Category: Software

It’s that time of week again, where we share with you our favorite Android applications. Join us after the break!

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Sony Ericsson has delivered on their promised first update to the Sony Ericsson Xperia X2.  On their blog they have listed the improvements the updates are set to bring and these include:

– MR1 is built on a new core platform release from Microsoft including a newer version of IE6
– Stability improvements are everywhere with focus on SlideView, Panel manager and TileWave
– Performance improvements focused on rotation and touch performance, the camera, web browsing, the software keyboard and audio streaming
– New features are added like FM radio, Video calling, Auto-lock and Fast GPS which allows for a faster first fix to the GPS signal
– SlideView 2.0 gives better usability throughout with a fresh design; and new actions are build in like new/reply/delete/edit capabilities in messaging and calendar. Music scrolling/searching and the mini-player have also been enhanced
– The new dialer took a big step forward with four easy buttons giving easy access to the dial-pad, favorites, call activity and contacts. We increased the target hit area in contacts for finger friendliness and added user friendly redial functionality
– Based on feedback from you, we really worked hard on the software keyboard (XT9) by improving speed and touch responsiveness

A further update to Windows Mobile 6.5.3 is expected eventually.

The update can be downloaded by following the instructions here.

Via GSMArena.com

Adobe anuncio la ultima versión de la mas reciente versión de Flash Player 10.1, que actualmente esta disponible como una Release Candidate.

Una de las principales mejoras que trae es la aceleración por hardware, reducción de recursos utilizados para la reproducción de videos H.264 y la ejecución de juegos basados en flash, lo que se traduce en un menor consumo en las baterías de notbooks/netbooks.

Para quienes quieran conocer todas las mejoras pueden pegar una mirada a la release notes en pdf, donde se encuentran disponibles que gráficas soportan la aceleración por hardware y que drivers requieren para que funcionen.

Descargas:

Flash Player 10.1 plug-in para Windows (EXE, 2.4 MB)
Flash Player 10.1 active-x para Windows (EXE, 2.5 MB)
Flash Player 10.1 plug-in para Macintosh (DMG, 7.4 MB)
Flash Player 10.1 plug-in para Linux (TAR.GZ, 4.5 MB)

Instalación de Flash Player en Ubuntu Linux:

Una vez que descargamos el archivo tar.gz lo descomprimimos y copiamos “libflashplayer.so” como root en (pueden hacerlo con sudo nautilus)

/usr/lib/flashplugin-installer

Para no tener problemas, antes de copiar el archivo podemos renombrar que ya se encuentra en esa dirección por “libflashplayer.so.viejo” y ahí si copiar el nuevo.. por si llegamos a tener algún problema..

una vez copiado reiniciamos nuestro navegador y listo.

Con la consola..

sudo mv /usr/lib/flashplugin-installer/libflashplayer.so /usr/lib/flashplugin-installer/libflashplayer.so.viejo
sudo cp libflashplayer.so /usr/lib/flashplugin-installer/

I don’t give a ton of presentations, but I’m something of a presentation junky — one of my favorite web sites is Presentation Zen, where the author gives lessons on design theory. Therefore, I’ve been looking forward to iPad Keynote since Phil Schiller gave his dog and pony show.

Keynote for the iPad is a decent companion program if you need to give light presentations or make light edits while on the road. As a sole means of creating presentations, I found it lacking.

The Art of the Transfer

Currently, getting files to and from your iPad is needlessly difficult. To get an already-created presentation from your computer to your iPad, you need to either sync it via iTunes, or send it to yourself via e-mail; there’s no mountable file-system or iDisk support. Also, if you make changes to the presentation, you’ll need to export and re-download it via iTunes; it will not auto-update your local copy. Also, you can only export in Keynote and PDF; you cannot export your slides as a PPT file.

I had decent luck with transferring Keynote and PowerPoint presentations. Only one (a Keynote presentation, oddly) had any sort of problems; the others came in just fine.

The problematic Keynote presentation I expected to have problems with. I use a lot of third-party fonts in my presentations, and since you are limited to what Apple provided, custom fonts will be substituted. Below is what the title page looks like in OS X Keynote and iPad Keynote.

Title Slide From iPad

Title Slide From OS X

Those weren’t the only issues I had. About 20 of my slides were charts, and the slides were designed to transition so the pie chart was the same size and in the same place on every side. To ensure this, when I created the presentation, I just duplicated the first slide with the chart and changed the numbers. When I gave the presentation on my MacBook, it worked perfectly. Unfortunately, on the iPad that was not the case and on some slides the chart size changed ruining the effect — the other common elements displayed correctly. The iPad’s resolution is 4:3 and I built the presentation for a 16:9 widescreen display.

I also had some odd issues with graphics. I tend to have a lot of full-frame images (where the image takes up the entire slide). On the presentation I had problems with, on some slides the graphic was pushed-up, requiring me to reposition them. Other presentations with full-frame graphics worked OK, so I might just have one Cursed Presentation.

Bottom line, the simpler the better when transferring presentations to the iPad. If you have a graphic-intensive talk, be prepared to spend some time double-checking it. In fact, if you’re going to be using your iPad to give a talk, you are going to want to take its limitations into account when you design it.

The Art of Giving

With the optional VGA cable you can hook your iPad up to a projector or a display. In my limited testing (comprised of hooking it up to an LCD display) it worked very well. The iPad seemed to auto-detect the resolution and the slides displayed as well as they did on the iPad screen. However, while the auto-detection looks OK, I did notice some distortion of pie charts on the display; they were stretched horizontally (this could be due to the conversion from widescreen to 4:3, and back to widescreen again.

The presentation tools when connected to an external source are limited. There is no presenters view or notes view. All you see is a black screen with a slide count. There is a pop-up display that will let you chose a starting point, but there’s no way to see what the next slide is. The Apple Remote also doesn’t work with it, so you’re pretty much chained to the podium and can’t move around. Could you see Steve Jobs being restricted to giving an iPad-presentation without free range of the stage?

The lack of a presenter’s view and notes is a deal-breaker for me. Unless you have an excellent memory, use note cards, or just read your slides aloud Keynote for the iPad is of limited value for giving presentations. Also, since the only way to see your slides is on the projector, you’re going to be spending more time facing the screen than your audience.

The Art of Making

Again, the simpler the presentation, the easier time you will have creating presentations. The good news is, Apple provided a decent set of templates that closely mimic the templates you get in the desktop version of Keynote. The bad news is, there’s no way for the iPad to recognize your corporate templates as real templates; the closest you can come is importing the template and copying it every time you want to create new talk.

One nice touch is when you use an Apple-supplied template and add a slide, you’ll get a pop-up of slide types to use that match your template — for example, a slide with bullet lists, or a slide with just a text box.

I found Keynote to have a steeper-learning curve than I’m used to for Apple — I needed to read the help to learn how to add a text box. I found myself going, “OK, how the heck do you do this?” frequently. Some tasks seemed needlessly complicated. There does not appear to be an easy way to customize a wedge color; I had to use the column with the color I wanted. Also, apparently no one at Apple is color blind, because I couldn’t view color names.

The Art of Closing

Is it possible to use your iPad to create and give presentations? Yes.

Is it possible to create and give amazing, TED-quality presentations on your iPad? Not, really.

If you’re willing to trade some features and inconveniences to save carrying around a laptop, you might get a lot of use. There was a point in my testing when I “got” the potential of this tool. I was scouring the halls at work trying to find a free conference room to test out the projector. I’ve done a version of this trip before, juggling a laptop, power cables, etc.. Now I just had a computer the size of a pad of paper. Future versions of Keynote, or a competing product that address the issues I encountered could turn the iPad into a killer presentation tool.

As it stands, Keynote for the iPad will let you give an adequate presentation. It will not let you give an amazing performance.

When it comes to mobile music subscription options, there’s already quite a few — Pandora, Slacker, and Thumbplay all come to mind. And now, Rhapsody joins the club on Google Android handsets with a new beta client available in the Android Marketplace. The software is a free download, but does require a monthly fee for service. Rhapsody recently restructured its plan offerings and prices, so $9.99 a month gets you service to both computers and handsets. There’s also a free 7-day trial for new subscribers.

For Android devices, the service offers unlimited access to over 9.5 million song tracks, but only while connected to the web. Unlike services that support offline music caching, this iteration of Rhapsody doesn’t. That’s not unlike streaming Pandora music, but Slacker does support offline playback for Android. However, a “download subscription music to your mobile device” feature is coming soon, says Rhapsody’s site. I can’t comment on the service, even though I’ve downloaded the app to my Nexus One — for some reason, I can’t create a new account because the email address I’m using is already registered with Real. And yet, when I try to have to the password reset sent to that email, it’s not an address on record. And so the beta goes…

I’m pretty partial to Pandora, but I’m sure each service has its fans. What’s your favorite and why?

Image courtesy of Cnet

Related research on GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

Forget Syncing: Let’s Put Music In the Cloud!

ArkSwitch is a finger-friendly task manager for Windows Mobile 6.5.3 devices (with a WM6.5 compatibility mode). There are a lot of task managers in the windows mobile community and I have tested nearly all of them on my own device, now I can say that I have found one task manager that fulfils all my wishes.

Read the rest of the review at BestWindowsMobileApps.com here.

Remember the days when it was impossible to keep in touch with friends and family while traveling abroad or even cross country, because the phone bills would be so astronomically high? Forget about cell phone calling. We all thought our problems were solved with the advent of Skype, but even Skype requires getting to an Internet cafe and hoping your Skype contacts will be online. Well, the days of being chained to your computer or stuck in an Internet cafe are over thanks to Skype Mobile. Like Skype, Skype Mobile allows you to chat with people around the world, but this time around you can chat from your mobile phone, bringing a whole new level of connectivity to your life.

Skype to Skype Calls
The Skype Mobile application, available for Verizon BlackBerry or similar smartphones like Android, offers unlimited free Skype to Skype calls, which means less time in front of a computer and more time chatting with your friends. What’s so cool about this, is that you can open up the app, see who’s online and call them from wherever you are–whether you’re sipping cocktails in Paris or eating tapas in Madrid, if Mom and Dad are online, you can give them a quick call and share your experience FOR FREE. Or if you’re feeling saucy ,you can call any telephone number from the Skype Mobile application at a much lower rate than that of your cell phone carrier.

Like I said, Skype Mobile is a completely free application that can be downloaded in the Android marketplace or Blackberry app world. I’m using a Motorola Droid on the Verizon network so once I downloaded the Skype app I was ready for business. Downloading the app just meant agreeing to a few terms, like that Skype will not be used for emergency calls, but rather those will be completed on the Verizon network. Once I agreed, the app prompted me to enter my Skype username and password. Of course I forgot my login and password so I had to refer to Skype.com to retrieve this information since there was no option within the app to do so. My recommendation would be to set-up the app before you embark on your road trip and remember your password, because there’s also no option to “remember” it once you sign into the app. Once I logged in, the app asked if I wanted to import any of my regular contacts into Skype – I of course clicked yes, and my Skype contact list grew by about seven people. The Skype Mobile app lets you add three types of contacts to your Skype contact list: Skype contacts, SkypeOut contacts, and contacts imported from the phone’s native phone book, all of which are indicated by a different icon. You can also change your user profile within the Skype Mobile app with options like Full Name, your various numbers, and Mood.

At First Glance
Once you’re signed in, the app immediately displays three options: Contacts, Events, and Call phones. In your contacts list it shows the user’s presence like available or unavailable to chat. Aside from giving you the red or green light, users can also choose a custom message like “working from home” or “working on Skype Mobile review.” To set your status, click the Menu button on your phone and click “Set mood.” After that you can click on any Skype user, and make free Skype-to-Skype calls. So I decided to give it a try by calling my furthest away friend, Ville Vesterinen of Arctic Startup all the way in Finland. Partly, because he’s awesome, and partly because I was writing this post at an outdoor Starbucks and wanted to brag about the fabulous New York City weather. I clicked on his Skype username and ring ring, sure enough I was chatting with Ville (also using Skype Mobile) on his mobile phone on the streets of Helsinki. I was even put on hold while he ordered a coffee. Although it may seem trivial, what’s so cool about Skype Mobile is the fact that it’s Skype on-the-go. In the past, we’ve both only chatted from our desks at home. Never before have we chatted while out and about. If he hadn’t picked up, I could leave him a message that would be sent to his wireless network’s voicemail rather than Skype voicemail. Although this is only an option if the user had purchased Skype Voicemail.

Calling Non Skype Numbers
The other cool thing about Skype is that you can call non Skype mobile users from your cell phone at a much lower rate than your cell phone carrier would offer. Just click on the “Call” tab and enter the phone number of choice or insert it from your phone book by clicking the phone book button. Calls are only supported by Skype when you’re calling an international number. If you attempt to call a U.S. number, you will receive a pop up that says “Calls to US numbers will be carried by Verizon Wireless, not Skype, and charged according to your calling plan” and you’ll be prompted to use the Verizon network rather than the Skype app to complete this function. You can purchase phone credits on a monthly or pay-as-you-go options on Skype.com for a lower price than what the regular phone company or even mobile company would offer. This was where it gets tricky. Calling Skype-to-Skype makes sense–click on name, choose “call,” and you’re done. With international calling, it gets a little more difficult. Although there’s a prompt explaining how to dial, I found it unclear and it took me a few tries to call my friend’s international cell phone. I knew I was mis-dialing because I kept getting the popup “the function cannot be carried out” and that I should use my regular Verizon network. If you click Menu, you can access a Help section within the app that covers topics like Making calls, Instant Messages, Contacts, and a More Help that brings you to Skype.com. The help section is set-up in a question and answer format and helped me get through my international dialing conundrum. I eventually got the right combination of numbers and my Skype credits were being utilized.

Chatting via IM or Text
Like the full version of Skype, Skype Mobile lets you chat with your contacts. On Android, there are two ways to initiate a chat: one from the “Call” tab and one from the “Events” tab. To initiate a chat from the “Call” tab, simply click on the username you’d like to chat with and various options will pop up: call, send IM, show profile, block, or remove. Once you click on “send IM,” you can chat back and forth. The “events” tab will show you whether anyone has tried to IM you while you were away or unavailable or anyone who has requested you as a contact on Skype. When you’re ready to respond to the IM, click on the “event,” which says something like “Brian Ping 12:54 pm” so you can click on it and respond. You can also add multiple people to your chat and change the subject of your chat

Adding Contacts
To add a contact, click on menu and then “Add a Contact.” From there you can search the Skype directory, add a phone number, or important a phone number from your phone. Once you find the person you’re looking for, you can send them a personalized message like “Hey Bob, it’s Lydia, just wanted to add you to my Skype contacts, call me anytime.” Once you click “add,” the message will be sent to your potential contact and they can either accept or reject you. The same goes for people who add you as a contact. In your “Events” tab you will see an invitation from a user that you click on to accept or reject them.

Voicemail & Call Forwarding
The downside to this app is that you cannot receive calls to a purchased online number like Google Voice through Skype Mobile without paying. If someone wants to call me, they have to enter my real telephone number rather than my Google voice number, which means that all the guys I’ve given my number too will not be able to reach me via Skype mobile – Sorry!  The other downside is that video chat, one of the coolest features for regular Skype, is not supported on the mobile app.

Conclusion:
Overall, the app is straightforward and easy-to-use. The voice quality is consistently great and I love the way Skype Mobile liberates you from your computer. However, the biggest downside to this app is that the experience is not totally independent of using a computer, since  you have to purchase credits on the Skype site and set certain preferences like voicemail on Skype.com. However, considering this is a free app, it really is an amazing way to connect with your Skype contacts on-the-go and it can save you money. There is no doubt that Skype Mobile will probably change the way I chit chat with my family and friends, whether I’m across the world or across the country.

Free Features:
-Skype-to-Skype calls
-IMs on the Skype network
-Voicemail on your regular cell phone network

Paid Features:
-Skype Mobile to non-Skype numbers

The Good:
Free Skype-to-Skype Calls, Very easy-to-use interface, low rates for international calls

The Bad:
Calling non-Skype numbers is rather difficult and there is very little guidance, you have to buy phone credits via Skype online rather than directly via the mobile app, you basically have to set up all preferences on Skype.com rather than the mobile app itself: this includes passwords, credits, setting up caller ID, and all paid features

[Windows only] What is it about moving water with a clear blue sky that soothes and fascinates us? I think it’s built into us like the need to breathe. Today I’ll show you three free and fantastic screensavers that will feel like a breathe of fresh clean air.

1. NFS HD Waterfall 01 – This screensaver shows animated water in the falls and in the pools. There are also some birds flying around. Sounds of nature and music can be controlled in the settings.

Download from Softpedia

2. NFS HD Waterfall 03 – This screensaver shows animated water in the falls and in the pools. Sounds of nature and music can be controlled in the settings. (no birds in this one)

Download from Softpedia

3. NFS Waterfall 01 – This screensaver shows animated water in the waterfalls and in the pools. There are also some birds flying around. Sounds of nature and music can be controlled in the settings.

Download from Softpedia

Kudos to NewFreeScreensavers, the developer of these and many more screensavers. Check them out when you have the time.

Techie Buzz Verdict:

These screensavers are completely free, and there are no nag screens, ads or big trade marks on them. The settings aren’t very complicated but do offer some great options. I found nothing to complain about and I highly recommend them.

Techie Buzz Rating: 4.5/5 (Excellent)

Don’t miss these Related Posts:

• 10 Great Free Screensavers in One Package with SE-ScreenSavers
• Create Screensavers With Flash Files Using InstantStorm
• Free Christmas Screensavers for Your Computer
• Convert Your Photos to 3D Screensavers and Wallpaper Collages
• Quickly Activate Screensavers in Windows With Tray Blank

Join Techie Buzz on Your Favorite Social Networking Sites

• Become a Techie Buzz fan on Facebook
• Follow Techie Buzz on Twitter

Gregory T. Huang wrote:

Today has been a most interesting day in the Seattle tech and media community. There was some prominent TV and radio coverage of TechStars (see Andy Sack and Andy Liu interviewed on KING 5 here), the North American Eagle “jet car” (interview with team leader Ed Shadle on KUOW, following Thea’s story here), and the Rhapsody spinoff from RealNetworks (also on KUOW with Todd Bishop from TechFlash). Meanwhile, Twiistup (the posh LA event company) is coming to Seattle later this month, brought here by some of the same local investors involved with TechStars.

What does this have to do with deals in the Northwest? Well, I get the feeling the volume of deals is about to pop. But here’s what happened in the past week.

—Bothell, WA-based MDRNA (NASDAQ: MRNA) formed a research agreement with pharma giant Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) to take certain polymers and synthesize them into RNA interference drugs, as Luke reported. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

—Seattle-based venture capital firm Maveron has invested in a $1.25 million funding round for Latimer Education, a Washington, DC-based company developing an online university focused on African-American students. Angel investors and the company’s founders also participated in the round. Maveron has been active in the online education sector, having made previous investments in Capella Education Company, Livemocha, and Altius Education.

—Seattle-based Recruiting.com, formerly known as Jobster, has been acquired by Boston-area talent management firm Zapoint. Financial terms weren’t given, and it sounds like the employees of Recruiting.com (about 10 of them) won’t be moving anytime soon. Jobster was founded in 2004 and had raised more than $50 million in venture capital from Ignition Partners, Trinity Ventures, Reed Elsevier Ventures, and Mayfield Fund.

—Earlier in the week, MDRNA announced it is merging with Cequent Pharmaceuticals of Cambridge, MA, in an all-stock deal worth $46 million, as Ryan reported. MDRNA’s investors will have a 56 percent ownership stake, with Cequent’s backers owning the rest of the company. The combined company will be headquartered in Bothell, WA, under the leadership of MDRNA’s current CEO, J. Michael French. The merger is expected to close by July of this year.

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UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS

The first iPhone shipped without an App Store, but with a handful of useful apps—many of which are conspicuously missing on the iPad. Here’s how to replace them, for free. More »

α (Alpha) digital SLR users can now enjoy even more control over creating beautiful, low noise images with the latest release of Image Data Converter SR v3.2 software. The latest update features new algorithms that significantly reduce image noise at high ISO settings when converting RAW data to JPEG files. Processing is most effective at ISO 800 and higher, delivering impressively natural results with minimized color noise right up to ISO 12800 (depends on DLSR model).

The new algorithm is effective when converting RAW file or cRAW files (depends on DSLR model) to JPEG files produced by all current and previous model digital SLR cameras by Sony (excluding DSLR-A100).

Image Data Converter SR Version 3.2 is part of the Image Data Suite that also includes Image Data Lightbox SR Version 2.2. Supplied free of charge with all new digital SLR cameras by Sony, the enhanced bundle now also offers support for Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard).

Click here to download the new update from Sony. This is a link that came from Sony Europe that ties back into a download at sony.net. Oddly, Sony’s e-support site doesn’t have it listed. I gave it a shot and was pleased to see it installed the full version hassle free, and I was quite interested in the functionality. The software seems like a good compliment to Photoshop, as it even allows the two programs to work together. What do you think? What would you add?

There have been tablets before the iPad. They weren’t as beautiful or well crafted, but that wasn’t why we chose not to pick them up. It was the software. More »

Rhapsody’s been spun off from RealNetworks, and now we know what its future holds: the $10 Rhapsody Premier streaming music subscription service, down from $15, and a free app for Android handset users. More »

Luke Timmerman wrote:

San Diego-based Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) is without a doubt one of the bigger success stories in biotech of the past decade. It makes biological research tools that significantly boost the efficiency of high-speed gene sequencing, instruments that spot subtle variations in long stretches of DNA, and products that analyze important ways in which genes can get turned on or off. The company, founded in 1998, has grown to almost 1,800 employees and a stock market valuation of more than $4.7 billion.

While getting to the mountaintop is hard in any business, it’s just as hard to stay on top. That’s particularly true in this era of mind-boggling innovation in gene sequencing, in which a number of companies are racing to bring the cost of an individual human genome sequence down to $5,000, or even $1,000 in the not-so-distant future. This is a technology race with profound implications for the healthcare system, and with the potential to usher in the long-envisioned era of personalized medicine.

That’s why I was happy to have a chance to sit down last week with Illumina CEO Jay Flatley for an interview at his company’s headquarters in San Diego. Flatley, 57, has been in charge at Illumina since its early days in October 1999. We covered a lot of ground in a little more than 20 minutes, so to make this easier to digest, I’ve broken the conversation into two parts. The first part is running today, with Part 2 coming tomorrow. Enjoy.

Xconomy: We hear so much about this being a really intense period of innovation in sequencing. It’s better, faster, cheaper. The $1,000 genome is apparently coming. Is this the most innovative period you’ve seen in sequencing?

Jay Flatley

Jay Flatley: Yes. Without a doubt. I was involved in the prior switchover from gel-based sequencing to capillary sequencing, in my prior company, and we launched a product called MegaBACE. It was the first capillary DNA sequencer. AB [Applied Biosystems] followed about a year later. Those technologies wound up sequencing the human genome. There was a lot of background research work going on in universities that was funded by the National Institutes of Health, but at that time, no products made it to market other than those two. So there was no market innovation.

I sold one company to Amersham, and Amersham didn’t invest in it. So AB had a run from 1998 until about three years ago, where they effectively had no competition in the high-end sequencing market. Innovation almost stopped. If you look at what transpired in those 10 years, it was close to zero in terms of real innovation. They made them smaller, or a little bigger. More capillaries, fewer capillaries. No dramatic changes. It was really with the advent of next-gen sequencing that made all the venture people realize …Next Page »

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