs on iTunes cost 99 cents each. Apple last week slashed prices on copy-protection-free songs from $1.29 to 99 cents.
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Firefox 2.0.0.8 Released
October 19th, 2007 by iDunzo
Mozilla released Firefox 2.0.0.8 late last night and it’s highly recommended that you upgrade your install right away because of a nice list of security fixes.
The following security issues were fixed:
- URIs with invalid %-encoding mishandled by Windows
- XPCNativeWrapper pollution using Script object
- Possible file stealing through sftp protocol
- XUL pages can hide the window titlebar
- File input focus stealing vulnerability
- Browser digest authentication request splitting
- onUnload Tailgating
- Crashes with evidence of memory corruption (rv:1.8.1.8)
Firefox 2.0.0.8 is also compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), although there are some known issues affecting some media plugins.
Posted in Security Patches + Software + Technology + Web | Comments Off on Firefox 2.0.0.8 Released
Napster Overhaul Adds Web-Based Music Client
October 16th, 2007 by iDunzo
Napster is re-inventing itself yet again as it attempts to compete with iTunes and others in the online music business.
The new Napster 4.0 sees the company ditching its desktop application in favor of an browser-based client in an effort to expand its market.
That should be good news for Mac and Linux users who have, until 4.0, been locked out of Napster’s Windows-only model.
Napster’s service will remain subscription-based, with prices at $10 to $15 a month. You can still listen to samples for free, but you’ll only get 30 seconds worth.
The new web-based player sits in a pop-up window and behaves more or less like clients from Last.fm or Pandora.
The web-based client means you can access your music from a wider range of devices — at the very least you can fire it up from any computer.
Christopher Allen, chief operating officer at Napster, tells Reuters:
“with this new platform Napster can easily be integrated into consumer electronics devices or integrated into other Web sites such as social networking sites.”
Is Napster headed for your Facebook page? Certainly sounds like it, though no further details have been announced.
Napster claims around 770,000 subscribers, but lags far behind industry leader iTunes and with Amazon now in the digital downloads game, the market is increasingly crowded.
Napster tries to offer the best of both worlds — allowing streaming audio in the new web-client and subscription-based downloads but clearly most people seem to prefer the iTunes/Amazon buy-single-tracks model.
Posted in Geekery + Music + Software + Technology | Comments Off on Napster Overhaul Adds Web-Based Music Client
