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BetaNews.Com (5 non lus)

Epic 1.0 beta, new browser for Windows gives feel of browser-based OS

Publié: juillet 27, 2010, 10:45pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Bangalore, India-based software startup Hidden Reflex has launched the beta of a new Web browser for Windows called Epic. The new browser is heavily focused on three areas: In-browser user multitasking, customization through plug-ins, and mashing up mobile Web content with full Web content.
Epic has a relatively predictable design across the top, with tabbed browsing, a standard address bar and neighboring search bar; but the real difference with Epic is the long list of standard tools shown as icons in a sidebar on the left hand side of the browser window. Here, some truly unique features have been incorporated as gadgets that give the distinct feeling of a browser-based OS.
For example, just beneath the gadgets for browser skins, and indic language conversion, there is a built-in antivirus and antispyware engine powered by ESET. Users can perform a system scan or folder scan in the sidebar without leaving the browser. After that, there is a gadget called "write" which opens a word processor as a browser tab. There is also a button for "My Computer" which, as one would expect, lets a user browse his computer filesystem from within a browser window.
One of the neat features of Epic is its integration with Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Google Maps, Yahoo and Orkut. Clicking on one of these gadgets will open the service's respective mobile site in a side window located next to the main browser window. This novel approach lets you have a sort of "picture in picture" browsing experience.
The same experience can be had with Web videos in Epic as well. If you want to watch YouTube videos while doing something else (i.e. working,) you can drag the video over to the sidebar and watch it there alongside the main window. Videos here can also be downloaded or used in playlists.
Epic also includes a to-do list with alerts, a timer and stopwatch feature, a "snippets" tool for saving text, images or full websites, as well as an Indic language phonetic transcription tool, and Indocentric news feeds. Hidden Reflex says it has over a thousand plug-ins for Epic that are available right now.
Download Epic 1.0 Beta for Windows from Fileforum now!
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Facebook - Yahoo - Google - Web browser - Google Maps
Qualcomm remains committed to FLO TV and MediaFLO in light of possible sale

Publié: juillet 27, 2010, 8:47pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Last Week, the future of Qualcomm's FLO TV mobile TV business came into question after CEO Paul Jacobs said the chipmaker was "engaged in discussions with a number of partners," about what to do with the asset-rich service. The company recently gave Betanews some further information on what to expect from MediaFLO and FLO TV moving forward.
In talking with GigaOM, Jacobs said "We want to see FLO continue so it's not like we'd want to sell the spectrum, but there are certainly people who would buy it for the spectrum. The spectrum is extremely valuable. So what that means is there's a high bar. The business that's generated through that spectrum, by the broadcast system needs to be valuable too…whether it's an operator, a content player, a web company -there's a wide range of companies that could make use of [MediaFLO] and deal with the business model where they are trying to get a lot of content down to a lot of people and they can't really afford to do it on the cellular network."
During Qualcomm's earnings call last week, Jacobs said there were no deals in place just yet, and that there wasn't a firm timeline for a sale of the service. However, said he believed one could be completed in as little as one year's time.
FLO TV launched as a standalone brand in late 2009 after existing for several years as Verizon V Cast Mobile TV and AT&T Mobile TV. It broadcast linear TV content 24 hours a day on more than 15 channels with content from CBS, CNN, Fox, and Viacom properties.
Less than a year after launching, many consider FLO TV to be quite a flop, despite its immense value.
Unfortunately, because these statements about the future of FLO TV are somewhat vague, consumers actually have less incentive to become subscribers. So Betanews asked the FLO TV group at Qualcomm what consumers should take away from Jacobs' statements, and if there is a reason to be apprehensive about checking out the service.
"As Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs mentioned on the earnings call...the FLO TV service is not where we expect it to be at this point. However,we continue to work with content and business partners to deliver an engaging mobile multimedia experience. While we cannot comment on our discussions with potential partners, we can say those discussions are yielding exciting new possibilities," the statement from Qualcomm said.
"As we have those discussions, we continue to see positive consumer response. Our recent FIFA World Cup programming on ESPN Mobile set new viewership records. Our service is now available on more than 15 handheld devices...and FLO TV is now available in more than 7,000 locations nationwide, establishing a large retail footprint in less than a year. In the coming months, we are looking to enhance our current offering with relevant, on-demand content and interactive features."
Furthermore, FLO TV is Qualcomm's domestic business, and MediaFLO Technologies is the international platform on which other companies can deliver mobile TV. Japanese network operator KDDI, for example, recently applied for a license to use MediaFLO in a nationwide multimedia broadcast service. A decision on that license is expected to happen later this summer.
"Qualcomm is committed to driving FLO TV technology in the States and MediaFLO technologies around the world," the company said. "Paul's comments are simply a reiteration of the company's long-standing position that it does not, over time, intend to be in the operator business."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Qualcomm - Television - Business - MediaFLO - FIFA World Cup
Mobile app CardStar smartly ties in with location-based services

Publié: juillet 27, 2010, 7:01pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Brick and Mortar retailers haven't quite figured out the perfect way to utilize location-based "check in" services like Foursquare, Gowalla, and Latitude, but mobile rewards app CardStar today presented a new option for retailers.
Retailers like Starbucks, Domino's Pizza, Chili's, Ann Taylor, and Sephora have all tried promotions where the people who check in most at their stores (the "mayors") get special coupons or prizes.
But so far, retailers have taken a rather erratic approach to utilizing location-based promotions, leaving it a market with still a lot of potential, but not a lot to show yet.
Forrester Research published a study this week which concluded that "most marketers should wait until they can get a bigger bang for their buck, when adoption rates increase and established players emerge from the fray."
Today, cross-platform mobile loyalty card app CardStar announced it has integrated Foursquare into the newest version of its iOS 4 app, combining rewards cards and location check-ins into a single app. The result could be something that helps big retailers emerge from this Location-based "fray."
The premise of CardStar is simple. Rather than carry around all the loyalty cards that retailers give out, you either enter their numbers into CardStar or scan them with the phone's barcode scanner. The barcodes are then saved either in the user's phone, or in the cloud-based CardStar Connect account, and they can be called up when checking out at a store and scanned directly off of the phone's screen.
With the new Foursquare integration, users can also check into the store where they're shopping as they call up their rewards card. The first time a user does this, he doesn't really experience any significant reward to checking in. However, if it is a place he frequently visits, like his neighborhood grocery store, for example, the app can remember the area as a "favorite place," and automatically call up the appropriate rewards card whenever he's in that location.
For retailers, this app offers a lot of benefits. Not only are users advertising to their peers where they're shopping, but they're also giving the retailers another way to communicate with them. The latter is a mutually beneficial situation, because users who check into FourSquare at a particular location could, for example, have exclusive promotions sent directly to the CardStar app that other shoppers do not receive.
CardStar is available on iOS, Android, and BlackBerry, but the iOS version, released today in Apple's App Store, is currently the only one supporting Foursquare's open API. The other versions will be updated in the coming months.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

App Store - Foursquare - CardStar - Apple - Gowalla
Apple debuts multi-touch Magic Trackpad, battery charger

Publié: juillet 27, 2010, 6:59pm CEST par Ed Oswald

By Ed Oswald, Betanews

Aiming to bring its multi-touch technology to its desktop systems, Apple on Tuesday introduced the "Magic Trackpad," a navigation device that looks much like the trackpads on its current MacBook Pro line of laptops.
The device, which retails for $69, would allow the user to employ the same gestures available to those using its laptops. The device would run on two AA batteries and connect wirelessly to the computer via Bluetooth.
Some of the gestures available include pinch and spread to adjust size, rotating, and swiping -- all of which are natively supported in the most current versions of Mac OS X. They are also quite similar to the gestures used on Apple's popular iPhone devices, so those familiar with the popular device would already understand the Magic Trackpad's concept.
Like the MacBook Pro trackpad, the entire surface is clickable. However, the size of the device comes in about 80 percent larger, meaning there would be more space for the user to maneuver and manipulate objects on the screen. This is done to make the device the same size as its most current iteration of the wireless keyboard, Apple said.
Apple's Magic Trackpad looks exactly like pictures of a navigation device that surfaced on sites like Engadget earlier this summer. Many sites reported about a week ago that the device had received FCC approval.
It isn't Apple's first foray into gesture equipped peripherals, though -- that belongs to the Magic Mouse, which it introduced last year and supported some rudimentary gestures. iMac and Mac Pro desktops ship with that mouse.
In related news, Apple also announced a $29 battery charger that includes six NiMH AA batteries. The company claims that these batteries have about a ten year service life, and the charger itself has the lowest standby power usage value.
Both devices are currently available from the Apple Store.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Apple - Magic Mouse - iPhone - magictrackpad - IMac
Apple refreshes iMac, Mac Pro lines, introduces new Cinema Display

Publié: juillet 27, 2010, 4:45pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

After Apple temporarily closed down its Web-based store on Tuesday, the company announced its annual desktop product line refresh, which included new Mac Pro, iMac, and Cinema Display products.
Apple's new iMacs are equipped with Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 processors offering speeds between 2.93 GHz and 3.6 GHz, have up to 16GB of faster 1333 MHz memory, discrete ATI Radeon HD craphics cards, (including the HD 5750 with 1GB GDDR5 on the top end,) and configure-to-order storage solutions with up to 2TB hard drives or 256GB solid state drives.
Apple announced four pre-configured options in 21.5" and 27" sizes today:
21.5" 3.06 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac ($1,199) - 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 4670 with 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM, and a 500GB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive.
21.5" 3.20 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac ($1,499) - 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 5670 with 512MB GDDR3, and a 1TB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive.
27" 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac ($1,699) - 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 5670 with 512MB GDDR3, and a 1TB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive.
27" 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 ($1,999) - 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 5750 with 1GB GDDR5, and a 1TB 7200 SATA hard drive.
All of these iMacs include an 8x slot-load SuperDrive, Mini DisplayPort outputs, 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, iSight video Camera, Gigabit ethernet, four USB 2.0 ports, Firewire 800, and SD card slot supporting SDXC.
Apple's new Mac Pro line now supports up to 12 processor cores, with quad- and six-core Intel Xeon processors running at speeds up to 3.33 GHz, comes with the ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics processor with 1GB of memory, or can be configured with the faster ATI Radeon HD 5870, and support for up to four 512GB SSDs or four 2TB SATA HDDs and up to 32GB of RAM.
Apple listed two pre-configured models today in its announcement:
Quad-Core Mac Pro ($2,499) -- One 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon W3530 processor with 8MB of fully-shared L3 cache, 3GB DDR3 ECC SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory, 1TB SATA (3Gb/s) 7200 rpm hard drive.
8-Core Mac Pro ($3,499) -- Dual 2.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5620 processors with 12MB of fully-shared L3 cache per processor; 6GB of DDR3 ECC SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory, 1TB SATA (3Gb/s) 7200 rpm hard drive.
These models come with three video outs (two Mini DisplayPorts and one dual-link DVI,) 18x SuperDrive optical drive, four PCI Express 2.0 slots, five USB 2.0 ports, four FireWire 800 ports, 802.11n, and Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR.
The new Mac Pros will be available both online and in retail stores in August.
The new LED Cinema Display is 27" edge to edge with a 2560 x 1440 resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio. It comes with a built-in iSight video camera and microphone, inegrated MagSafe charger for Mac notebooks, stereo speakers, Mini DisplayPort input, and a powered three-port USB 2.0 hub. It will be available in both Apple's retail stores and online in September for $999.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

MacPro - iMac - Apple - Mini DisplayPort - Intel Core