More Than Get Dollars

Beautiful Earth Screensaver 6.5

2009-01-22T11:00:00.000-08:00

Earth weather is a desktop wallpaper generator and screen saver. Earth weather shows you how the earth looks like from the space at this very moment o

You can see which parts of the earth are enjoying the sun light. And in night areas you can see the city lights. With real time clouds, weather information, and time zones for cities around the world.

Version 6.5 improves graphics.

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WindowBlinds 6.3

2009-01-21T03:56:00.000-08:00

Customize the look and feel of Windows XP and Windows Vista with WindowBlinds. It's a Windows utility that enables users to personalize nearly every aspect of the Windows graphical user interface.

WindowBlinds can 'skin' your title bars, push buttons, Start bar, radio buttons, and nearly every other part of Windows. There are thousands of freely available skins to choose from. Use WindowBlinds to make Windows look like another operating system (Mac, Linux) or give it your own unique look and feel. You can also create your own skins using the freely available SkinStudio. WindowBlinds eliminates the need for any stay-resident program and its design actually uses less memory and resources than the default Windows XP and Windows Vista visual styles. It also takes advantage of hardware acceleration on modern video cards to increase performance over the default Windows XP/Vista experience.

Version 6.3 adds new layering effects to windows, faster performance, and texture options for skins.

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FaviconizeTab 0.9.8.2

2009-01-21T03:55:00.001-08:00

This extension adds a new "FaviconizeTab" option to the context menu of the tab. When it is clicked, The width of the tab becomes small up to the size of favicon. It returns to the former size when "FaviconizeTab" is clicked again.

Version 0.9.8.2 is a minor bug-fix release.

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FaviconizeTab 0.9.8.2

2009-01-21T03:55:00.000-08:00

PhotoScape 3.3

2009-01-20T05:07:00.000-08:00

PhotoScape is an all-in-one style photo editor with fun and ease of use.

Major capabilities are: viewer, editor, batch editor, page, combine, animated GIF, print, splitter, screen capture, color picker, rename, raw converter, resizing, brightness/color/white-balance adjustment, backlight correction, frames, balloons, text, drawing pictures, cropping, filters, red eye removal and blooming. PhotoScape has been used for two years and is expanding its features continuously.

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Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition 8.0

2009-01-20T05:03:00.000-08:00

With behavior-based threat detection and integrated real-time monitoring, Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition focuses on core consumer security needs. Instead of adding layers of bells and whistles--thereby slowing your computer and scans down--we have decided to focus on what really matters.

Anniversary Edition provides advanced threat protection, and is significantly lighter and faster than our previous versions.

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Infibia Easy Tools for Vista 2008 1.20

2009-01-17T06:29:00.000-08:00

Infibia Easy Tools for Vista helps keep your PC optimized and running at top efficiency and speed while making your life easier.

The program identifies problems and repairs your Windows Vista by itself. No learning curve. High ease of use. 10 easy to use tools for Windows Vista that will improve your PC performance, speed up your programs and Internet connection, diagnose PC problems and tweak your PC for optimal results.

Version 1.20 adds new functionalities and fixes few bugs.

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Password Safe 3.15.1

2009-01-17T06:28:00.000-08:00

Password Safe is a password database utility. Users can keep their passwords securely encrypted on their computers.

A single Safe Combination unlocks them all.

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Firmware Update v1.08 for Palm Treo 755p

2009-01-17T06:09:00.000-08:00

A new firmware update released by Sprint for the Palm Treo 755p has been spotted into the wild, one that is stated to fix the Palm Treo 755p. At the same time, the new firmware v1.08 is expected to be able improve the overall stability of the QWERTY-equipped smartphone.

The description of the update on the Palm's website states the following: “This software patch is for a phone reset issue that occurs under certain specific and rare conditions. Download this patch only if you are experiencing reset issues with your phone on a regular basis.” Additionally, the page also shows the firmware release as being dated a few months ago, yet neither Palm nor Sprint have mentioned anything about it until now.

The Palm 755p on Altel saw similar issues back in June 2008, and a fix was released at that time to properly address it. According to some voices over the Internet, this might be the same bug, and the solution to be resorted to could also be the one seen before. At the same time, Palm's site states clearly that this firmware update is meant for use on a Treo 755p for Sprint only.

The update's page on Palm's website reads that the firmware upgrade should be performed by any 755p user who has a device running with the 1.04 or the 1.07 version of the software. Those willing to perform the upgrade should also take into consideration the fact that they need to have installed the latest version of the Palm Desktop software on their computers.
As far as the same issue is concerned, users are additionally warned to perform data backup before proceeding to the firmware upgrade. Detailed information on the system requirements for the upgrade, as well as on the necessary steps that need be taken, can be found on Palm's site. The new firmware v1.08 for the Palm Treo 755p is also available for download on the same page.

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.32

2009-01-12T06:26:00.000-08:00

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware is an anti-malware application that can thoroughly remove even the most advanced malware. It includes a number of features, including a built in protection monitor that blocks malicious processes before they even start.

Version 1.32 adds better detection for the Vundo infection.

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Better call quality for the iPhone

2009-01-12T06:24:00.000-08:00

Wilson Electronics may not have the flashiest products or the glitziest booth at CES, but it does offer some of the best cell phone signal amplifiers around. At the show the company announced the iBooster, a new amplifier designed specifically for the Apple iPhone. The product promises to boost both reception and call quality, which are two very different things. Though it's designed primarily for use in a car, you also can use it inside a building.

In the box you'll find a cradle that can accommodate both the iPhone classic and the iPhone 3G. And thanks to a special adapter, it also fits the iPhone 3G with a case. The cradle has a dual purpose; not only does it keep the phone in one place while you're on go, but it also charges your iPhone. As with Wilson's other products, you must attach a stubby antenna to your car's roof and run a cord through your door to the cradle. It requires power through a cigarette lighter adapter, but that comes in the box as well.

The iBooster should be available by April for $349. That may sound like a lot of money for a signal booster, but the benefit of better reception may just be worth it. Wilson is also releasing a version of the product for the BlackBerry Curve and a universal model that will accommodate a variety of cell phones.

Palm Pre wins Best of CES 2009 and People's Voice Award

2009-01-12T06:19:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, CNET, in partnership with the Consumer Electronics Association, handed out its Best of CES 2009 Awards, including Best in Show and the People's Voice Award and this year's big winner? The Palm Pre.

The Palm Pre smartphone took home both honors and became the first cell phone/smartphone to win the Best in Show since CNET started presenting the Best of CES awards in 2006. The went up against some stiff competition, including the Sony DSC-G3 and the Sony P-series Lifestyle PC. So why the Pre?

Well, it was a combination of things. First, and most important in our opinion, the Palm Pre along with the new Palm Web OS, brings an innovative way to how you interact with your device and how it organizes information. The Deck of Cards feature truly makes multi-tasking on your smartphone a breeze, and the Synergy functionality pulls in all your personal management information (e-mail, contacts, and calendar) from various sources into one place. Sure, other devices and operating systems have made similar attempts, but from what we've seen, the Palm Pre is the first smartphone to truly deliver on this in a seamless way.

We also liked the best-of-breed design, as the Pre offers a multi-touch screen that rivals the iPhone and even one-ups Apple's smartphone with a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard. The list of features is long and impressive, including a full HTML Web browser, a full range of wireless options, and multimedia capabilities. Palm will also offer an App Store and since the Palm Web OS was built with developers in mind, we expect the smartphone's capabilities and uses will only expand.

It's pretty evident that Palm put a lot of thought into the user interface, design, and features, as everything seamlessly works together to offer the best user experience and making the smartphone a really useful tool in your daily life. Obviously, this is a huge win for Palm, a company that has come under harsh criticism for its lack of innovation and struggles to keep up the competition, but it looks like Palm stepped up to the plate and hit one out of the park. It will be interesting to see where the Palm Pre stands in a year and whether it delivers on all this hype, but for now, we'll let Palm bask in its victory. Congratulations to Palm and all the Best of CES winners and finalists.

SiteLauncher 0.9.3

2009-01-09T01:00:00.000-08:00

SiteLauncher is an add-on for Firefox that gives you a super-quick way to to open your favorite Web sites using only your keyboard. One special hotkey brings up the Launcher (shown right), followed by a unique key to launch a site.

SiteLauncher is especially useful as a super-fast method for opening Web sites you use often throughout the day, for example, many people would probably want to add Google, Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter to SiteLauncher --what sites to include is entirely up to you. SiteLauncher also minimizes clutter, because the Launcher only appears when you press the hotkey.

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WinBubble 1.76

2009-01-08T01:00:00.000-08:00

In just two clicks, WinBubble will help you to customize and tweak your Windows Vista easily. Its features cover customization, security and optimization.

Windows customizations: add/edit OEM logo and information, edit owner information, context menu customizations, customize screensaver (bubbles, ribbon, and mystify), customize and remove the arrow on shortcut icons, desktop icons: show IE, computer, network, control panel, user name folder and public folder to desktop, hacking Windows experience score, re-enable hibernation, show Windows Vista build on desktop, enable slow-down animations, enable/disable Welcome Center.

Version 1.76 added message box in Deleting All IE History, updated IE7 & IE8 Restrictions Policy.

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CryptoLab 1.02.2

2009-01-07T17:09:00.000-08:00

CryptoLab is a cryptography application for Microsoft Windows, and incorporates text-based encryption / decryption through the use of plug-in cipher modules.

Advanced features include: Plug-in cipher modules; Advanced pseudo-random key generation; Key Manager storage utility, full password protection, integrated SMTP email support, PDF, HTML and Word Document export options, statistics calculator. Version 1.02.2 includes auto-update feature and includes new encryption modules.

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New HP Ultraportable With AMD Neo chip

2009-01-05T23:18:00.000-08:00

Another Netbook? No, not exactly. Hewlett-Packard's new Pavilion dv2 is an ultraportable, thank you. And the new Athlon Neo silicon inside from Advanced Micro Devices will try to prove that point.

AMD is introducing new chips at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that target the no-man's land between Netbooks and notebooks. Typically, these designs are referred to as ultraportables--the most salient examples being Apple's MacBook Air, the Toshiba Portege, and the Sony Vaio TT series.

So what makes AMD's platform different? In one word, price. Ultraportables fall into the boutique category of laptops: very stylish, very slim, very light--and very expensive. Usually ranging between $1,500 and $3,000. HP's notebook with Athlon Neo silicon cuts the price in half. The Pavilion dv2 will start at $699 and top out at $899 for standard configurations. HP 12-inch Pavilion dv2 ultraportable starts at $699, at least half the price of traditional ultraportable notebooks like the MacBook Air, Toshiba Portege, and Sony Vaio TT series.
(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)

The dv2, at 3.8 pounds, is slightly heavier than ultraportables that typically weigh between 2.5 and 3 pounds. It is 0.9-inches thick, slightly thicker than more expensive ultraportables like the MacBook Air.

But the Pavilion dv2 will pack features such as an AMD-ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 separate (discrete) graphics chip, a relatively large hard disk drive (HP lists drives up to 500GB), and a 12.1-inch LED screen. Features that differentiate it from Netbooks and put it squarely into ultraportable territory.

The dv2 will also come with WWAN (Wireless Wide Area Network) options as well as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Bahr Mahony, AMD's manager of mobile products, said in an interview that one of the few ultraportables available today with discrete graphics is the MacBook Air, but this starts at a whopping $1,800. (The Air uses Nvidia's GeForce 9400M graphics and Intel's Core 2 Duo low-voltage processors.)

The Athlon Neo platform can handle 1080p HD playback and a "casual" gaming experience with realistic 3D graphics, using the optional ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 graphics chip.

AMD's Athlon Neo processor--formerly code-named "Huron" under the platform codename "Yukon"--runs at 1.6GHz and has a power envelope of 15 watts, comparable to Intel ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) Core 2 Duo processors that power ultraportables today.

AMD's Neo does fall short in one respect, however. Currently it is only single-core, whereas Intel ULV processors are dual-core at a comparable power envelope, and, moreover, typically integrate 6MB level-2 cache memory to boost performance. AMD's Neo has only 512K of cache memory.

A dual-core chip, code-named "Conesus," will come in the second half of this year, according to AMD's Mahoney.

The first HP Pavilion dv2 ultrathin notebook is expected to be available from HP in the second quarter.

Palm Releases Its Own App Store

2008-12-17T23:58:00.000-08:00

In the year since Palm released the Centro as an attempt to revive its lagging business, I've barely heard a whisper about new applications or energy for the Treo and Centro lines. Yet late Monday night, the device maker released its own app store download for Centro and Treo users to more easily access the applications.

The arrival of Palm's free app store--for both Windows Mobile and Palm operating systems--was undoubtedly spurred on by the success of Apple's iPhone App Store, Google's Android Market, and the upcoming BlackBerry app store that's slated to debut in March.

Palm's nexus of downloads includes over 5,000 applications, about a fifth of them freebies. Yet with the exception of Facebook, few appear to be the fresh takes on multimedia and social networking that have defined modern applications. A press release trumpets Nursing Central, Encyclopedia Britannica, Pac-Man, Tetris, and Fish Tycoon as its hot apps.

While Palm may hope its storefront will coax developers to submit variations of their innovative iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android apps to the store, the offering so far adds little strength to Palm's lagging market position.

Still, getting an app store out before BlackBerry does provide some credibility. More importantly, it will undoubtedly please existing Palm users, the most important ingredient for Palm's continued existence in the vicious and volatile mobile marketplace.

What Gmail Does Better Than Its Competitors

2008-12-17T23:30:00.000-08:00

As someone who spends an inordinate amount of time wading through e-mails, finding the best e-mail service is paramount in my life.

Realizing that, I've done my fair share of shuffling from one e-mail program to the next--trying to find the best service that not only offers speed and stability, but also reliability and spam control. And although e-mail services are getting better, it's abundantly clear that few offer the kind of experience I'm really looking for in an e-mail client. But Google's Gmail app is different. It's better than its competition on a number of levels and provides the kind of e-mail experience that's simply unrivaled online.

Spam, Spam, Spam

I've used practically every e-mail service on the Web and I can say, without a doubt, that Gmail blocks the most spam. To those who open a new account, spam may not be a serious concern. Your spam folder will likely remain empty for a while until your new e-mail address makes its way into the wild. But for my e-mail address, which is widely available and easily attainable, spam is a constant headache.

On services like Yahoo Mail, Windows Live Hotmail, and AOL Mail, the spam blocker tried but failed on too many occasions. In fact, dealing with spam in my already bloated in-box was a daily occurrence that got worse as more messages piled up. But Gmail is different. Right now, I have thousands of messages sitting in my spam folder that never made their way to my in-box. Even better, I can say with all honesty that I only see about two or three spam messages per day in my in-box--not perfect, but much better than anything the competition is offering.

Google Apps

Maybe it's not fair to compare e-mail clients on the basis of additional apps, but I'll do it anyway. After all, Google is competing with the likes of Yahoo and AOL--two major Web companies--and I don't see why these two can't release apps that provide an even greater value proposition to users.

There's something so appealing about receiving an e-mail from someone who attached a Word document or Excel spreadsheet and being given the option to open that attachment in Google Docs. And being able to switch to Google Calendar and Reader from Gmail cuts down on time spent on managing my day. Maybe that functionality appeals to me because I prefer using apps like Google Calendar and Reader to keep me organized and "in the know", but I honestly can't see myself using another e-mail client knowing how invested I am in other Google apps. Suffice to say that my affinity for Gmail stretches beyond e-mail.

Filters

Gmail's filter feature is the best in the business. Period. Unlike its competitors, which try to provide a filter tool that simply re-routes incoming messages, Gmail delivers a power user's dream. In a matter of seconds, you can create a filter that searches through all incoming mail looking for specific people or keywords and once found, immediately categorizes it into a specific folder, forwards it on to someone else, or moves it to the trash, to name just a few functions.

With the help of Filters, using Gmail becomes an even more rewarding experience. Gone are the days of spending big chunks of your time attempting to find just one e-mail that's lost in a collection of thousands. Other e-mail services try desperately to provide the same kind of filter features, but they fall flat. In my experience, messages are either missed, the filter has performs the wrong function, or simply not ends up not working. In fact, Yahoo Mail's filter feature works only in its Classic e-mail app and according to the company, won't be available in the new interface until it's done "tweaking the Yahoo! Mail Filters option." Yikes.

Annoying ads

Anyone who has used Yahoo Mail, AOL Mail, or Windows Live Hotmail knows all too well that the annoying ads are in abundance. But when you load up Gmail, it's an entirely different story.

Sure, there are ads on Gmail, but unlike the other services, they're not intrusive in any way. I never notice them when I'm working with the program, but when I load up Yahoo Mail or try out Hotmail, I'm inundated with ugly display ads that reduce the service's screen real estate and generally take away from the experience. Granted, ads don't have any impact on the viability of an e-mail service, but doesn't it stand to reason that if you're not forced to look at blinking ads while working in your e-mail, you'll be a happier user?

I certainly think so.

Conversation Displays

I realize there are many people out there who enjoy the "classic" style of displaying e-mails based on their arrival, but I'm not one of them. I like that Gmail groups an entire e-mail conversation into one and forgoes the use of individual strands. The latter strikes me as outdated and useless today in a world of constant e-mail communication.

That said, I realize my opinion isn't the most popular. Yahoo and AOL Mail are more popular than Gmail and each employs the "old" display style, suggesting that users prefer that over Gmail's style. But I think that's more of a reaction to what users know than to what they would like. In fact, I'm willing to bet that if those people were forced to use Gmail for a week, the vast majority would dump Yahoo or AOL in favor of Google's client as soon as a flurry of e-mails between two parties broke out and they needed to go back to find a particular message. Finding that message couldn't be easier in Gmail.

Adobe Squeezes AIR Out of Beta for Linux Users

2008-12-17T23:25:00.000-08:00

Adobe Systems on Wednesday is taking the Linux version of its Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) product out of beta, and bringing it up to speed with the versions available for Windows and Mac users.

The new version differs from previous beta versions of AIR for Linux by fully supporting Flash 10 which includes such niceties as 3-D effects, high resolution text rendering, custom filters, and support for digital rights management (DRM). These features are important for media intensive applications like photo and video editing tools, and applications like Adobe's AIR-based media player software, which make use of the DRM support to serve up protected content.

The update is also an important step toward unifying AIR across all three major computing platforms. The Windows and Mac versions of AIR were able to take advantage of certain features that the Linux version could not--it fragmented which apps Linux users were able to run. Most recently this happened with the popular Twitter client Twhirl, which became unusable for Linux users after requiring the latest spec of AIR to run special Flash 10 features.

Adrian Ludwig, Adobe's product manager for platform, says his company intends to keep all three versions up to date, and roll out future updates at the same time. In practice this will let developers write an application that does not require any special coding to get it to run on all the platforms. More importantly, it would keep situations like the one with Twirl from ever happening again.

Additionally Ludwig says one of the hurdles of developing for Linux has been compatibility. "Less than 2 percent of clients are using Linux," he said. "It's challenging to deliver applications to such a small market." Ludwig says he thinks that having such a platform that offers cross compatibility like AIR offers will bring in new developers that might have previously never thought of building their applications for something other than Windows.

Ludwig says the next frontier for AIR is getting it into handheld devices, starting with "mid-mobile" devices, something that was outlined at last month's Adobe Max Conference. Also worth noting is that this new Linux version is only compatible with three variants of the operating system including Ubuntu 7.1 and higher, Fedora 8.1 and higher, and Open SUSE 10.3 and higher.

Nebulous Cloud Computing

2008-12-17T23:22:00.000-08:00

When discussing cloud computing, I often think of Joni Mitchell's haunting lyrics from the song, Both Sides Now. In Mitchell's world, clouds can be wonderful "ice cream castles in the air" or annoying disturbances that "only block the sun." This duality prompts Mitchell to declare, "It's clouds illusions I recall, I really don't know clouds at all."

Joni's cloud confusion mirrors current industry bewilderment over cloud computing. Like many other industry initiatives, cloud computing has a number of meanings. Here are a few:

Cloud processing. To me, this is the foundational notion of cloud computing where businesses can rent MIPS (millions of instructions per second)-- a measure of computing capacity-- for computationally intense processing tasks. This is very attractive for basic research and should appeal to universities and small companies that can't afford supercomputers. Nevertheless, this will remain a niche market. On another note, didn't we call this grid computing a few years ago?
Cloud infrastructure. Remember Exodus and Storage Networks? Cloud infrastructure is a more modern version of these Internet boom icons. AboveNet, Rackspace, and Savvis have been making money on basic hosting services for years, but most large companies still want control of their IT assets and are willing to over-provision to maintain control. Cloud infrastructure also brings up tons of privacy concerns, just ask computing godfather Richard Stallman. This area will also remain small.
Internal clouds. The idea here is to set up an IT service and then chargeback for usage. While the cloud folks equate this to a utility services (i.e. simply plug and receive compute and storage capacity) this too is nothing new. Remember IBM's "autonomous computing" initiative? We are still a long way away from this type of simplicity.
Software as a service. Everyone points to Salesforce.com as a model of success and it truly is. Beyond CRM, there are also plenty of successful SaaS offerings for e-mail, security, payroll, etc. Ten years ago, we called these folks ASPs and MSPs. Some, like Salesforce.com, were wildly successful, but most, like Jamcracker, are either ancient history or barely hanging on. This will be where the action is. Why dedicate capital budget dollars toward on-site e-mail security appliances when Google, Symantec, and Trend Micro can provide this as an operational service?

Small businesses that lack capital or human resources are extremely likely to purchase cloud services. I certainly see this in the security market where the volume and sophistication of attacks are far too difficult for overwhelmed IT generalists lacking deep security skills. That said however, we've been throwing the utility "plug-in-the-wall" analogy around for 15 years. Yes, we've made progress toward this goal but the technology and regulatory landscape has also grown more complex in the interim. Are we any closer to this utility nirvana?

Oracle's Larry Ellison recently scoffed at cloud computing by saying that technology vendors were as fashion conscious as the women's garment industry. I couldn't agree more and have no idea why VCs are funding so many fly-by-night cloud companies. Based on my IT industry experience, IT tends to seek help in two areas: tactical high cost operations (think desktop outsourcing), or tasks that demand specialized skills (think security, Web 2.0 expertise, ITIL, etc.). Cloud computing changes the way these services are delivered but little else.

Toshiba To Show 512GB Solid-State Drive At CES

2008-12-17T23:12:00.000-08:00

Toshiba said Wednesday that it will showcase a 512GB solid-state drive at the Consumer Electronics Show next month and begin shipments in the second quarter of 2009.

To date, this would be one of the largest-capacity solid-state drives for use in laptops and come close to matching the size of mobile hard-disk drives.

Samsung has begun mass production of a 256GB SSD and Micron Technology is readying a 256GB drive that will ship in March.

Toshiba said it is releasing a broad family of "fast read/write SSDs" based on 43-nanometer Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND flash technology that will be showcased at CES. MLC technology allows solid-state drive makers to deliver higher capacity drives at lower prices.

In addition to the 2.5-inch 512GB drive, the new series of Toshiba drives also includes capacities of 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB, offered in 1.8-inch or 2.5-inch drive enclosures or as SSD Flash Modules, the company said in a statement.

Samples of the new drives will be available in the first quarter of 2009, with mass production slated for the second quarter, in the April to June time frame, according to the company.

No pricing information was immediately available.

The drives achieve a maximum sequential read speed of 240MB per second (MBps) and maximum sequential write speed of 200MBps. This is roughly the same read-write speeds offered by Samsung on its 256GB SSD.

Toshiba said it sees SSDs growing to approximately 25 percent of the notebook market by 2012.

Kaspersky Online Virus Scanner

2008-12-17T23:04:00.000-08:00

Kaspersky Online Virus Scanner is a free online virus scanner to find out if you have any viruses or spyware on your machine without having to uninstall your current antivirus software or install a new one. Most importantly, you can see what viruses your current antivirus software let slip through. You just need to be online and using Internet Explorer.

Note: When using this service for the first time, you have to run with Administrator privileges in order to install the product. Also, you will need to download and install files about 400 KB in size followed by 9 MB of virus definitions. However, if you use the Online Scanner again, you will only need to download the files that have been updated since your last scan. The Online Scanner service offered by Kaspersky Lab uses Microsoft ActiveX technology. Microsoft ActiveX Technology and the Kaspersky Online Scanner work only with MS Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher. The free Kaspersky Online Scanner does not scan boot sectors and MBRs, so it cannot detect malicious code located in these areas. The free Kaspersky Online Scanner does not protect against malicious code, and cannot prevent future infections. It only detects malware that has already penetrated your computer. We strongly recommend that you install a full antivirus solution to protect your system.

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Ashampoo WinOptimizer 6

2008-12-17T23:00:00.000-08:00

Ashampoo's extensive pool of knowledge about Windows optimization is the basis for Ashampoo WinOptimizer. The program is designed to enable both novice and advanced users to cleanse and optimize their Windows system and adapt it to their own needs.

Easy-to-use menus present the individual modules of Ashampoo WinOptimizer and make it possible to measure system performance, deactivate annoying autostart entries, or delete unnecessary files, all with a mouse click.

Version 6 adds a new predictive disk defragmenter, a new anti-spy module, a new favorites tab, and other bug fixes.

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MediaMonkey Standard 3.0.6.1190

2008-12-16T12:52:00.000-08:00

MediaMonkey is the music manager for serious music collectors and iPod users. It catalogs CDs, AAC, OGG, WMA, FLAC, MP3 and other audio files, including contemporary and classical music, audiobooks, podcasts, etc. It offers multiple tools for looking up and editing tags, and an automated library organizer to organize files on the hard drive.

It includes a CD ripper, CD/DVD Burner, and audio converter for saving music, and advanced playlisting for creating music mixes. Its player automatically adjusts volume levels and supports a Party mode that locks the UI for use at public events. It syncs tracks, playlists, and podcasts to portable audio devices such as iPhones, iPods, MP3 Phones, and other devices, and supports hundreds of scripts, plug-ins and visualizations to extend its functionality further.

Version 3.0.6.1190 adds support for the iPhone 3G and new iPod Touch.

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Qualcomm Aims Chip at Tiny, Always-on Laptop

2008-12-16T12:49:00.000-08:00

Qualcomm's four-year, $350 million effort to design a chip that goes into small notebooks and handhelds will come to fruition next year when device makers deliver products based on the Snapdragon processor.

I spent Friday morning at Qualcomm discussing the San Diego company's quest to build a processor for very small, very lightweight notebooks--what the Intel camp calls a Netbook.

Though Qualcomm's prototype looks like a Netbook on the outside, the Snapdragon technology inside is quite different from Intel's Atom silicon, which powers dozens of Netbooks on the market today.

And what's inside goes to the heart of how Qualcomm separates itself from Intel.

"Intel is a great company. I think they have great talent. But we believe there are limitations in the (Intel) architecture," said Manjit Gill, director of product management, Connected and Consumer Products Group, at Qualcomm. In short, he thinks Intel technology is wrong for this market, which values connectivity above processing power.

"Our vision is that (the device is) always connected. Even when you shut it down, it's still 'on.' (The laptop) goes to your Exchange server, gets your e-mail, puts it on the drive--solid-state or hard drive--and then when you're ready to do e-mail, you flip it open and it's right there. Instant on, always connected," Gill said.

"The question is, can you enable the same value proposition on an Intel platform?" Gill's answer, not surprisingly, is no. "Two or three hours later the battery's just completely drained out. You cannot rely on it to be there all day long in your bag and still getting all your e-mail."

And Snapdragon contains the technology that will enable Qualcomm to build an un-Intel, un-Netbook type of device, Gill claims.

Though becoming too un-Intel presents a challenge. Intel has consistently countered arguments like Qualcomm's by saying that consumers want to stay plugged into its x86 architecture that runs Windows and all the software and applications that go along with Windows. And this has been one of the reasons that Atom-based Netbooks have become so popular, so fast.

"Of course, Atom and Snapdragon are completely different beasts," said Tom R. Halfhill, a senior analyst at the Microprocessor Report. "Atom is an x86 processor with little integration. Snapdragon (has) more integrated features. In terms of real-world performance, Atom is much faster than Snapdragon."

But one of the big goals, according to Gill, was to build something that exceeds the current ARM processors found in hundreds of consumer devices today. (ARM is a design house that licenses its chip designs to companies such as Samsung, Nvidia, and Qualcomm.)

"About four years ago we had a bunch of guys join (who) used to work for IBM in the PowerPC group," Gill said. He said the engineers came from IBM's chip group that designs chips for low-power "embedded" devices.

The new team was tasked to turbocharge typical ARM designs that were "maxing out" at about 500MHz, which isn't enough speed to deliver the experience that Qualcomm is aiming for. (Intel's Atom for Netbooks, by comparison, now maxes out at 1.6GHz.)

"There was a need to go do something beyond this. So, we went and got the architecture license (from ARM) and we have this team of about 50 CPU designers and we put them to task. So, four years and $350 (million) to $400 million later, we have a CPU that actually works better than the (typical) ARM CPU."

The piece de resistance of this strategy is the Qualcomm QSD8672 dual-core Snapdragon that features two CPU computing cores capable of 1.5GHz performance, and a host of other features includes HSPA+, up to 28Mbps download speeds, 1080p high-definition video, Wi-Fi, mobile TV, and GPS. The graphics core is based on Advanced Micro Devices' ATI unit's technology.

Qualcomm is able to achieve this relatively high speed (1.5GHz) for a low-power processor because it did more than simply get a license from ARM. "We went and got an architecture license from ARM. The architecture license was for their new instruction set, the V7 instruction set. There's a difference between getting an architecture license and just getting a core license. A core license means ARM does the (chip) core and they give it to you. The architecture license is different: the actual implementation is your own," he said.

The 45-nanometer processor will be built by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

Though Qualcomm won't necessarily build the laptops itself, the company's vision for how they will be used is clear. "We don't view these as laptop replacements. We don't think these are the devices people will use to do Photoshop editing or anything like that," he said. "Browse the Web, check your e-mail. At $399, or a carrier subsidizes it further to $199. (At this price), it becomes very, very compelling."

Companies including Acer, Asus, and Toshiba are planning devices based on Snapdragon, according to Qualcomm. Acer, for example, will initially introduce Qualcomm's Gobi 3G modem into its devices, then gravitate to products based on Snapdragon.

Vendetta Online 1.8.51

2008-12-15T02:15:00.000-08:00

Vendetta Online is a massive multiplayer game that permits thousands of players to interact as the pilots of spaceships in a vast universe. Users may build their characters in any direction they desire, becoming rich captains of industry, military heros, or outlaws.

A fast-paced, realtime "twitch" style combat model gives intense action, coupled with the backdrop of RPG gameplay in a massive online galaxy. Three major player factions form a delicate balance of power, with several NPC sub-factions creating situations of economic struggle, political intrigue and conflict. The completely persistent universe and detailed storyline add to the depth of immersion, resulting in a unique online experience.

Note: This is a free trial. You get 8 in-game hours before you will need to subscribe at $9.95/month. You will not need to enter a credit card for this trial.

Download Here

Intuit backtracks On New TurboTax Fees

2008-12-14T10:33:00.000-08:00

In response to a customer revolt on the Internet, Intuit has decided to eliminate fees it introduced with TurboTax 2008 that would charge users for preparing multiple returns.

The maker of the popular tax-preparation program announced Thursday that it would drop the $9.95 fee it introduced with this year's release, while still maintaining free e-filing for its customers.

"We're responding to changing market conditions and customer feedback," Dan Maurer, general manager of Intuit's consumer division, said in a statement. "We believe this better positions TurboTax in the marketplace with an even stronger value proposition for consumers."

The reversal comes as the software maker grappled with an Internet protest from longtime customers that included an overwhelmingly subpar rating by Amazon.com reviewers, as well as a bevy of negative comments on Intuit's own user message boards. Many users, who said they also prepare returns for elderly parents and young children, complained that the new fees would double the cost of using the software compared with last year.

Many Amazon reviewers used the online retailer's feedback section to vent their frustration, with some users calling the new fees a "scam" and "unjustifiable and unsubstantiated."

The avalanche of outrage is reminiscent of the well-publicized and coordinated user revolt against the digital rights management restrictions on Electronic Arts' game Spore, which resulted in more than 2,000 one-star ratings being left on the game's Amazon page.

Company representatives defended the new charges to me a few days ago, saying that users would actually save money because e-filing was included in this year's version.

Many readers responded that they were so upset by the new fee that they would not be purchasing the product this year, but it's unclear whether this reversal will lure back users who defected.

Google Chrome 'Coming Out of Beta'

2008-12-13T20:25:00.000-08:00

Google's Chrome Web browser is coming out of beta testing, according to a TechCrunch report Wednesday.

Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of user experience, told TechCrunch's Mike Arrington as much in an interview at Le Web 08, according to the report. However, there was no word about when the move might take place.

One possibility would be to announce it Thursday at Add-on-Con, a conference about browser extensions at which Nick Baum, a product manager on Google Chrome, is scheduled to speak on a panel about the future of Web browsers. Also on the panel are Joshua Allen, senior technical evangelist for Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and Mike Shaver, vice president of engineering for Firefox builder Mozilla.

Taking the browser out of beta would doubtless fulfill Google's ambition to let business partners, such as computer makers, bundle Chrome on their systems. Google launched the first beta version in September.

However, Chrome is still rough around the edges to be a version 1.0 product. New Chrome developer releases arrive frequently to stamp out bugs. Hotmail only works with Chrome if users launch it with a particular command-line option to fool Microsoft's e-mail site into thinking it's not using Chrome. And at least for me, even Google's own Google's Zeitgeist 2008 Web site doesn't work properly in Chrome: the country-specific pop-ups are cut off at the bottom of the browser view. (The same pop-up issue arises in Internet Explorer and Safari, but not in Firefox.)

Also, although Chrome has been in development internally at Google for years, it's curious that the company would take Chrome out of beta when it's resisted the impulse to do the same with Gmail and several other high-profile projects.

Chrome works only on Windows for now, though Google is working on a Mac version and a Linux version.

LimeWire 4.18

2008-12-13T11:01:00.000-08:00

LimeWire is the world's fastest P2P file-sharing application for all types of computer files, including music, video, pictures, games, and text documents. Other features include dynamic querying, file previews during download, advanced techniques for locating rare files, and an easy, clean user interface.

LimeWire's new spam blocker gets rid of junk results, and automatic updates will keep you sharing faster than ever with the latest version. You can search for Creative Commons and Weedshare licensed files, and publish your own creative works with Creative Commons licensing. LimeWire continues its guarantee of no adware or spyware. Includes a built-in bittorent support. Version 4.18 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.

Download Here

A Worthy Windows Mobile Update

2008-12-10T20:38:00.000-08:00

Skype for Windows Mobile 2.5 beta, released on Tuesday, essentially brings changes made to Skype's desktop VoIP client to Windows Smartphones and Windows Pocket PCs.

The application's display is compact, intuitive, and full-featured.

The mobile version places tabs for your various actions at the bottom of the app. By switching among them, you'll be able to change your online status and see missed calls and instant messages, initiate IMs, or place a call to your contact's Skype account, mobile number, or land line if you've purchased Skype Out. There's also a dialing pad to directly dial a call using an international format.

Like Skype's desktop beta, this Windows Mobile version highlights instant messages. It supports emoticons, but file transferring is what we'd really like to see, and what competitor Fring (downloads) already offers on Symbian phones.

The call quality is going to vary based on your phone model, your headphones, and how fast and stable your data connection is. Test calls were excellent on the Samsung Omnia. The app's biggest drawback--on the touch-screen Omnia at least--is that the tiny icons and links are difficult to accurately press.

As a whole, however, Skype's Windows Mobile beta is good enough to recommend to Windows Mobile users with overseas connections who may have been on the fence about opening a Skype account.

Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus 8.2.0.337

2008-12-09T11:04:00.000-08:00

Avira AntiVir Personal Free Antivirus is a comprehensive, easy to use antivirus program, designed to offer reliable free of charge virus protection to home-users only.

Avira offers: Extensive Malware Recognition of viruses, Trojans, backdoor programs, worms; Automatic incremental updates of antivirus signatures, engine and entire software; Permanent virus protection, with Virus Guard real time monitoring; Install and configuration in just a couple of steps, setup to protect your PC in minutes; Virus protection against known and unknown threats, using an advanced heuristic system; Scheduler where you can set the scanner to make automatic virus scans or updates on your system; Forum and phone support; Knowledge Base with virus descriptions available on web site; Rootkit Detection and Removal; A modularized AV-search engine for improved scan performance.

Version 8.2.0.337 may include engine updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.

Download Here

Virtual DJ Software 5.2

2008-12-09T10:56:00.000-08:00

VirtualDJ is the DJ software used by many big brands such as Numark or Hercules, and is used around the world by bedroom DJs and professional superstars alike. With its breakthrough BeatLock engine, your songs will always stay on the beat, and you can work your mixes incredibly faster than any other DJ.
The automatic seamless loop engine and the synchronized sampler will let you perform astounding remixes on the fly. The video engine lets you mix and scratch music videos as easily as audio. You can also use a special timecode vinyl and scratch MP3s or videos directly on a real turntable. Add to that customizable interfaces to suit both beginners and professionals; A visual beat display; An infinite number of cues; VST, freeframe and proprietary beat-synced effects; Karaoke; Internet broadcast; Recording and burning; CDs, vinyls and DVDs ripping; Automatic playlist mixing; DRM compatibility; Headphones and external mixer modes, and compatibility with many existing DJ devices.

Version 5.2 includes new smart play and smart cue options, new interface, and new compatible controllers.

Download Here

Default Folder X 4.1

2008-12-03T00:58:00.000-08:00

Recently rated 5 mice by MacUser UK and 4.5 mice by Macworld, Default Folder X attaches a toolbar to your Open and Save dialogs in any OS X-native application. The toolbar gives you fast access to various folders and commands. You just click on the buttons to go to your favorite and recently used folders, manage the folders and files shown in the list, and make changes to your settings.

Default Folder also adds the ability to see zoomable previews in Open dialogs and to save Spotlight comments and set Finder labels for documents in the Save As dialog, while you're saving them.

By : downlaod.com

Downlaod Here

Intel, Hitachi to Develop Solid-State Drives

2008-12-02T05:47:00.000-08:00

Intel will target solid-state drives for server computers in a tie up with Hitachi that was announced Monday night.

Intel and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) said they will "jointly develop and deliver" Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) and Fibre Channel (FC) solid-state drives (SSDs) for servers, workstations, and storage systems.

While Hitachi is a large supplier of hard disk drives, Intel manufactures and sells consumer and enterprise-class solid-state drives. The enterprise-class X25-E Extreme SSDs that Intel offers now are based on Serial ATA (SATA) technology. As are its consumer-class drives.

Solid-state drives are generally faster than hard-disk drives, particularly at reading data.

"The combination of a leading Enterprise drive supplier with a NAND technology and manufacturing leader will produce world-class solutions in terms of reliability, performance and system compatibility," the companies said in a statement.

The agreement is exclusive to the two companies with the first Serial Attached SCSI and Fibre Channel products expected to be available in early 2010. Both Serial Attached SCSI and Fibre Channel are interfaces typically used in servers.

The companies said the SSDs will not replace hard disk drives but complement them. "The new generation of solid-state drive technology complements existing enterprise-class hard disk drives and is intended for use in storage applications that require extremely high Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS) performance and power efficiency," according to the two companies.

Hitachi GST said it will continue to provide its customers with both "traditional" hard-disk drives in addition to the SSDs.

The new SSDs will be "branded and exclusively sold and supported by Hitachi GST" and use Intel NAND flash memory and SSD technology.

Hitachi said it will use its expertise in drive firmware, reliability, qualification and system integration in combination with Intel's technology and manufacturing capabilities.

Palm Revenue Craters as Treos Fall Out of Favor

2008-12-01T21:06:00.000-08:00

With revenue falling to dire levels, Palm may need a Christmas miracle to stay afloat next year.

The latest dose of bad news? Revenue for Palm's second fiscal quarter, which ended last week, will be just $190 million to $195 million, the company announced Monday ahead of its December 18th conference call. Wall Street analysts had been expecting Palm to record $331 million in revenue, an astonishing 41 percent gap caused by "reduced demand for maturing smartphone and handheld products," Palm said in a press release.

Last week Palm revealed plans to cut workers and refocus its business as it copes with a poor economy and strong competition from the likes of Apple and Research in Motion. Palm's Treos were once very popular, but they have looked positively ancient against the iPhone and new BlackBerrys such as the Storm and Bold. If it wasn't for the Palm Centro--which doesn't really break any ground on the software front but costs an attractive $99--Palm might already be dead.

The company's fortunes will be determined by a race against time: if Palm can get products using its Nova operating system--which scheduled to arrive in the first half of 2009--out in the market before sales of Treos dwindle to zero, it has a chance to regain its perch atop the mobile computing world. Otherwise, Palm is stuck in a moment and it can't get out of it.

Apple Suggests Mac Users Install Antivirus Software

2008-12-01T20:43:00.000-08:00

In what appears to be a first, Apple is recommending that Mac users install antivirus software.

But don't read this as an admission that the Mac operating system is suddenly insecure. It's more a recognition that Mac users are vulnerable to Web application exploits, which have replaced operating system vulnerabilities as the bigger threat to computer users.

Apple quietly signaled its shift with an item titled "Mac OS: Antivirus utilities" posted on its Support Web site November 21: "Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult."

The item offers three software suggestions: Intego VirusBarrier X5 and Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 11 for Macintosh, both available from the Apple Online Store, and McAfee VirusScan for Mac.

Brian Krebs, who first reported on the Apple antivirus recommendation Monday in his Security Fix blog at The Washington Post, said an Apple store employee told him he didn't need antivirus software when he purchased a MacBook three months ago.

mIRC 6.35

2008-12-01T01:07:00.000-08:00

mIRC is a full featured Internet Relay Chat client for Windows that can be used to communicate, share, play or work with others on IRC networks around the world, either in multi-user group conferences or in one-to-one private discussions.

It has a clean, practical interface that is highly configurable and supports features such as buddy lists, file transfers, multi-server connections, SSL encryption, proxy support, UTF-8 display, customizable sounds, spoken messages, tray notifications, and message logging. Version 6.35 enhances security...

By : downlaod.com

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Download Accelerator Plus 8.7.0.5

2008-12-01T01:03:00.000-08:00

Download Accelerator Plus (DAP)--the popular download manager with over 160 million users worldwide. DAP leverages patented technology, easy management of downloads and rich features and includes an upgraded download window for faster downloads with ease and simplicity, improved management window, ability to upload and send large files, the SpeedBit Video Accelerator expansions. Available in 10 languages.

Version 8.7.0.5 adds support for Google Chrome, upgrades the download window, and improves the management window...

By : download.com

Download Here

YouTube Downloader 2.1.7

2008-12-01T00:55:00.000-08:00

It's software that allows you to download videos from YouTube and many others and convert them to other video formats. The program is easy to use, just specify the URL for the video you want to download and click the Ok! It also allows you to convert downloaded videos for iPod, iPhone, PSP, Cell Phone, Windows Media, XVid and MP3. Allows you to access YouTube videos for which you need to be 18+ years of age. Now, plays videos downloaded.

Version 2.1.7 now supports most of your favorite video sites including Yahoo Video and Daily Motion...

By : download.com

Download Here

How Microsoft Plans to Make its Mark in CRM

2008-12-01T00:48:00.000-08:00

Microsoft Dynamics CRM has become a key product for the company, according to CRM division general manager Brad Wilson--and it's an area the software maker plans to invest in further.

According to Wilson, when Microsoft earlier this year committed itself to investing $1 billion annually in the construction of new data centers to support the Microsoft Live portfolio of on-demand software, some of that sum--he declined to specify how much--was earmarked for customer relationship management.

Earlier this month, CNET News sister site ZDNet UK spoke to Wilson to find out how he intends to make that CRM investment and whether he thinks it will be sufficient to beat on-demand CRM leader Salesforce.com on its own turf. Wilson made it plain that, despite the SME (small and medium enterprise) bias that Microsoft CRM may have acquired, it is equally aimed at the enterprise.

Q: Microsoft has been in CRM for some time, but just how long?
Wilson: We've been in the CRM market for five and a half years, and have more than 16,000 CRM customers and more than 750,000 users.

Microsoft is investing more annually on data centers than the complete revenue of all the on-demand players--$1 billion annually. As a company, we are investing heavily.

How is that customer base made up?
Wilson: More than half of the business is international--outside the U.S.--and, although we started out as an organization focused mainly on the small and medium-sized businesses, more than half of our revenue now comes from large enterprises.

Salesforce.com is very popular, so how do you compete with it?
Wilson: We do and we have people who switch from Salesforce.com fairly routinely. But there are a number of companies that compete in this space and everyone wins some and everyone loses some.

What I like about our strategy is that Salesforce.com has a single operating model, which is that you rent it from them forever. Our software comes with a choice of either having an on-demand subscription offering or buying the software. If you talk to analysts today, they will tell you that, of all the CRM in use throughout the world, probably about 90 percent is deployed on the premises.

We want to give our customers the choice. Whether you want to go on-premises or to a cloud-based offering, the choice is yours.

Does this mean you don't find the cloud particularly valid?
Wilson: It is not so much that--and this is a somewhat controversial view--but I don't really care. I have an agnostic model: if you want to buy the CRM software, great; if you want to go ahead with on-demand, that's also great.

For us, it is a single codebase. It's literally the same software running.

There is no difference between on-premise or on the network. The only difference is how long your network cable is. I think sometimes people get too caught up in it. The world is not really binary.

What new products are coming up?
Wilson: About 11 months ago, we shipped our CRM 4.0, which is a fully multi-tenanted system that you can deploy from outside the cloud.

What we announced (earlier this month) is a new set of accelerators for CRM 4.0 (on sale December 1). These are extensions to the core system so that, when you add them to CRM 4.0, they offer capabilities such as e-service for handling Web cases. This lets customers submit cases online and check things such as status very easily.

What do you mean exactly by "cases"?
Wilson: Well, if you have a broken fridge and you want to contact the retailer or manufacturer, then you can go to the Web site and that will submit information that will flow into the CRM system and then trigger a workflow.

So e-service is really that Web interface to customer services, as opposed to the call center. What we provide is the data and the workflow to support e-service scenarios.

Another one is extended sales forecasting, which is a way to lock and manage forecasts that goes deeper than the usual sales-automation facilities.

There are new analytics in business intelligence; sales methodologies. And then there is enterprise search integration through SharePoint.

But are these new?
Wilson: We talked about them at our partner conference back in July in Houston but...we haven't had a customer launch before (this month).

So presumably these are intended to deal with the view that Microsoft has not been in the CRM market very long and that, to understand and execute sophisticated CRM, you need a specialist supplier?
Wilson: The wildly less popular ones? The ones that have had staggering adoption problems over the past 10 years? I think there is really a philosophical difference (between Microsoft and those suppliers). We are not going to give you a gigantic list of features. You know how you want to run your business.

So, for us, user adoption is key. If they (the users) are not going to use the system, you are pretty much guaranteed a failed deployment.

We give you enough flexibility so that you can run the system how you want to. So I find we will beat a classic offering from your CRM vendors on end-user adoption and platform flexibility. Those factors will far outweigh the fact that other people have more prebuilt stuff.

We went into a sales opportunity against a classic CRM vendor and measured its software. Out of the box, its software had only a 7 percent fit (only 7 percent of the software could be run without modification).

When you think about it, it is very difficult to sit in Palo Alto...and design something that is going to fit any business--a system that will work with every business in the world, whether it is in Turkey or South Africa. So the key now is flexibility. How easy is it to add the stuff we need?

I think the old model of 10 years ago, where you built a system that had a big slab of stuff that you had to adopt, has gone.

At the same time, we will still bring out our accelerators with pre-packaged software, and more and more of them. But we release them as open source. The idea is that we just put this stuff out there and let people use it. And, if our partners use it, all the better.

So are these products free?
Wilson: Yes.

But you are charging people for the software.
Wilson: You have to buy the core license but, once you have bought it, we are not going to try and nickel and dime people for bits of process and functionality. We don't believe in that.

We are taking the approach of wanting to make CRM much more affordable. Affordable in terms of TCO (total cost of ownership).

Part of that is in the core. We think we've done a pretty good job there and we keep adding pieces of incremental value through the accelerators. Even in the on-demand space, we want to go in and make it more affordable. CRM in on-demand tends to be relatively overpriced. So we want to make that price come down.

How do you charge? It is on a license basis?
Wilson: We have a server price and a user price--what we call a server license and a client-access license. The server price is nominal, relatively low and doesn't tend to go up. The primary driver of price is how many people use it.

By : news.cnet.com

Google Earth 4.3

2008-12-01T00:42:00.000-08:00

Google Earth puts a planet's worth of imagery and other geographic information right on your desktop. View exotic locales like Maui and Paris, as well as points of interest such as local restaurants, hospitals, and schools.

Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps, and the power of Google Search to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips.

With Google Earth you can fly from space to your neighborhood--just type in an address and zoom right in, search for schools, parks, restaurants, and hotels. Get driving directions, tilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings, save and share your searches and favorites and even add your own annotations.

Version 4.3 adds day and night lighting, Street View, more 3D models, and faster rendering speeds.

Note: Google Earth is a broadband, 3D application that not all computers can run. Windows-based desktop PCs older than four years may not be able to run Google Earth and Windows-based notebook PCs older than two years may not be able to run it...

By : download.com

Download Now

Wii Leads The Way On Healthy Black Friday

2008-11-30T23:59:00.000-08:00

Black Friday proved to be a relatively bright light in an economy largely characterized by dark, gloomy reports.

Overall, retail sales for the day after Thanksgiving were up 3 percent from the same day in 2007, with preliminary estimates putting total sales in the U.S. at $10.6 billion, according to Shoppertrak RCT. (Shoppertrak derives its retail benchmark from a wide range of categories, including consumer electronics, sporting goods, apparel, and general merchandise.)

Web shopping saw an even larger percentage gain for the day, with traffic up 11 percent year over year, per comparison shopping site PriceGrabber.com.

Taking the crown as the top product of the day was the Nintendo Wii, according to both PriceGrabber and online commerce giant eBay, which pulled data from its namesake site and other eBay-owned sites including PayPal and Shopping.com.

The Wii game console was the most searched-for product on eBay, followed by the Wii Fit companion product. Consumers snatched up 3,171 Wiis over eBay, at an average selling price of $349, followed by the Wii Fit, with 1,059 sold at an average selling price of $140.

Market watchers pointed out that, in the dire economy of 2008, online shoppers and consumers generally were likely motivated by widespread discounting by anxious sellers.

"Consumers are responding to aggressive promotions and price drops on popular electronics," Ron LaPierre, president of PriceGrabber, said in a statement.

The NPD Group offered a similar assessment from the retail front lines on Friday:

The overall initial conclusion for Black Friday is that sales and traffic were strong, likely on par with prior years. Consumers were drawn by the appearance of bargains and low prices and electronics are increasingly the primary driver of consumers' interest in Black Friday shopping.

According to PriceGrabber, the following were the most popular products on Black Friday--nine of the 10 are gadgets, with the odd product out being one styling of the popular Ugg boots:

• Nintendo Wii console
• Ugg Australia "classic short" boot
• Sony BDP-S350 1080p Blu-ray disc player
• Samsung LN52A650 52" LCD TV
• Nintendo Wii Fit
• Panasonic TH-42PX80U 42" plasma TV
• Sennheiser HD 555 headphones
• Canon EOS Rebel XSi Black SLR digital camera kit
• Acer Aspire One AOA110-1295 notebook PC
• Canon PowerShot A590 IS black digital camera

The consumer electronics category that saw the largest gains from Black Friday 2007 was Blu-ray/HD-DVD players, up 147 percent, according to PriceGrabber. Headphones were up 103 percent. (By comparison, women's sleep and lounge wear was up 415 percent, women's boots were up 203 percent, and watches were up 202 percent.)

On eBay's Shopping.com, a GPS sold every 9 minutes and an MP3 player every 11 minutes. On eBay proper, the hottest products in those categories were the Garmin Nuvi GPS and the iPod Touch music player.

Apple seemed to have had a good Black Friday. Fortune's Apple 2.0 blog reported Sunday that on Amazon.com, 10 of the 25 bestselling electronics products (including three of the top 10) were Apple products, led by the iPod Touch. The Fortune report also said that by Sunday the iPod Touch had fallen to No. 4, with Amazon's own Kindle moving into first.

Despite the good returns from Black Friday, no one seemed eager to predict continued economic cheer through the rest of the holiday season.

"While this is an encouraging start for retailers, there's no guarantee these deep discounts will continue after Black Friday weekend, which could slow spending," Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, said in a statement. "Additionally, consumers have just 27 days to shop this year as opposed to 32 in 2007, which may catch some procrastinating consumers off guard, leading to lower sales levels."

Intel rethinks Netbooks: 'Fine for an hour' but...

2008-11-28T07:55:00.000-08:00

The Netbook, take two: When Advanced Micro Devices said it wasn't going to focus on Netbooks, as Intel and its partners defined them, maybe it was on to something.

Intel is re-evaluating the Netbook market as possibly not The Next Big Thing. This from the company that makes the Atom processor and accompanying silicon that go into most of the Netbooks sold today.

At a recent Raymond James IT Supply Chain Conference (streamed via this Intel page), Stu Pann, vice president in the sales and marketing group at Intel, said his company sees the Netbook differently now.

"We originally thought Netbooks would be for emerging markets and younger kids, and there is some of that. It turns out the bulk of the Netbooks sold today are Western Europe, North America, and for people who just want to grab and go with a notebook," Pann said. "We view the Netbook as mostly incremental to our total available market," he added.

And the most revealing statement? "If you've ever used a Netbook and used a 10-inch screen size--it's fine for an hour. It's not something you're going to use day in and day out."

Though this may simply reaffirm some people's view of the Netbook, it may also be surprising to others who thought the Netbook was potentially a laptop replacement for highly mobile users looking for a lightweight design. Or at least a design that was bearable beyond one hour.

Enter AMD and its take on the market. Though it won't resist if computer makers use its upcoming Huron and Conesus CPUs (one of these is due early next year) for Netbook-like designs, its focus is on ultrathin laptops similar in build to the 13-inch MacBook Air (and even 14-inch designs) but at a much lower price point.

AMD Chief Executive Dirk Meyer said earlier this month that "we're ignoring the Netbook phenomenon--just thinking about PC form factors above that form factor." And Bahr Mahony, director of notebook product marketing at AMD, said at that time that there are "a fair number of people" who are not satisfied with the experience they're having with Netbooks.

Mahony added that the dissatisfaction with Netbooks "has been exhibited by the high return rates that have been seen on these mini notebooks" in Europe. (AMD uses the terms "Netbook" and "mini notebook" interchangeably.)

AMD believes that the Netbook screen size is too small and the performance disappointing.

The coming year should show whether the Netbook has legs or whether it was just another marketing flash-in-the-pan like the UMPC (ultramobile personal computer) before it.