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25 resolutions Google should make for 2012 [Galaxy Nexus contest winner]

Publié: janvier 6, 2012, 10:41pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Finally, after a two-day delay, we have a winner for a shiny, new Galaxy Nexus smartphone. We asked you to offer 2012 New Year's resolutions for Google -- and you did, and some too late to qualify (you missed the deadline, sorry). Among the many on-time submissions, we chose 25 resolutions that Google should consider for the year ahead.

The resolutions aren't as broad as we expected and perhaps the prize is reason. More of you offered suggestions about Android than anything else. In the list below, some submitters appear more than one time, but they were only considered once in the prize drawing. We randomly chose from among all submitters meeting the deadline. In the interest of time -- and preparation for next week's Consumer Electronics Show -- we didn't check to see if all submitters met the other qualifications. We qualified the winner only and would have drawn another name had he failed to meet them (The two absolutely required with the resolution submission: Tweet the post and follow BetaNews on Twitter).

We assigned each contestant a number and used Random.org to randomly generate the winning number. We then confirmed the winner qualified, based on other tasks. To find the winner, scroll down and look for the name in green. We will contact him separately about the Galaxy Nexus, which we will buy based on his US carrier. Logistically, we may need a little time getting the smartphone to him, depending on where we must procure it.

My apologies. We were supposed to announce the winner on January 4. My daughter's iPhone 4S was stolen that day (it's not yet recovered and may never be) and editorially Friday going into CES seemed like a better time to post the resolutions. With that introduction, please read the resolutions and see the winner in green below. We'll announce winners of the second HP TouchPad contest in a couple days.

The Cloud

Marty Barrett:

"Improve Google Music so that it rivals Apple's iTunes".

Christopher Grau:

"Transform Google Docs into a good Dropbox competitor, and improve its Android app".

Troy Janda:

"Google should open Blogger to WordPress-type themes in 2012".

Thomas Dromgoole:

"My New Year's resolution for Google is to make the task in the calendar share-able just like the calendars are and make a Android app for the task system".

Ben Riffer-Reinert:

"Develop a collaborative web-based Visual Studio competitor (a "Google Docs" for programming) and integrate it with Google code".

RCS_hkt:

"Completely revamp Google Mail so that it has the same functionality and ease of use for organizing archived emails into folders/subfolders as programs like Thunderbird".

Android

aj43:

"Kickstart the Android@Home initiative that was announced at Google IO. Currently, only DIY electronics geeks are using the ADK. Google needs to get the manufacturers of home appliances, lighting and cars using the ADK in products that they are selling to consumers".

Atif Zuberi:

"Get control of devices from manufacturers. If I own a phone I should be able to install a stock version of Ice Cream Sandwich on it, regardless. Even if companies like HTC and Samsung are offering customizations, I should be able to choose what runs on my device. I understand that as technology moves forward the hardware becomes more and more obsolete but instead of being up-to-date with the latest OS version with missing hardware dependent features why am I stuck with a phone that will not get any security updates etc".

David Perry:

"Google should press hardware manufacturers to strive for a breakthrough in battery life issues. Constantly having to look for a power source to insure that our phones continue to work gets a bit tiring".

nfields03:

"Come up with a hardware standard or at least rough standard so that multiple brands of Android phones can share accessories. The iPhone definitely has an edge in accessories, and they've done that by sticking with the same connector IN THE SAME SPOT for years. When the micro-USB port can't be guaranteed to be in the same spot on every phone, accessory manufacturers can't plan properly".

Claude Dinkel:

"Mandate that OEMs update handsets and tablets to the latest version of Android supported by the hardware within 6 months of any major Android version release".

Michael Black:

"Google should impose minimal product requirements for Android phone. A less than 4" screen size and slow CPU doesn't cut it when you want your product to be perceived as high end and to also steal badge snobs from competing companies like Apple".

Neil T:

"Add webOS-style multitasking to Android".

Chen Ming Chen:

"Do not buy RIM! Do not make the same mistake as HP".

Chrome/Chrome OS

j4m3z:

"Create a pure Google Chrome tablet to take on the iPad".

Daniel Gianstefani:

"Get more manufacturers to include the Chrome OS in their products".

aj43:

"Integrate Chrome OS and Android. Android Applications and the Market would run on Chrome OS. Chrome browser and browser extensions/themes could be run on Android. Merge the desktop and mobile experience into one".

nfields03:

"Make the Group Policy Templates for Chrome official and support them. For IT pros like myself, being able to manage and secure the company web browsers is key to having them adopted internally. Chrome is winning among consumers, but if Google wants to pass IE in the enterprise, they're going to need to make a big deal of supporting company compliance and security".

Apple

Claude Dinkel:

"Cut ties with manufacturers/OEMs involved in Apple's supply chain".

Ty Foreman:

"Utilize Motorola acquisition to develop unified intellectual property strategy amongst Android OEMs in fight against Redmond and Cupertino. The biggest winners in Android licensing can not continue to be your mobile OS competitors".

Google+

nfields03:

Find a way to get my mother to move from Facebook to Google Plus. It's not that she likes Facebook that much more, it's that she's already got a lot of content invested in FB, and her friends and all us kids are on FB. The amount of inertia Facebook has is why Google Plus is stagnant right now.

Ben Riffer-Reinert:

"Make a service that allows people to purchase tickets to events like movies, concerts, fund raisers and other local events. Integrate it with Google+ and Google Checkout".

Corporate Strategy

Ivan92116:

"Resolve to better market your products. Announcing ICS & Galaxy Nexus in Hong Kong and then waiting almost 2 months before Verizon actually released the phone was not good marketing. Only release products when they are ready for primetime (no more beta) and back it up with a big marketing push".

Claude Dinkel:

"Mandate that all Android and Chrome OEMs reduce their use [of] conflict minerals by 15 percent within 1 year, and phase out all conflict minerals within 5 years. Offer significant financial incentives to those who meet or exceed all goals at least 6 months ahead of schedule".

Larry Ryan:

"Sign Chuck Norris as a spokesperson".
Ultrabooks creep out in advance of CES 2012

Publié: janvier 6, 2012, 9:45pm CET par Tim Conneally
We're just a few days away from another installment of the annual International Consumer Electronics Show, where thousands of companies from all over the world come to show off their wares for the new year.

One of the device types everyone is expecting to see a lot of this year is the Ultrabook, or the ultra thin and light notebook class that Intel classified just about nine months ago.

Since kicking off the Ultrabook initiative, we've looked at products from HP, Acer, and Toshiba; and next week, we're expecting to see a lot more. Some have estimated as many as 50 different Ultrabooks will debut this year.

Some major PC makers this week announced their new Ultrabook offerings in advance of CES, and some have leaked out more or less inadvertently. Either way, we have a rough bit of a map for what we should look for when we're on the CES floor this year. These include:

Lenovo

ThinkPad T430u
- Base Price: $849
- Maximum storage 1TB HDD
- Intel Core processors and optional Nvidia GPU
- Six Hour battery
- .8" thickness
- under 4 pounds
Samsung

Samsung Series S
- Base Price: $900 (unofficial)
- Comes in both 13" and 14" models
- Dual core i5 processor
- 4 GB RAM
- Hybrid SSD/HDD 16 GB/500 GB
- Optional HDD up to 1 TB
- AMD Radeon 7550M GPU
LG

Z330
- 13.3" screen
- .57" thick
- 2.66 Lb
- Second-generation Intel Core i7 processor
Z430
- 14" screen
- .78" thick
- 3.3 lbs
- Second-gen Intel Core i7 processor
- Up to 500 GB hybrid SSD/HDD storage
The massive presence missing from this list so far is Texas PC maker Dell. The company is no stranger to the ultrabook form factor, or at least some approximation thereof. In fact, at CES three years ago, the company surprised us with its Adamo line of notebooks, which were pricey and underpowered, but delightfully skinny for the time, and appealing to the eye.

Dell appears to have silently pulled back the netbook reins in advance of CES, so many are expecting some new goodies from the company next week.
OWASP’s Mantra -- a customized portable version of Firefox

Publié: janvier 6, 2012, 6:45pm CET par Mike Williams

If you’re a web developer who would like some assistance with your more complex development tasks then a good first step might be to install Firebug, an amazingly powerful Firefox extension which enables you to inspect and modify HTML in real time, debug JavaScript, analyse site performance and a whole lot more.

There are plenty of other Firefox extensions which you might find useful, though. Obviously you could research and install these individually, but a quicker option might be to download a copy of OWASP’s Mantra, a customized portable version of Firefox which includes more than 50 well-chosen web development tools.

And so you do get Firebug, of course, along with some useful extensions such as FirePHP and Flashbug. But there are also tools to manage and edit scripts, test the security of web applications, uncover a host of information about the current page and site, list and test page links, monitor and display HTTP traffic, watch JavaScript events, manage SQLite databases and more (see Mantra’s site for the full list).

Of course, if you’re a web development novice then this can all seem a little intimidating, especially as there’s little help on offer. But once you start to explore then it won’t take long to master the basics.

If you want to learn more about the current page, for instance, just click the “i” (for Information) button on the left-hand toolbar. At first you’ll see only the most general details: address, MIME type, encoding, size, referring URL, modification date, meta tags and so on. But then by clicking buttons at the top of the sidebar you’re able to view media files linked to the page, its permissions, page and site security information, any page dependencies (including scripts, style sheets and more), and more.

You could achieve something similar by installing various Firefox extensions yourself, of course, but Mantra arguably does a better job of integrating and presenting this information. And if you’re at all interested in web development then you’ll find plenty to like here, especially as it comes in a convenient portable form.

Just one word of warning. When we first ran the program, all that appeared was our regular Firefox home page. It turns out that, while Mantra can happily coexist with a Firefox installation, you shouldn’t run them both at the same time: when we closed down everything and restarted Mantra, then the program launched as expected, displaying the Metro-style intro page which you can see in the screen grab.
Got iPad and need Microsoft Office? Try CloudOn

Publié: janvier 6, 2012, 6:36pm CET par Mark Wilson

There are a number of Office compatible office suites to choose from in Apple's App Store, so anything that wants to stand out from the crowd needs to offer something special. After a brief appearance followed by a rapid vanishing act, CloudOn for iPad has returned to the App Store. What makes this app different from any of the other suites you could choose to install? Well, not only is it free of charge, but the suite is not only Office-compatible, it is a cloud-based version of Microsoft’s flagship suite.

The app integrates with Dropbox that is used to store all of your documents, and you have access to Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The app interface is almost exactly the same as using the desktop version of Office, but working with an on-screen keyboard is vastly different to typing in the usual way. It is unlikely that you will want to use the app for extended periods of typing, but the ability to review existing documents and make changes to spreadsheets, presentations and text documents in a familiar environment is big news.

While CloudOn is a great tool, it suffers from the same problem as any cloud-based app. The stuttering launch of the app just goes to highlight the failing of working with software and services that are not remotely installed -- overwhelming demand, server issues and other problems could make it impossible to access your files so, in the early stages of OnCloud’s life it might be advisable to avoid using it for anything that is mission-critical.

The cloud-based nature of CloudOn also works in its favour as it greatly simplifies the process of transferring files from your iPad to your Mac or PC -- just log into your Dropbox account and your files will be immediately available. The documents you are working on are saved and synchronized automatically so the latest version of files is always available on Dropbox. Many users will have privacy concerns about the fact that the CloudOn app so it might be advisable to avoid using it for sensitive files, but until an official iPad version of Microsoft Office this is a pretty decent tool.

You can find out more and download a free copy of the app by paying a visit to the CloudOn review page.
Remap your keyboard with SharpKeys 3.5

Publié: janvier 6, 2012, 6:10pm CET par Nick Peers

One of the most overlooked components when choosing your next Windows PC is its keyboard. You get so caught up in making sure it’s fast enough, feature-packed enough and with enough storage to forget that something as fundamental as the keyboard could make it practically unusable.

Often it’s not the keyboard itself that’s the problem, but rather the way certain keys are laid out. If you find yourself accidentally hitting one key when you mean to hit another, or find the Caps Lock keeps mysteriously coming on, then SharpKeys 3.5 is for you.

SharpKeys exploits a Windows Registry tweak that allows for keys to be remapped to other keys (or disabled entirely). It’s a useful tweak that has worked since the days of Windows 2000, but it can be a right pain delving into Regedit with carefully constructed codes to attempt to convert the Caps Lock key into Shift or to disable the Insert key altogether.

SharpKeys takes the pain out of keyboard remapping by providing you with a neat and simple interface to select the key you wish to change, either from a list or by pressing said key, and then choosing the key to map it to or disabling it entirely. It’s all done by point-and-click, you can set up as many remappings as you like and then you just click the magic “Write the Registry” button and either logoff or restart your PC to effect the change.

It’s not 100 percent effective -- only US English keyboard mappings have been applied here, so less common key combinations won’t work, such as [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [3] for the Euro symbol in European markets, for example. There’s also an element of risk involved -- avoid disabling or remapping keys that could be vital later on, such as [Ctrl], [Alt] or [Del]. Nevertheless, SharpKeys is a quick, simple and painless solution to the problem of bashing the wrong key.

SharpKeys 3.5 is a free open-source download for PCs running Windows 2000 or later. It also requires the .NET Framework 4.0 Client.

Photo Credit: Liv friis-larsen/Shutterstock
7 things I really don't want to see at CES

Publié: janvier 6, 2012, 5:54pm CET par Joe Wilcox
Next week, the biggest trade show of the year opens in Las Vegas. Tens of thousands of people will make the annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show. My inbox already bursts with press releases, and it can only get worse. I hate CES. Trade shows like this one are anachronisms. Microsoft is right to bow out after this year. There's too much noise and too many vendors trying to yell louder than the next one. Logistically, from a reporter's perspective, it's a nightmare to coordinate. There's too much to cover and not enough time.

So in that spirit, I've come to spit on CES and offer a list that juxtaposes colleague Tim Conneally's. Earlier this week, he posted: "10 things I genuinely want to see at CES 2012". Tim offers an excellent list of want-to-sees. I'm taking a different tact: Things I don't want to see -- or hear about -- during CES 2012.

1. Apple television. Geez Louise, Apple isn't even attending CES, but buzz is everywhere about the company releasing its own line of TVs. There's this cockeyed presumption that Apple will do better TV than everyone -- that it will somehow revolutionize the genre. Samsung, Sony and dozens of other manufacturers make some pretty damn impressive big-screens, and they've been doing so for much longer.

The only thing Apple could revolutionize, if it makes a TV, is the experience for people plugged into its lifestyle. It's all rumor. All conjecture. All wasted-time and energy. And all a distraction from thousands of other products announced and actually shipping (arguably not often right away).

2. Products shipping in six months or holiday 2012. Every year it's the same damn thing. Vendors line up to out-yell one another about stuff they won't ship anytime soon. What the frak? They generate excitement about the next, cool toy -- but you can't have it for six to 10 months. The excitement is long passed by the time many CES products ship, if they aren't already imitated first -- or changed to imitate others. On the latter, look how much Galaxy Tab 10.1 changed from its fabulous debut. Apple later launched iPad 2, and Samsung made dramatic alterations to Tab 10.1 specs. What it showed off isn't what shipped.

3. Steve Ballmer's CES epitaph. Okay, so Microsoft is smartly giving up the opening keynote and largely leaving the show starting in 2013. Next week, Ballmer will give Microsoft's final CES keynote, after about 15 of them (counting the nearly dozen from Chairman Bill Gates). Good riddance and, please, dispense with the retrospectives. Microsoft should have left CES long ago. The show ill fits a company primarily selling to businesses. The audience was never right for Microsoft.

4. 2012 is the year of... This is the year of ultrabooks. No, it's the year of iPhone -- or is that Android? It's the year when Apple revolutionizes TV. No, it's the year of Samsung smartphones. Quad-core tablets; any tablets; smart TV; flexible displays; e-readers; $200 tablets; Windows Phone; Windows 8; and so on and so on. For the record, it's the year of the dragon, according to the Chinese calendar. Everything else is pure poof.

5. Product prototypes. This one extends from #2. If you're going to announce something new at CES, show it off. If, Mr. Vendor, all you've got is a protype, or worse, something to look at behind plexiglass, you shouldn't announce anything. Your product is vaporware, dude. Sure you'll suck up all the free press you can get. But the real service to customers, and to bloggers and journalists making time for you, is something real that can be handled and used. Pre-production models are okay, as long as they can be touched and seen up close. Everything else is PR BS.

6. Anything about Steve Jobs. Now that Apple's cofounder has left this world and been canonized visionary extraordinaire, suddenly all things new are compared to what Jobs might have done instead. It's unfair to living innovators producing real products for this plane of existence. Get over Jobs. He left us -- taken too soon, perhaps -- but still gone. If you want to respect the dead, do so by also respecting the living. I'm talking to you, bloggers and journalists, and to the Apple Fanclub among you.

7. Day 0 and Day 1 product pileups. CES 2011 was one of the worst for preannouncements. It's the problem of no one wanting to be missed and so everyone yelling about their products at once -- either before the show actually starts or all done Day 1. The pile up means that:
- Even more products are lost in the noise
- There is too much at once for bloggers and journalists to cover
- Smaller, deserving vendors are missed, even with something really cool
- People bug out of the show earlier, because all the news is over -- wasting antendees' time and money
I'm a huge fan of smaller events hosted by tech companies, where there is more focus and clear message. CES is too big for most. If there is any real value to such a large venue, it's for buyers. Even then, I wonder.

That's it, I decided to stop at seven, when originally planning on 10. If you've got something you don't want to see at CES 2012, please answer in comments. Surely someone will crassly say Joe Wilcox. I'll oblige you there.
Explore global television with TVNations

Publié: janvier 6, 2012, 4:01pm CET par Mike Williams

There are plenty of TV stations all across the world that stream at least some of their content online. And a quick Google search will deliver plenty of interesting possibilities. Or you could just install TVNations, a tiny tool which makes many of them directly available from your Windows desktop.

Like many similar applications, the program organizes its channels by both genre and location. So you can click Movies, Music or News in the left-hand pane to find offerings of a particular type, for instance, or just choose your preferred location in the right-hand pane to see everything from that country.

While the selection at first seems to be reasonable, it didn’t take long before we spotted problems. On browsing the UK, for instance, we found listings for “BBC Click” and “BBC Newsnight”, which are both specific programs -- not entire channels. And when we chose Newsnight (which as you’ll guess from the name is a news program) TVNations managed to find and play an old edition, not something that will help anyone at all.

The playback interface isn’t exactly impressive, either. You can pause and resume playback, adjust or mute the volume and view a program full-screen or in a window, but that’s about it. If you’re hoping to tweak color, brightness or contrast then you’re going to be disappointed.

And of course you need to be realistic about what you’re going to see. There are plenty of movie channels here, for example, but don’t expect them to be playing modern blockbusters. When we checked they were mostly running ancient, obscure Westerns, and that’s not unusual.

Still, TVNations does include plenty of real channels, which actually do work. The program is also portable, being contained in a single 84KB executable, so it’s very convenient. And we did find it genuinely useful for catching up on the news (with the exception of the Newsnight issue), as it includes a host of links to news programs and channels from all around the world. So if you’ve not found a web TV aggregator you like FreeTube, say, then take a look at TVNations: it’s basic, but comes with lots of links and its portability means you can use the program on any convenient PC.
Chrome 17 beta can load pages faster than you can type the address

Publié: janvier 6, 2012, 1:43pm CET par Nick Peers

Almost a month after releasing Google Chrome 16 Final, Google has finally pushed Google Chrome Beta to version 17. This latest build concentrates on delivering speed and security enhancements with background preloading of web pages and downloading screening functionality added.

A number of other, more minor changes and the usual slew of bug fixes are also included, including adjustable margins in Print Preview and a prompt to confirm the cancellation of incomplete downloads when the user closes the last window of an incognito profile.

The headline features with the beta release, are however, firmly focused on speed and security. Some web pages are now preloaded in the background as web users type the address into the Omnibox – if Chrome is confident it knows where the user is going, the web page is preloaded so it appears more quickly or even, according to Google, instantaneously in certain cases.

Chrome 17 Beta also introduces an extension to its Safe Browsing technology that automatically screens all downloaded executable files (such as EXE and MSI in Windows) for known malware, alerting the user if any are found. It’ll also alert the user if a file is downloaded from a website with a poor reputation for hosting malware-infected files.

At the present time, the database of known malware is relatively small, but is expected to grow rapidly as the feature moves into the next major stable release. It mirrors similar functionality already found in Internet Explorer 9 as well as a host of security tools including Norton Internet Security 2012. As always, however, the user should not rely solely on this feature to protect them from malicious downloads.

Now Chrome has moved to versions 16 (Stable) and 17 (Beta), we await to see what new features are previewed when Google Chrome Dev is pushed to version 18. In the meantime, you can download Google Chrome 17 Beta for free for Windows, Mac and Linux.
January 6 giveaway: Auslogics Registry Defrag

Publié: janvier 6, 2012, 1:40am CET par Mark Wilson

It is important to keep your computer in good shape if you are going to get years of use from it and there are various techniques that can be used to ensure that you are getting the best possible performance from your hardware. While it is fairly easy to use the various tools that are built into Windows to keep your hard drive optimized, when it comes to the registry it is something of a different story. Windows includes a tool that can be used to edit the registry, but nothing that enables you to optimize it. This is precisely where Auslogics Registry Defrag can help and today we’re giving you a free copy of this powerful app worth $19.95.

Auslogics has a great reputation for producing powerful maintenance tools, and Registry Defrag falls very neatly into this category. The registry is an area of Windows that many people do not feel comfortable tampering with -- and with good reason, as any incorrect changes could have disastrous consequences for your computer. But just like your hard drive, your registry is prone to fragmentation as software installation and uninstallations leading to bloating and an increase in size that impacts negatively on performance.

Whether you have a cutting edge computer or you are working with a slightly older machine, Auslogics Registry Defrag is a valuable tool that can make a real difference to performance. Turning to this dedicated tool is a far better option than trying to battle with the registry yourself. Windows’ huge database is an unwieldy beast to battle with and if you make incorrect changes or deletions you could render your system unusable. Registry Defrag automatically create a System Restore point so in the unlikely event that something goes wrong you can reverse the changes.

The fact that Windows is making constant reference to the registry means that it is important to keep it optimized. Auslogics Registry Defrag will eliminate unnecessary entries and reduce the overall size of the registry to keep things running as smoothly as possible and maximizing the amount of RAM available to applications. As an added bonus the app can be installed on up to three computers with a single license, so you can maintain all of the computers in your household with the same tool.

To take advantage of this special giveaway, go to the Downloadcrew Giveaway site, log in (or create a free account if you don’t have one already), grab your copy of the program and get a free serial code. Be quick as the offer is for January 6th only, and expires at 23:59 Central European Time.

Photo Credit: Sergey Mironov/Shutterstock