Author Archives | Tim Conneally
Tim Conneally - who has written 791 posts on Computer | TechBlogPlus.
Wolfram|Alpha makes a strong argument for virtual keyboards
By Tim Conneally, Betanews I don't keep my personal preference for mobile devices with physical keyboards a secret; the sensation of hitting real keys is an indivisible part of the text entry experience for me, and it's not likely to change any time soon. But there is one area where physical keyboards are woefully inferior to virtual ones: adaptability. A virtual keyboard can represent any alphabet or be arranged in any configuration the user or software needs, and a physical keyboard simply can't keep up with that.There is no better example than Wolfram|Alpha's iPhone/iPod Touch app, which now has four full-screen keyboards to accommodate all the various mathematical symbols that it includes in its searches and computations. Today, Wolfram Research pushed out the 1.1 update to its $49.99 application in the iTunes App Store, which has been redesigned to provide a more useful interface with the "answer engine.""To determine the optimal keyboard layout, we scoured Wolfram|Alpha's server logs for the most commonly entered phrases that have characters with meaning in Wolfram|Alpha," the team's blog says today. "Given that Wolfram|Alpha is built on Mathematica, one of its core strengths is advanced mathematics. True to form most of the commonly typed characters are related to math." In addition to the standard keyboard, Wolfram|Alpha includes specialized ones labeled "Math," "Greek," and "Symbol" to simplify the act of querying the app."Whether people are converting currency, locating positions of planets, or performing advanced mathematical computations far beyond the capabilities of scientific and graphing calculators, this new functionality provides a natural mobile computation experience," the team said this evening. Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Continue reading...Motorola Droid gets its first official multi-touch gesture
Friday, February 5, 2010
By Tim Conneally, Betanews The Droid has gotten pinch-to-zoom in Google Maps. Immediately after Google introduced the multitouch gesture on the HTC Nexus One browser, photo gallery, and maps applications, owners of the popular Motorola Droid began to ask if their devices would receive the same update, since it is widely known to support multi-touch input.It looks like Google has delivered...partially, at least.The update to Google Maps (v.3.4.0) which rolled out this week adds pinch to zoom to the Droid, but is the sole app to do so. Interestingly, it was not advertised with the update. Devices without multi-touch capability received the same update, but naturally, it did not include the added gesture recognition.For these devices it is a somewhat mundane update, adding deeper synchronization with the user's Google account. For example, a user's Google searches on the desktop can now affect the location-based suggestions in his mobile queries. Similarly, when a user "stars" a location as a favorite, it is now synchronized with his Google account.Arguably the most important place to add the feature is in the Browser, but there are currently no updates available to the Droid's browser (or photo gallery, for that matter.) Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Continue reading...Original Xbox being phased out of Xbox Live online play, but alternatives exist
Friday, February 5, 2010
By Tim Conneally, Betanews Microsoft today confirmed the long-running rumor that support for the original Xbox will be terminated on the Xbox Live online game servers. The company announced that April 15, 2010 will be the last day legacy Xboxes will be able to play on Xbox Live."This isn't a decision we made lightly, but after careful consideration, it is clear this will provide the greatest benefit to the Xbox Live ommunity," Marc Whitten, General Manager of Xbox Live announced today. Whitten noted that Halo 2, a version of the popular first person shooter for the original Xbox still retains a dedicated community of players. The creators of the Halo franchise, Bungie, have forums dedicated to each version of the game, and users are already begun waxing nostalgic about the "classic" Xbox Live.One user wrote, "Words don't describe the memories I've had on this title over the past roughly half decade... not just this game, but loads of others as well. I'll tip my hat to just that said fact any day. I'm sad to see the service go, I don't want to see it go, but so be it if it's in the best interest of future engagements for the Xbox Live community."But there are still alternatives for the most devoted Halo 2 players. Users can connect to online games outside of Xbox Live with XbConnect or Xlink Kai, online game servers which support the legacy consoles, but require them to be connected to a PC. While neither offer the same level of playability as the Xbox Live version, they will be the only options diehards will have after the April retirement of legacy Xbox Live. Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Continue reading...Apple asks developer to remove Android mention from App Store
Friday, February 5, 2010
By Tim Conneally, Betanews Apple has asked one mobile app developer to refrain from mentioning Google's Android mobile operating system in its iTunes App store descriptions, or face rejection.The description of the 99¢ "Flash of Genius" flash card app included the text: "Finalist in Google's Android Developer's Challenge!" Apple contacted Flash of Genius, LLC and asked it to change the description."During our review of your application, we found that your application contains inappropriate or irrelevant platform information in the Application Description and/or Release Notes sections," the message from Apple said."Providing future platform compatibility plans or other general platform references are not relevant in the context of the iPhone App Store. While your application has not been rejected, it would be appropriate to remove 'Finalist in Google's Android Developer's Challenge!' from the Application Description," Apple's review team said. (The entire message can be found in Flash of Genius blog.)Flash of Genius' Tim Novikoff willingly changed the description and said, "I suppose it's logical, and I'm not complaining; Apple is a wonderful company to work with."Silicon Alley Insider's Jay Yarow agreed with the sentiment today, "It sounds harsh, but makes sense. It doesn't matter if it's a great Android application, this is a different platform."But is it logical? Yes, the Android Developer Challenge concerns a different platform, but the nomination still carries weight as an honorific. When an actor is nominated for an Oscar, don't we frequently hear that the actor is an "X-time nominee?" Those nominations were for different roles, so it has no impact on the current nomination, but it speaks to the overall quality of the performer. This is a similar case. The Android platform is different, but when a product excels somewhere, it is worthwhile to let potential buyers know. For example, on the back of the box of the PlayStation 3 version of Bethesda Softworks' Fallout 3, it says "Best of E3 2008 Winner" for Best RPG. When it got this award, the game did not even exist on PlayStation 3 yet...it was shown on an Xbox 360. Now, it would have been closer to the Flash of Genius situation if "Best Xbox 360 RPG," was printed on the game box, but ultimately, an award is an award and helps the customer actualize the quality of a product. Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Continue reading...ISPs are not responsible for illegal downloading, says Australian court
Thursday, February 4, 2010
By Tim Conneally, Betanews Australian federal courts have decided that the country's second largest ISP, iiNet, is in no way responsible for the illegal actions of its subscribers.In 2008, iiNet was sued by more than 30 film and television industry companies for copyright infringement; or more accurately, for the copyright infringement of its customers using BitTorrent to download pirated content. The group alleged that iiNet failed to take appropriate measures to stop customers from illegally sharing files with the P2P software.Among the plaintiffs in the case were Village Roadshow, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, Disney, and the Seven Network. Justice Dennis Cowdroy's ruling says there was no way to find iiNet liable for the behavior of its customers."It is impossible to conclude that iiNet has authorised copyright infringement," Cowdroy said today. "It did not have relevant power to prevent infringements occurring."In response to the ruling, iiNet said, "We have never supported or encouraged breaches of the law, including infringement of the Copyright Act or the Telecommunications Act. Today's judgment is a vindication of that and the allegations against us have been proven to be unfounded. iiNet has always been, and will continue to be, a good corporate citizen and an even better copyright citizen." Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Continue reading...Symbian now 100% open source, and looking for developers to fill in the gaps
Thursday, February 4, 2010
By Tim Conneally, Betanews The world's most widely-used smartphone platform is now completely free and open. Today, the Symbian Foundation announced that the entire 33 million lines of Symbian^3 code is now free under the Eclipse Public License.The platform was only sort of open source before...sort of. When the Symbian Foundation launched in 2009, parts of the source code were made available to members of the foundation under a transitional license. But now, all of the third-party intellectual property has been removed from Symbian^3 and it can be downloaded and used freely by anyone. By removing third party protected content, however, a number of gaps have opened up in Symbian's functionality, including features otherwise commonplace in mobile devices. T9 predictive text input, for example, is a technology commonly found on Symbian handsets, but it is intellectual property licensed from Nuance Technologies. So in the fully open-source Symbian^3, this functionality is missing. Handwriting recognition is missing from the open source release as well.The Symbian Foundation will be releasing more information about the newly open-sourced platform throughout the week leading up to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.To start playing around with the code, check out the Symbian Foundation's Platform Wiki/getting started guide. Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Continue reading...SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone okayed for 3G streaming
Thursday, February 4, 2010
By Tim Conneally, Betanews The $30 iPhone app which lets users watch content from their SlingBox "placeshifting" set top box will finally be un-crippled, Sling Media Inc announced this morning.Like many other potentially bandwidth-hungry applications on Apple's iPhone, SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone was only cleared for use over Wi-Fi. When users wanted to watch content from their Slingbox SOLO, PRO-HD, or PRO on the go, they could only do it at a Wi-Fi hotspot. Users of the BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm, and Symbian versions, meanwhile, did have 3G access.However, AT&T has been testing the app on its 3G network since December, and has determined that it doesn't consume too much bandwidth, so it won't pose a threat to the already crowded AT&T network."Collaboration with developers like Sling Media ensures that all apps are optimized for our 3G network to conserve wireless spectrum and reduce the risk that an app will cause such extreme levels of congestion that they disrupt the experience of other wireless customers," Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, said in a formal statement today. "Our focus continues to be on delivering the nation's most advanced mobile broadband experience and giving our customers the widest possible array of mobile applications."SlingPlayer Mobile has existed since late 2006 and demanded a minimum download speed of 112-120 Kbps to view streaming television. The iPhone app was released in 2008 and required a connection of at least 256 Kbps. Sling Media has not yet announced how the minimum connection requirements have changed for the iPhone application. Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Continue reading...Comcast to change name to Xfinity
Thursday, February 4, 2010
By Tim Conneally, Betanews If you're one of the more than 25 million Comcast subscribers, the bill you get next month may be for a service called Xfinity.Beginning on February 12, Comcast will begin rebranding its cable, internet, and digital voice services in 11 markets under the Xfinity name, which it first debuted in December when the company began the process of acquiring NBC Universal.At the time, Comcast's CEO Brian Roberts told investors, "We basically are creating two Comcasts." Today, we found out more of what that entails. In the company's earnings call for today Roberts said, "We are not only repositioning the company technically, we are repositioning the company with consumers." So Comcast the parent company will remain, but Xfinity will be the name the customers see, divorcing the stigmatized Comcast brand from the service. The Xfinity advertising push is expected to begin during the 2010 Winter Olympics for subscribers in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Hartford, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Chattanooga and Augusta. Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Continue reading...Tetris TV: A look at the weird places we’ve stuck Tetris
Thursday, February 4, 2010
By Tim Conneally, Betanews True Story: When I was a freshman in college in the late 90's, my roommate and I had an NES in our dorm room that people would come over and play with. Though we had just reached the 64-bit era of consoles at that point, people loved to come play games from our formative years and socialize. Everything was fine and fun until somebody gave us a Tetris cartridge. From that point onward, people stopped coming and going from our room, and sort of just came and stayed. During most hours of the day, there was someone who wasn't me sitting on my bed playing Tetris. It got old pretty quickly. One morning after I had spent all night doing something (let's just pretend it was studying) a kid came knocking on the door asking to play Tetris."No, man, it's 8am and I'm trying to sleep," I said, and started to close the door.The kid put his foot in the crack between door and the jamb, and said "Come on, don't be a dick."This story ends after a heated exchange of words which culminated in me smashing the Tetris cartridge against a cinderblock wall and then cramming it down a heating duct. While it brought an end to everyone's Tetris fun, it more importantly brought me to the point of this little article: all the odd places we've crammed Tetris.Not in the frenzied flying-off-the-sleep-deprived-handle sense like I did, but the novel sense like today's announcement from Dish Network, Oberon Media, and the Tetris Company. The three partners today announced that there will finally be a Tetris Channel. Yes, now with Tetris TV, Dish Network subscribers will have access to an online version of Tetris for $2.99 per month. It's the first instance I've come across of "Subscription-based Tetris on TV," and it should fit right in the annals of Tetris history along with some of these other oddities from the long 25-year history of Alexy Pajitnov's greatest invention:Tetris on a Chip & PIN terminal: Tetris on the TI-83 Calculator: "Scopetris" on an oscilloscope (by engineer Lars Pontoppidan): Tetris coded in the .NET Micro framework (by Pavel Bánský): Still others:Though only 23 games were made for Nintendo's ill-fated, seizure-inducing Virtual boy, two of them were versions of Tetris. Proving that the game has appeal beyond the sense of sight, there was reportedly a version of Tetris hidden in Braillenote terminals, accessible only by entering the code "playtime" during startup. Nintendo started handheld gaming way before the Game Boy with its LCD Game & Watch games. Later on, it continued its LCD gaming history with devices like this Tetris watch. The one pictured below belongs to professional skateboarder and MTV reality show star Rob Dyrdek. The diamond embellishments weren't a standard option back when this watch was new, I'm afraid. And this, of course, which needs little explanation. Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Continue reading...Buffalo Technology tweaks its mini network drive to perfection
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
By Tim Conneally, Betanews Buffalo Technology's LinkStation Mini dual-drive network storage solution has been looked upon quite favorably. Om Malik called it "almost perfect", and its startlingly tiny profile (only 1.6" x 3.2" x 5.3") and quiet operation earned it high marks across the board.Besides the somewhat high price of the unit, the only complaint users and reviewers seemed to have with the LinkStation was its rather unwieldy Web-based user interface. Today, Buffalo announced it has a new "enhanced" version of LinkStation Mini, which has mostly the same specs as its predecessor: It's tiny, supports RAID 0 and RAID 1, is DLNA certified, and is iTunes and Time Machine-compatible, but it's gotten a performance upgrade and a new user interface.The prices have also come down quite a bit since the NAS device debuted in late 2008. Now instead of $699, the 1 TB model now costs $329.99 and with the 500 GB model costs $229.99.We'll see if we can't get some hands-on time with the updated versions to see if Buffalo Technology has cranked up its tiny storage device from "almost perfect" to "perfect" in just under two years. Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Continue reading...Featured News 
One of the aspects of Microsoft that should come as no surprise is that the company plans ahead not just next year’s product launches, but decades in advance, in terms of the evolution of its technology. Not limited to its own software, this strategy is an integral part of how the company is tackling problems faced by education systems world... (read more)
Firefox 4.0, the next major release of Mozilla’s open source browser, will bring to the table a major overhaul of its graphical user interface, one that would put the UI in line the Windows 7 Ribbon/Fluent style. Mozilla has already made public details on the revamping of the Firefox User interface for version 4.0, and various concepts and sketches ha... (read more)
With Valentine's Day just around the corner, Microsoft is helping Windows 7 customers celebrate love right on their desktops. In this regard, the Redmond company has made available for download a new desktop theme designed to integrate seamlessly into the desktop of their Windows 7-power computers. The Lacy Hearts is, as the software giant has put i... (read more)
The latest development milestone of Office 2010 has made it into the wild, even though Microsoft never intended to have the general public get their hands on the release. Earlier this week, the Redmond company revealed that the next iteration of the Office System reached a key milestone in the evolution to RTM, namely the Rel... (read more)
Saturday, February 6, 2010
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