Yahoo! has finally decided to launch the Yahoo! Messenger 10 IM client in beta for Windows. As claimed, this new release will add more to the features of the world's most favorite IM client for PC users.
Other new features include:
Can't wait to try out the new Yahoo! Messenger 10 beta already? Download it for Windows.
For those of you who have been keeping up with the news and announcements related to Crunchpad, the Tablet PC by TechCrunch, well all we can say for now is that it is real and its coming this November.
For one, its a Tablet PC with a 12-inch screen and will mainly be used for browsing the web and doing web-related tasks. All apps on the Crunchpad will be web-based and we are still unsure if it possesses any media capabilities such as watching movies or listening to music.
It will feature a custom web-kit browser which shall be running over a custom Linux OS. There will be Wi-Fi and 3G access and also one USB port to handle/transfer data to a thumb drive.
Apart from this, there is nothing that the Crunchpad can do so we hardly believe that it will be any match for the supposed Apple Tablet that is to come in September this year. The Crunchpad will be probably priced around $400. Michael Arrington from TechCrunch will be officially introducing the device at an event somewhere in August. (with Thanks)
A new feature for the Xbox Live Dashboard was announced at E3 recently where Microsoft took the stage to show off a full Facebook integration on the Xbox Live. With this new update you can do all kinds of the social cliche stuff, like link up your Facebook friends and Xbox Live friends, and upload and share photos, or can even update your status right from your console.
Apart from this, a Twitter integration was also announced. Everything you do from your PC to keep in touch with the world can now be done right from your console.
One of Microsoft’s marketing people, James Halton said the company is aiming for a release date around Autumn, but didn’t specify beyond that. He did although mention that say "it will be before Christmas" so there you have it, Facebook and twitter addicts can start pouncing on their consoles before this fall.
PCMag editor in chief Lance Ulanoff and I are in Korea for the week, and I spent much of the day talking about and testing WiMAX - what the Koreans call WiBro (wireless broadband.) The Korean technology is exactly what Clearwire is currently installing in cities like Baltimore, Portland, and Atlanta, albeit on a different frequency.
WiBro launched in April 2007, and it's available across the Seoul metropolitan area. That's only one city, but it's half the Korean population. KT, the service provider, said they have about 300,000 subscribers for a range of plans priced at $10/month for 1GB, $20/month for 30GB or $27/month for 50GB of usage.
The WiBro experience in Seoul shows what true, high-speed wireless could feel like if it's done right. Deep in the Seoul subway system, Samsung hooked us up with adorable, candy-colored N310 netbooks with AnyCall USB WiBro modems. We pulled down fearsome speeds: 4.3 megabits down and 1.5 megabits up while sitting still in a station, and 4.1 megabits down and 900 kilobits up while zooming along on a train. Streaming video was a snap.
The experience reminded me: it's not the technology, it's the buildout. In recent WiMAX tests in Baltimore, I got a fraction of the speed I got in the Seoul subway. WiMAX requires a solid network of well-placed transmitters with plenty of backhaul to work well. If you go cheap on the buildout, you end up with lousy speeds.
At the "W Style Shop" showroom, I also discovered that there are a lot more WiMAX devices than Clearwire or Sprint have let on about. Aside from WiMAX laptops, I saw a handheld WiMAX-to-Wi-Fi router called the "Egg," two (two!) WiMAX phones (one shown at left), a USB modem that doubles as an MP3 player, and a WiMAX powered navigation device.
The WiMAX phones were the most interesting, of course. They used WiMAX to do video calling, and "ordinary" 3G cellular to make voice calls. True VOIP over WiMAX, with the appropriate quality of service measures to make it sound non-crappy, is coming soon to Korea.
I've been frustrated with Clearwire's buildout and marketing for a while, and this just made me more frustrated. While Korea bounds into 4G with various devices, Clear is moving much more slowly. I'll have another post about Clear's most interesting device, the Samsung Mondi, soon.
Desperately waiting to 'wave' through Google wave? Here is your chance to be the member of Google wave's exclusive bugs testing team. Yes! Thats true, Google has started its hunt for users from around the globe to use, test and enjoy the wave experience.
Don't forget to write a short message for the Google wave team, it only makes your application more strong. Google has not yet explained the selection procedure but if selected you will be able to test the tool before its public launch.
Widely considered to be the email killer, Google Wave is a personal communication and collaboration tool announced by Google in this year's Google IO conference. A combination of Email, instant messaging and social networking makes Google wave a fascinating tool to use. Google wave comes with a set of very strong APIs and it is open source which means the users can make extensions to Google wave.
In initial phase the tool will be made available to the selected 100,000 users on September 30 this year while the rest of the world will be able to 'wave' a month or two later. (with thanks)
A Twitter employee just learned a very hard lesson. The employee's personal e-mail account was hacked, and now, the Internet is abuzz because documents—both personal and business related—are being circulated in the blogosphere. Apparently, he (or she) used the same password on multiple accounts. Sound familiar? Thing is, this isn't the first person to fall victim to such an attack—and it certainly won't be the last. In fact, during the recent hubbub, we also learned that the e-mail account of Twitter's chief executive Evan Williams' wife was hacked, which led to his own PayPal and Amazon accounts being compromised.
With all of this going on, it seems like the perfect time to have yet another chat about password security. How many passwords do you have? How many of those passwords do you actually remember? More importantly, are they secure? My answers to these questions would be: lots, some but not all, and, well, some but not all, respectively. Yes, I've been known to be quite lax when it comes to choosing passwords—and I certainly know better. I realized this after reading one of our stories about common passwords (and no, I won't say which one of these I used).
We know it can be a pain to create and manage all of your passwords, but it's important. Very important. Identity theft remains a top concern for consumers. As such, we need remain vigilant about protecting our personal information. That's why we've put this guide together. All you need to know about passwords is right here!
Roundup: Password Managers
Never forget passwords again with these eight password managers—tools that remember and replay all your complex passwords for you.
From updating your MySpace page to transferring money between bank accounts, all manner of online activities require you to log in with a username and password. Proper security practice demands that you make each password different and use random combinations of characters, like "f*&WQb28." But in the real world, you can't remember those, so you wind up either writing down your strong passwords on a Post-it you hide in your desk drawer, or you use "rosebud" for every site. What you need is a password manager—a tool that remembers and replays all your complex passwords for you. That way you need memorize only one complicated password—the one that opens the password manager. (see full)
Should You Write Them Down?
It used to be conventional wisdom among security experts that you should never write your passwords down, but thinking is changing on this. Roger Thomson, a respected anti-malware expert, thinks you should write them down, and PCMag security expert Larry Seltzer agrees, to an extent.
New Thinking About Passwords: Write 'Em Down
It used to be conventional wisdom among security experts that you should never write your passwords down, but thinking is changing on this. Roger Thompson, a respected anti-malware guy, thinks you should write them down. I've seen this from other people and I do it too, to a degree.
As Thompson says, it's not just that you should write them down, but that you should have a lot of them and write them down. It is far more secure for you to have a variety of passwords, so that if any one of them is compromised the damage can be limited. If you write them down you can better handle a larger number of passwords. (see full)
10 Most Common Passwords: Stay Away!
If you recognize yours, you may as well hand over your wallet or purse to the first person you see on the street.
Ulanoff Speaks: Take My Passwords, Please
It's time to kill passwords in favor of smarter, safer technology.
I'm dead, dog tired of trying to conceal my passwords—almost as exhausted as I am by trying to memorize and recall all of them. I have dozens of passwords, and, to be quite honest, they're not even good. Then again, whose are? They're variations and repetitions on a theme—essentially, stuff I can remember. I'm safe for now, but if someone figured out one part of my useless encryption system, my password lattice would crumble faster than a house of cards. (see Full)
PCMag's Premium Utility Download: Password Profiler 2
Our own utility cuts your form-filling time down to seconds and makes remembering usernames and passwords a thing of the past. (Yes, there is a charge.)
There's only one Twitter, and there's only one iPhone OS, but for some reason there are more iPhone Twitter apps than you can shake a stick at. We took a look at the best free ones, and discovered that you can get quite a lot for your lack of money—as long as you don't mind an occasional banner ad or prompt to upgrade to a paid version.
Some iPhone apps even let you do things you can't when tweeting from your PC. Most can display "nearby" tweets, even letting you decide how near or far their maximum distance should be. You can include your exact location with your tweets; some apps, such as the excellent Twitterrific, also let you include a map link.
These apps also let you tweet a photo taken on the spot with your iPhone, but none of the free ones lets you post video from your 3GS —currently only the exorbitant ($5) Twittelator Pro lets you do that. We'll be posting an in-depth review of that as well as of another paid app, the crowd-pleaser Tweetie, in the near future. But as you'll see in the reviews below, there's a free Twitter client that will please all but the most demanding tweeps. (full Story)
The recent Facebook phishing attack we reported on the other day has apparently continued at least for a second day.
This report on Silicon.com notes that the first one, using the FBaction.net domain, was stopped within a few hours. As we warned, it came back the next day with another domain, in this case BAction.net.
The attack comes to you in your Facebook inbox as a terse message with a link in it. Click on the link and you are prompted to log in to a fake Facebook login page. Log in and the attackers have your credentials, which they then use to pass the attack on to everyone in your Friends list. Always be certain when you log in to Facebook that you are actually logging in to facebook.com.
If you or one of your friends has this problem and Facebook finds out you may end up with Facebook resetting your password for security purposes. Be on the lookout for notices from Facebook about this. (full Story)
Like every new browser released of late, the Safari 4 beta, released Tuesday, claims faster HTML and JavaScript performance, powered by a new JavaScript engine called Nitro. Safari, however, claims to be the world's fastest browser. It's not, but in real-world service it's close enough not to matter.
One instance of these is the incorporation of Cover Flow in the browser's history list. Sure, it's little more than eye candy, but it's both stylish and useful at the same time. Another highlight of the new Safari include its Smart Address Field, which jumps on the smart-address-bar bandwagon pioneered by Firefox 3 and has been emulated by every browser release since—Internet Explorer 8, Chrome, and Opera. Add to this its revamped Smart Search Field, greater support for emerging Web standards, full-page zoom, and new tools for developers, and you can see that the Safari team has had their hands full.
I had a minor temporary issue when installing the browser on my Vista test machine, with a dialog box asking me to uninstall or repair the installation; clicking the latter got the browser up and running in short order. The download is bulkier than Chrome's, at 26MB versus just half a megabyte; then again, Safari offers more features. Mac users should note that the installer requires OS X 10.5.6—10.5.5 won't do. When you first run Safari 4, you'll see a new animated splash screen featuring the Apple logo, complete with inspirational music.
If you've upgraded from an earlier version, you'll next see the new Top Sites page consisting of a curved 3D grid of images of your most frequently visited websites. An Edit button lets you remove any of these thumbnails, and you can drag any of the minipages to a spot of your choice, and "pin" it so that it always appears in that spot. If a site in your Top Sites group has new content, a blue page dog-ear with a star will show up in its top right corner. In some ways I prefer Opera's handling of this: It only adds sites you specify to the speed dial thumbnails, but I can see Chrome and Safari's rationale that people are more likely to use the feature if it's automatically populated.
Unlike the bare-bones Chrome, Safari does bring a very handy sidebar, which you can show by clicking the book icon a the top left of the window. You can switch the sidebar's function between History, Bookmarks, Bonjour networking, and an RSS reader. Any of these sidebar choices take advantage of the scrolling Cover Flow view in the top half of the main center panel, while the bottom half offers a simple list of the links. You can adjust the relative height of these two panels with a grab bar in the center of their divider – for example, you could have either one take up the whole area. The mouse wheel scrolls back and forth through the Cover Flow images, or you can use a slider beneath the images. (story Link)
The reign of IE is coming to an end.
The bulk of that loss comes from users of IE 6, an eight-year-old browser that many users appear to be replacing with Firefox, Safari or Chrome, instead of the latest version of Internet Explorer.
What’s more, 20 percent of web users still use IE 6 — and could, too, defect to Mozilla, Apple or Google’s browsers instead.
With the news that Microsoft’s latest incarnation of its browser, Internet Explorer 8, won’t address speed and “lightweight” concerns the way Firefox and Chrome do, the #1 browser’s market share with regard to cheap laptops and Netbooks may erode even further.
Is the king on its way toward death? (Long live the king?) (story Link)
Here is a preview screen shot from Need For Speed: World Online. Also, there is a bit more info from the producer of NFSWO.
Sony Ericsson has recently unveiled four new panels for its Xperia X1 mobile phone. Available for download from mid-March 2009, the latest panels should help enhance the unique user interface of the X1 that enables users to customize the handset.
According to Sony Ericsson, since its launch in Q4 2008, close to 420,000 panels have been downloaded onto X1 devices around the world with half a million unique hits for X1 panels on the Sony Ericsson Fun & Downloads service.
As you may already know, the X1 comes pre-loaded with a range of panels including a Google search panel. Facebook and Windows Live panels are already available on www.sonyericsson.com/fun for download onto the Xperia X1. (story Link)
Facebook Inc is asking its members to help shape its governance policies after drawing their ire for a policy change that many perceived as being overbearing and potentially compromising privacy.
From now on, the social networking site will be guided by a set of principles that reflect its dedication to transparency and openness in communication, Facebook said on Thursday. Two draft documents are being put to test under what Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg called a "new model of governance." The "Facebook Principles" lay out the startup company’s philosophy on privacy and control of information, while the "Statement of Rights and Responsibilities" are operating guidelines based on its big-picture stance. Any Facebook member can access these proposals on the site and opine on them over the next few days.
The networking site will incorporate people’s reviews when firming up governance policies. Future policy changes will follow the same democratic model, the company said. "It’s a big statement that we trust users and we want their involvement in the process," Zuckerberg said in an interview.
The move comes after thousands of people reacted angrily to a revision in Facebook’s terms of service earlier this month that suggested it was asserting permanent control over people’s personal information even after they quit the site. Facebook responded to the controversy last week by reverting to its old terms of service for the short term, as it solicited feedback from members and figured out how to create a new user agreement.
The new proposals make it clear that Facebook users have ultimate control over their information, including messages and photographs. One of the 10 principles states that people should own their information and have the freedom to take it with them wherever they go, including removing it from Facebook. The "Statement of Rights and Responsibilities," which replaces the old terms of use, translates the principles into specific rules. Simon Davis, director of Privacy International, a watchdog organization, said it was a "bold move" on Facebook’s part. "The devil will be in the detail, but, overall, we applaud these positive steps," he said. (story Link)
Fazle write on his own site : After you upgrade to Windows Installer version 2.0, the Windows Installer Service may not start, and you may receive the following error message:
The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if you are running Windows in safe mode, or the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance.
CAUSE
This behavior can occur when either of the following conditions exist:
Method 1: Unregister and re-register the Windows Installer
1. Click Start, click Run, type MSIEXEC /UNREGISTER, and then click OK. Even if you do this correctly, it may look like nothing occurs.
2. Click Start, click Run, type MSIEXEC /REGSERVER, and then click OK. Even if you do this correctly, it may look like nothing occurs, or you may briefly see an hourglass. After you run this command, the operation is complete.
3. Try your Windows Installer-based application again.
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Method 2: Verify the DCOM permissions
This method involves changing the DCOM default impersonation level to Identify, removing the Msisip.dll file, and then reinstalling SP 3 for Windows 2000.
To do this, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type dcomcnfg, and then click OK.
2. On the Default Properties tab:
a. In the Default Authentication Level list, click Connect.
b. In the Default Impersonation Level list, click Identify, and then click OK.
3. Click Start, click Run, type explorer /select, %windir%\system32\msisip.dll, and then click OK.
4. Rename the Msisip.dll file as Msisip.old.
5. Reinstall Windows 2000 Service Pack 3.
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Method 3: Give Full Control permission to the SYSTEM account
1. Start Windows Explorer, right-click the computer’s root hard drive, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Security tab, and then click Add.
3. In the Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog box, click the SYSTEM account, click Add, and then click OK.
4. Under Allow, click to select the Full Control check box, and then click OK.
5. Click the TEMP folder and then verify that the SYSTEM account has full control.
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Method 4: Verify the registry permissions
1. Click Start, click Run, then type Regedt32.
2. For each of the registry hives, follow these steps:
a. Select the hive.
b. For Windows XP, on the Edit menu, click Permissions.
For Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4, on the Security menu, click Permissions.
3. Verify that the SYSTEM account has been added and that it has Full control. If it does not, add the SYSTEM account with Full control.
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Method 5: Fix the broken security key for the MsiServer service
1. Start the computer by using Windows 2000.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit.exe, and then rename the following key to Old_Security:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSIServer\Security
3. Restart the computer (you must do this).
4. Run Instmsiw.exe for installer 2.0 again; this corrects the broken security key for the MSI service. (story Link)
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has quietly cut prices on two of its high-end Phenom II X4 chips to counter Intel's own price cuts, a spokesman confirmed on Wednesday.
The price cuts have yet to appear on AMD's own site, however. They will be made official most likely within 48 hours, the company spokesman said.
E-tailers such as Newegg.com began advertising that customers could buy the 3.0-GHz AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition for $235, versus the $275 AMD said it publicly charges on its Web site. Newegg also said it would charge $195 for the 2.8-GHz AMD Phenom II X4 920, down from the advertised price of $235. The discounts represent cuts of 15 percent to 17 percent.
AMD spokesman Matt Davis confirmed that the price reductions were authentic and had been approved by AMD. The moves were made from a "price-competitive standpoint," he said.
On Monday, Intel drastically reduced the price of its quad-core processors by as much as 40 percent, which in turn affected the price-performance equation those chips offered.
AMD's Davis said that the moves were not publicly announced, as AMD is in its SEC-mandated quiet period; the company announces its fourth-quarter results Thursday, after AMD preannounced lower fourth-quarter revenue in December, due to weakened demand. "We have embargos, but once something like this is in the hands of retailers..." Davis said.
"The important changes are the ones you're seeing – that customers can get out and buy these," Davis said. (story Link)
AOL's newly formed Products and Technologies Group made its first product announcement on Thursday, an update of AOL Mail that allows users to access Gmail and Yahoo Mail accounts.
In addition to the plugins for external mail accounts, the second largest free email service has also been updated for faster performance, over 45 new customization themes, and calendar and address syncing with mobile devices including BlackBerry and the Apple iPhone.
"Web mail is an integral part of the AOL experience and at the heart of our product offerings," said Ted Cahall, president of AOL Products and Technologies. "With this new release, we can showcase the important role AOL products continue to play in the company. Enhancing products that already attract a large, engaged audience is a key goal for our organization."
The company claims that has 48 million users for all of its mail services, including installed software and Web-based. Unique visitors to the web mail services, mail.aol.com and AIM mail users saw a 27 percent increase in unique visitors. Page views were up 21 percent in 2008.
"People who are using AOL Mail represent an already-engaged audience," said Rich Landsman, senior vice president of AOL Mail. "As we continue to extend our capabilities far beyond sending and receiving mail, we are challenging ourselves and third-party developers everywhere to create new opportunities for delivering customized, relevant content using our mail platform."
The new Products and Technologies group is part of the company's move to an ad-based profit model, and includes Mail, Mapquest, AOL Search, Truveo video search, and AOL Mobile, as well as the back-end infrastructure teams. You can check out the new webmail client at mail.aol.com. (story Link)
Google has launched Toolbar 6 launch for Internet Explorer and has introduced the Quick Search Box (QSB) feature that provides search functionality outside of the browser.
QSB will provide search and website suggestions and relevant bookmarks - as users type - and allow them to launch applications directly from the search box. With use, QSB will customize itself to usage patterns, so over time users will have to type fewer characters to get to favorite sites and applications.
Google is also bringing elements from their search results page directly into the toolbar. They’re experimenting with displaying high-quality website suggestions and sponsored links as users type their query. Clicking on these will take users directly to the website.
They’ve also brought the new tab page to Internet Explorer users. Users can access their most viewed sites, recently closed tabs and bookmarked pages from this new tab page. This update is launching in 40 languages Check it out here. (story Link)
All doesn’t seem to be going well for Google. Along with the Gmail outage it has been reported that a phishing attack spread through chat sessions, including Google Chat, and directed victims to a Web site called "ViddyHo."
A link to a video is sent to users in IM sessions and the link directs them to a ViddyHo login page that in turn instructs them to enter their Google account information. This info is then used to break into the victim’s account and send the link to other users in the address book.
Google reportedly has blocked the addresses being used to send messages, and that several browsers - including Firefox, Safari and Chrome - were displaying a warning when users attempt to visit the ViddyHo Web site.
Viddyho.com has also been identified as a phishing site in Google’s search results.
Google is asking users who’ve entered information into ‘ViddyHo’, to change their security question and account password. Read more here.
Let us cut to the chase. Will the next iteration of Microsoft’s dominant operating system be any good? After spending a couple of weeks playing around with the beta version of the software, our verdict is that yes, it will be. But why? Windows Vista was a marketing and public relations disaster.
Vista, which was code-named Longhorn , was delayed by over a year and many people who bought machines with the Vista Capable logo on it were horrified to see that Windows Vista barely managed to work on their hardware when they upgraded from Windows XP.
It must be understood that Vista was the first operating system the Redmond-based behemoth launched after the advent of social media blogs, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Digg and the like. Technology blogs and websites took no time in shredding Vista.
But the fact is, if you have a new computer (with dual-core processor and at least two gigabytes of memory), and not a Netbook, Vista works quite well. The integrated search function on Vista is brilliant if you, like most people, have files spread all across your computer.
Legend has it that in 1982 Peter Norton accidentally deleted an important file and wrote the pivotal UNERASE utility to get it back. UNERASE became the centerpiece of the wildly popular Norton Utilities collection. Peter Norton Computing merged with Symantec in 1990 and Norton Utilities continued to grow and evolve until 2005, when it was absorbed by Norton System Works. Norton Utilities 14 ($49.99 list) marks the return of the Norton Utilities name, but the product itself is completely different, a clean break with the old version. It's built almost entirely on technology obtained by Symantec with its acquisition of PC Tools last year, and it's highly focused on fixing and optimizing your system. I was troubled to find that, while I only had a day or so to test the code before its release, I couldn't measure any significant performance benefit.
Optimizing the System
The product's many features are organized into four main panels: Optimize, Monitor, Windows Tools, and Administer. I ran every single feature on the Optimize panel and let them do their good work. To start I launched "Clean Your Registry", which found almost 200 distinct errors (erroneous or useless data) in the Registry. I let it fix all the errors knowing that if by some mischance this cleanup caused a problem another of the tools would let me roll back those changes.
Windows and programs are constantly adding, changing, and deleting items in the Registry. Like the file system on disk the Registry can get fragmented, possibly making for slower Registry access. I ran the Defragment Your Registry tool, which said it could shrink the Registry by eight percent while defragmenting it. I let it do the job.
Unnecessary Windows services running in the background can slow system performance, but most users have no idea what is and isn't necessary. Turning off the wrong service can bring Windows to a crashing halt, so in general only experts should consider making changes in this area. Norton Utilities offers to manage your services by turning off all but a carefully selected set of recommended ones. It can also cut back to a minimal set of services for raw speed, possibly at the expense of some functionality. And of course you can undo either change. I chose the recommended services option.
You also take a performance hit when too many programs launch at startup and keep running in the background. Norton Utilities offers to manage your startup, but it doesn't offer any particular advice the way it did for services. I left the startup items alone. (full Story)
