Software News

US-based carrier T-Mobile and Nokia have teamed up to offer customers the new Lumia 810 Windows Phone 8 device.

The smartphone will be available for purchase “in the coming weeks” for prices that will be announced closer to launch date. According to Nokia, the Lumia 810 will be exclusively available via T-Mobile USA.

“We’re providing our customers with a unique Windows Phone 8 experience by offering an exclusive device paired with our Unlimited Nationwide 4G Data plan and a comprehensive set of enhanced features,” said Andrew Morrison, vice president of product management, T-Mobile USA.

The smartphone comes with a more than decent 4.3-inch OLED WVGA Clear Black display and an impressive 8-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording.

A secondary 1.2-megapixel Skype-certified front-facing camera for video calls is available as well. The phone's main camera allows users to capture to take advantages of new features such as Cinemagraph, a lens that creates animated GIFs, as well as panorama settings and Group Shoot.

The latter allows Lumia 810 users to choose the best faces and smiles from a burst of photos and stitch them together in order to obtain the perfect group shot.

Nokia Lumia 810 also comes with updated navigation features such as Nokia City Lens, Nokia Drive, as well as Nokia Transit.

With Nokia Music, users will be able to enjoy their favorite songs online, as well as offline. The new service is completely advertisement-free and does not require registration or subscription.

“The Nokia Lumia 810 features a sleek design and high-quality hardware, combined with the efficient and intuitive Windows Phone 8 operating system. When combined with applications such as Nokia Drive and Nokia City Lens, the Lumia 810 ensures that T-Mobile customers are getting the best experience possible out of their smartphone,” added Olivier Puech, President, Nokia Americas.

Via: Nokia Lumia 810 Goes Official at T-Mobile USA

One of the first mapping and navigation apps launched on mobile phones, ROUTE 66 has just achieved 1 million downloads in the Google Play store.

These estimates are based on AppBrain Starts and puts ROUTE 66 Maps + Navigation application in the top 1% of all Google Play downloads by volume.

According to developers, the application was mostly downloaded on Samsung Galaxy S II devices, but the number of downloads to Galaxy S III is increasing fast and might surpass the former in the following weeks.

“We are extremely pleased with the take-up of our solution on Google Play - our navigation applications are designed for a range of devices, but downloads on Android have exceeded all our expectations,” said Job van Dijk, ROUTE 66 chief operating officer.

ROUTE 66 Maps + Navigation 5.11 is now available as a free download via Google Play store and it should be fully compatible with all devices running Android 2.0 and up.

Via: ROUTE 66 Maps + Navigation App for Android Exceeds 1 Million Downloads Milestone

Japanese mobile phone maker Sony Mobile is reportedly preparing the launch of a new series of affordable smartphones for the next year, and model numbers of these devices have emerged online.

Two such handsets from the company are rumored to come to shelves with low-end specs, both being expected to become officially available sometime in 2013, complemented by a new flagship device.

One of these phones is said to be the Sony C160X (C1604/C1605), which might prove to be an entry-level smartphone, according to NenaMark2 benchmark results and User-Agent Profiles, XperiaBlog reports.

The upcoming handset is said to be powered by a Snapdragon MSM7227A chipset, a 1.0GHz single-core processor from Qualcomm that also sports Adreno 200 graphics.

The smartphone might arrive on shelves with Google’s Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, while boasting a 320 x 480 pixels resolution.

The new device was seen in a UAProf with firmware version 11.1.A.0.17 loaded on it, and could end up in Sony’s lineup next to the Xperia tipo and miro.

Along with it, Sony is said to plan the release of a handset featuring model number C1505, which might also prove to be an entry-level device, although specific info on it is not available as of now.

There is also a Sony C650X smartphone codenamed “Odin” that emerged online, which might become official sometime in the first quarter of the next year.

As far as rumor goes, this would be Sony’s flagship Android handset for 2013, which means that we might see it launched at next year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Sony has unveiled some very appealing smartphones this year, and appears set to continue doing so in 2013 as well, while also working on ensuring that it phones are available at a variety of price points.

Sony’s Xperia devices are currently seeing increasing traction on the market in Europe, with the latest reports showing that they are already outselling both BlackBerry and Nokia handsets.

Via: Sony Preps New, Affordable Xperia Phones for 2013

The Nobel Prize season is underway, several of the prizes will be awarded this week, starting with the prize for physiology medicine later today. The prizes for physics and chemistry will also be announced this week.

There was no clear frontrunner for the medicine prize, speculation hinted at Japan's Shinya Yamanaka and Britain's John Gurdon possibly getting the prize for their work with nuclear reprogramming.

The technique can be used to instruct adult, specialized cells to revert to their stem cell status, making it possible to then turn them into any other type of cell. This method of creating stem cells is a big advancement in the field.

Indeed, the Nobel Prize committee has just announced that the two have been awarded the prize this year "for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent."

Via: Noble Prize for Medicine Awarded to UK's Gurdon and Japan's Yamanaka for Stem Cell Research

Only recently, scientists investigating the biodiversity found on the ocean floor along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge stumbled upon three new species of deep-sea worms, and decided to name one of them after Yoda, one of “Star Wars'” most well-known characters.

Apparently, the Yoda purpurata has some very big lips which extend to either side of its head, and it was precisely these lips which reminded scientists of said Jedi master.

One of the scientists who helped find this deep-sea worm explained that, “Our colleague in California, Nick Holland, the world authority on enteropneusts [i.e. science-talk for such creatures], chose the name Yoda for the new genus characterised by its large ear-like lips.”

The word “purpurata” is the Latin version of purple, so we are basically dealing with a Jedi master with a very pleasant body color.

Via: New Deep-Sea Worm Is Named After Yoda

Guess what? With two weeks ahead of the final release of Ubuntu 12.10, Canonical decided to open up their shop with DVDs for the next major release of Ubuntu.

Both Ubuntu 12.10 Desktop Edition and Ubuntu 12.10 Server Edition are now available for pre-order from Canonical’s online store.

How many can you buy? Well, the best news is that users can now buy a single DVD disc, and not 5 of them like it was for the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) operating system.

Of course, you can also get as many DVDs with Ubuntu 12.10 as you want, even hundreds of them, if you have the money.

How much? OK, it looks like one DVD with Ubuntu 12.10 Desktop Edition will cost 4.71 pounds, that’s 7.6 USD or 5.8 euros. The same price goes for the Ubuntu 12.10 Server Edition as well. Oh, don’t forget that this is the price without shipping costs and without VAT (for EU customers only).

64-bit or 32-bit? Good question, as it appears that the Ubuntu 12.10 Server Edition DVD is a 64-bit version only, and Canonical asks users to download the 32-bit version from their servers. As for the Ubuntu 12.10 Desktop Edition, no clue! I guess they forgot to mention it on the page.

When will my Ubuntu 12.10 DVD ship?  As Canonical stated, the shipping date is October 26th, 2012. So, depending on your location, the order will probably arrive at the end of October or the beginning of November.

There are also some good news for those who will order packs of 100 and 200 DVDs with Ubuntu 12.10, as they will get FREE shipping.

What else? There’s a DVD and CD Ubuntu 12.10 Bundle for sale too! It costs 5.90 pounds (9.5 USD or 7.3 EUR) and it contains 3 DVDs with Ubuntu 12.10 Desktop Edition  and 2 CDs with Ubuntu 12.10 Server Edition. Which I think it’s a pretty good deal.

So, what are you waiting for? Pre-order Ubuntu 12.10 right now from Canonical’s Online Shop.

Via: Pre-Order Ubuntu 12.10 DVD Now

“Skyfall,” the 23rd James Bond installment, is merely weeks from theatrical release. As the slick, handsome and dangerous 007 spy turns 50 (that’s years of on-screen activity), it’s time to have a look at all the actors who played it.

The Daily Mail has set out to the not at all easy task of comprising the above infographic, which ranks all James Bonds in the franchise’s 50 years with the aim of determining the most deadly and the most successful with the ladies.

Despite appearances, it’s neither Sean Connery nor Daniel Craig who come out on top in both categories, but Pierce Brosnan and Roger Moore.

Click on the image above to see how they all rank.

Brosnan has 76 kills on his record, while Moore 20 women kissed. By comparison, Connery totals 51 kills and 18 women, while Craig, the latest Bond, merely 25 kills and 4 women.

Granted, Craig still has plenty of time to compensate on both counts: “Skyfall” is released this fall and he’s already contractually bound to another 3 more movies.



Via: Infographic: Pierce Brosnan Was Deadliest James Bond of All

A new star has been officially attached to the much anticipated female “Expendables” film, which is now in the works at production company 1984 Private Defense Contractors: Katee Sackhoff, whom fans will recognize from “Battlestar Galactica.”

Sackhoff plays Starbuck on the recent version of “Battlestar,” but she’s also been seen on “24” and “Bionic Woman.”

She will be on the big screen next, before the aforementioned project, in “Riddick.”

Variety confirms the casting, citing producer Adi Shankar as saying that choosing her, like Carano before, was a no-brainer.

“If you spend five minutes with Katee it becomes blatantly obvious that she would pwn most male action stars,” Shankar says.

Dutch Southern is handling the script but, as of now, no director has been announced as attached to the film.

Variety also says that “several prominent actresses affiliated with the action genre continue to circle the project,” which should mean more announcements will be coming soon, so make sure you keep an eye on this space.



Via: Battlestar Galacticas Katee Sackhoff Confirmed for Female Expendables Film

David Tavares has announced a few days ago that the fourth Alpha version of the upcoming Pear Linux 6 operating system is now available for download and testing.

A lot of things have happened since the first Alpha version of Pear Linux 6, which was released last month. Actually, three other Alpha releases have happened, which brought very nice features to the Mac OS X like Linux distribution and we intend to keep you up-to-date with its development.

So, right after the release of Pear Linux 6 Alpha 1, the developer made a poll, asking users to choose the default web browser for the distribution. And guess what? A custom version of Mozilla Firefox 15.0.1 arrived in Alpha 3, as you can see in the screenshot below.

New Firefox in Pear Linux 6 - Image courtesy of David Tavares

Next, Mission Control has returned to Pear Linux 6, as well as a new version of Desktop switcher. Please take a moment to see them in action in the video below:


The Alt + F2 and Alt + Tab functions in Pear Linux 6 are really nice. See them in action in the video below:


What else? Features like Pear Aurora, new window manager for Pear Linux 6, Pear WiFi, to automatically install Windows Wi-Fi drivers, as well as the new Snap tool that allows you to resize windows like in Ubuntu, Pear Web Browser Manager allowing you to choose between Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome and Midori web browsers, and the Medibuntu software repository also arrived in Pear Linux 6.

And now back to Pear Linux 6 Alpha 4, which comes with the following highlights: a new Pear Linux software repository, updated Pear Aurora, updated Pear Panel, updated Pear Control Center, updated Pear Wi-Fi, updated Pear Linux theme, updated Pear Linux icons, new Pear Linux backgrounds, Adobe Flash Player installed by default, a modified version of BleachBit for Pear Linux, added Launchpad on "Pear Linux 6" button, fixed a CPU load bug.

And, the best feature of Pear Linux 6 is its new dock, replacing Docky, without Mono dependencies. It is configurable, eats less resources and it’s faster than ever. See it in action below:


As usual, Pear Linux 6 Alpha 4 is distributed as Live DVD ISO images supporting only the 32-bit architecture.

Download Pear Linux 6 Alpha 4 right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is an alpha version and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended for testing purposes only.

Via: Pear Linux 6 Alpha 4 Features New Dock

Large screens on smartphones mean that more information is delivered to the user at one time, and handset vendors could decide to widely adopt such displays in future devices.

We already have handsets that pack 5-inch or bigger panels, yet they are considered only niche market at the moment, something that might change as soon as next year.

Today, smartphone screens usually revolve around the 4.5-inch mark, with high-end phones going up to 4.7 or 4.8 inches, and with mid-level phones dropping to 4.3 inches, but the standard could go higher soon.

5.0-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) TFT-LCD modules for smartphones will enter mass production at Japan Display Inc. (JDI) this month, meaning that they should make it to shelves new devices in 2013.

The company notes that its 5.0-inch full-HD, 443 ppi modules can deliver around 2.3 times more information to the user at a time when compared to the 720HD (720x1280 pixels) screens, and that the use of IPS technology provides wider viewing angles than before.

Additionally, the company explains that its screens are thinner than other solutions, and that today’s trends on the mobile market do point at an increasing need for larger displays.

“Today, mobile information devices, such as smartphones, are increasingly more sophisticated and functional. As a result, compact-size displays are required which are able to show a large amount of information,” JDI explains.

“JDI is developing LCD modules to meet these growing requirements, based on its advanced core technologies, such as low-temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) for high resolution, in-plane switching (IPS) for wide viewing angle performance, and thinner backlight design for compact size, among others.”

The new panel is meant mainly for high-end devices, measuring 64.3mm (width) x 118.8mm (height) x 1.4mm (thickness).

“With this new product introduction JDI continues to demonstrate its leadership in the global small-size, full-HD resolution LCD module market,” the company concluded.

Via: 5-Inch Smartphones Could Go Mainstream Next Year

This week, wireless carrier AT&T officially announced plans to add to its offering the Windows Phone 8-based Nokia Lumia 920 smartphone.

Available exclusively on the carrier’s network starting with November (some suggest that November 4th might be the lucky day), the new handset has a lot to offer to its users.

AT&T is keen on making sure that users are aware of the features and capabilities of the new device, and has come up with a promo video to present them.

Called “New Nokia Lumia 920 | AT&T Mobile Minute,” the video can be seen above, and should prove great for all those interested in learning a bit more on the main great features that the new handset will hit shelves with.

Nokia Lumia 920 will be released in other markets around the world as well, and the video could prove useful for more people interested in the device.

Via: AT&T Releases Video Promo of Nokia Lumia 920

Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively were married almost a month ago but his ex, Scarlett Johansson, still can’t come to terms with it. In fact, she can hardly believe the two are still together and considers it a “slap in the face” that he would move on so fast after the divorce.

Ryan and Scarlett were married for two years and separated on amicable terms, announcing that their relationship had simply run its course.

It wasn’t for many months that he started dating his former “Green Lantern” co-star Blake, but Scarlett has somehow convinced herself they were seeing each other back in the day when Ryan was still married to her, the National Enquirer writes in its latest print issue (story via CB).

Ever since, she’s been building up resentment towards the “Gossip Girl” stunner, whom she considers a homewrecker of the worst kind.

“Even though there is no evidence behind it, Scarlett has convinced herself that Ryan cheated on her with Blake,” says an unnamed spy claiming to be very familiar with the situation.

“She’s incredibly bitter about it. In a way, Scarlett feels like Blake actually stole Ryan from her, because it was when he started shooting ‘Green Lantern’ with Blake in 2010 that everything fell apart,” adds the spy.

Indeed, when Blake and Ryan were promoting the film, which turned out to be a critical and commercial flop, there were some rumors that they might be more than friends, but nothing ever came out of them.

Even so, Scarlett thinks Blake had everything planned since back then.

“Scarlett thinks that Blake is a total phony and a complete fame monster. Scarlett also considers Blake to be a cheap version of herself. They’ve actually auditioned for the same roles a few times and Blake has always lost out,” the same spy says.

“She’s sure that Blake deliberately seduced Ryan, even though she knew he was attached at the time. On top of that, she feels like it’s a huge slap in the face that Ryan would remarry this fast. Scarlett is happy and dating, but she assumed he would wait a few years before he tied the knot again,” the source further says.

Assuming those pregnancy rumors turn out to be true, expect more reports in the tabloids like the one above – which isn’t to say there’s really any truth to them.

Via: Scarlett Johansson Thinks Blake Lively Is a Homewrecker of the Worst Kind

The LTE version of Galaxy Tab 7.7 from Verizon Wireless is now receiving the long-awaited Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich update.

Released several months ago, Verizon's Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 was still stuck on Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system until recently.

However, this is about to change as the US-based carrier already published the official changelog of the major OS update.

Software version i815.LP10 will soon be pushed through OTA (over the air) in stages, which means not all Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 will receive it at the same though, so you might want to check back later for the update.

Aside from bringing the firmware to version 4.0.4, the update brings lots of new features and enhancements, as well as a new homescreen layout, video calling and Face Unlock.

As soon as the update is applied, users will be able to monitor their data usage, set warning levels or turn off data completely, all from one place.

There's an additional video calling icon in the apps menu which makes it easier to start making video calls using dedicated apps such as Tango and ooVoo.

Additional feature enhancements with this update release include:

- In Email search menu, Advanced option combines search criteria with date, sender and title;
- Quick Panel has been updated to include Power Saving, Driving Mode and Sync;
- In Email Composer, Undo and Redo options are added to easily correct mistakes. Undo reverses the last action performed, and Redo undoes the last Undo action;
- Support for email Read receipt and Delivery receipt;
- Quick Response , user-modifiable message that may be quickly inserted into the body while user is composing a message;
- New Meeting Invitation for Exchange accounts added;
- Redesigned Gallery app with photo editor.

The rollout of the update should start soon, so make sure you have a stable Wi-Fi connectivity as the file is about 289MB in size. Check out the update's full changelog here.

Via: Verizon Rolls Out Android 4.0.4 ICS Update for Samsung GALAXY Tab 7.7

Researchers from Panda Labs have identified a malicious piece of software that poses as Panda Cloud Antivirus. The shady application’s icon almost perfectly replicates the genuine one, but that’s the only similarity between them.

The fake Panda Cloud Antivirus has been found to hide a nasty Trojan called DarkAngle which is designed to steal sensitive details such as passwords and online banking details.

Once it’s executed, the malicious element logs all the commands entered by the victim and sends them back to a command and control server. To make sure that it can harvest as much information as possible, the threat is loaded each time the computer is rebooted.

Furthermore, its makers have also implemented some antivirus evasion mechanisms.

If you want to download Panda Cloud Antivirus, you can get it from here or from the vendor's website. We advise you to be extra cautious when downloading applications from untrusted sources.

Via: Fake Panda Cloud Antivirus Hides Data-Stealing DarkAngle Trojan

The Vivo Tab RT was one of the products that ASUS had at its booth at IFA 2012 in Berlin, Germany, but only now has the item been officially adopted by carriers.

Even that is a bit of a stretch really. Though AT&T was quite verbose in its press release, it isn't about to start shipping the tablet. Instead, it will launch it later this quarter (Q4 2012).

Some of the assets of the product will be ordinary (32 GB NAND storage, 10.1-inch display, quad-core Tegra 3 TE CPU), but some won't (trial version of Microsoft Office 2013, ASUS TruVivid technology, 4G LTE support).

At this point, we only need to know what the price will be and we have all we need to figure out if this is worth buying or if something else on the market is more convenient.

Via: ASUS VivoTab RT Tablet with 4G Launched

The development team at Sony Online Entertainment has introduced a second continent, called Esamir, to the beta stage of Planetside 2, their MMO with shooter elements.

There are significant differences between Indar, which players have been fighting over since the beta stage of the game was introduced, and Esamir, which has a limited number of structures and offers more wide open areas, some of them covered in snow.

SOE says that the new continent was created by hand and that the developers have hidden a lot of interesting areas for players to discover.

The team is also hoping that the bigger empty space and the snow will also lead to different tactics being employed in order to make Planetside 2 more varied.

The MMO is set to launch exclusively on the PC before the end of the year under a free-to-play model.

After launch, SOE plans to add another continent to the game, with a varied geography and a new type of base setup.

Via: Esamir Continent Added to Planetside 2 Beta

Consumers who think six or 8 cores are many in a processor probably never had a reason to look up parallel chips and digital signal processors (DSP), but French company Kalray may change that.

What they've announced is a DSP chip which, thanks to its 256 individual cores (yes, that many) can perform 500 billion operations per second (200 GigaFLOPS).

One would think that something like that would require a lot of power, but that does not apply here. The processor actually makes do with 4W, less than the average mobile chip.

For comparison, a mighty Tesla series GPU has a performance of 1,030 to 2,280 (single-precision). A factor of 5-10 isn't bad at all really.

Granted, being a digital signal processor, Kalray's chip (MPPA 256) has a narrower range of uses (accelerating multimedia codecs and filters) than, say, CPUs (can process pretty much anything) and GPUs (are best at parallel tasks).

To make things even more interesting, the newcomer is manufactured on the 28nm manufacturing process from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the same foundry that makes those Tesla chips mentioned above, and all the other GPUs that NVIDIA uses.

Still, that doesn't change the fact that this is one strong chip that may endanger other many-core projects, like Adapteva's Parallella “supercomputer.”

"Kalray's technology has been developed with many OEM partners across several vertical markets, as well as through partnering with third party software vendors,” says Joël Monnier, CEO.

“Our first processor achieves a global processing power of 500 billion operations per second, along with a much lower power consumption than competitive solutions. Embedded designers will get the benefit of high processing power, low power consumption and high level programming to develop innovative applications in the fields of image processing, signal processing, control, communications and data security. The access cost of MPPA processors makes them optimum for all low to medium volume applications.”

Kalray expects to have customers from the fields of image processing, signal processing, control, communications and data security. Go here to read more.

Via: French Company Presents 256-Core, 28 nm Processor

Next month, we’ll have the chance to have a better look at the future of MeeGo, the Linux-based operating system that Nokia dropped from its plans not too long ago.

The company has just confirmed plans to showcase the Jolla user interface for the platform next month in Helsinki, Finland. The company’s interface is based on the Sailfish alliance OS and will be demoed at the Slush event on November 21-22.

Moreover, the company announced plans to unveil more info on the Jolla SDK at the event, and that it will also talk the application ecosystem with developers.

The first handset running under the OS was already expected to become official before the end of this year, and now Jolla confirmed that it would unveil all on it before Christmas.

Peter Vesterbacka, a founder of Slush, commented: “Slush has grown up to be the biggest entrepreneurship event in Northern Europe. It’s great to see hot new startups like Jolla use Slush as the venue for their major announcements. New business creation and innovation is alive and kicking at Slush and in the region”.

At the same time, Jolla announced a separate, in-depth session aimed at detailing the user interface, as well as a Q&A session with the press.

The user interface is meant to be included in the aforementioned Sailfish alliance software. The UI has been scaled based on the MeeGo user experience to provide support for multiple device categories, the company announced.

The development has finally reached the point in which the Jolla user interface can be showcased, so that the world becomes aware of the changes it brings when compared to existing mobile UIs, the company said.

“Jolla is a great example of what happens, when you combine the extreme technical talent found in Finland with the right attitude and ambition level of companies like Rovio,” Mikko Kuusi, CEO of Startup Sauna, said.

“I’m thrilled to finally be able to show the user interface we have been working on, and it will be exciting to open the developer story with SDK and applications to the public,” Jussi Hurmola, CEO of Jolla, added.

Via: Jolla Confirms Its MeeGo-Based OS for November

Samsung’s Galaxy S III was made available for purchase in the United States on the networks of various wireless carriers, yet some of its features were exclusively available only on specific models, such as Google Wallet that was supported on Sprint alone.

A new software update that Samsung has released for the US Cellular version of the Galaxy S III changes that, adding the support for Google’s service into the mix.

The new LI4 update for the Samsung Galaxy S III (SCH-R530) at US Cellular packs a wide range of other enhancements as well, such as updated applications, performance improvements and more.

The list of updated and new apps on the handset includes: New zoom, New Polaris, City ID, Daily Perks, Your Navigator Deluxe, Tone Room Deluxe, Gameloft Portal, Mobi TV, Amazon Apps, Amazon Audible, Amazon IMDB, Amazon MP3, Amazon Shopping, Amazon Zappos, Amazon Kindle and Slacker Radio.

There is also the aforementioned Google Wallet, which makes US Cellular’s Galaxy S III the first handset outside Sprint to arrive with support for the service, and also the first device in this carrier’s offering to include it.

The LI4 update for Samsung’s flagship device also includes enhancements to CMAS experiences, such as Vibrate mode supported, setting to disable audio alert for CMAS messages supported, presidential messages listed at the top of messaging list.

Other resolved issues in the new update include:

- Background/Font color of email were changing randomly
- Auto completion of numbers appends instead of inserts
- MMS picture unable to attach issue
- Space automatically inserted in passwords after typing most punctuation marks
- Email fix with Microsoft 365

Users who would like to learn more on how to download the new software and how to install it on their devices should head over to this page on US Cellular’s support website for complete instructions on the matter.

Via: Galaxy S III Software Update for US Cellular Brings Google Wallet Support

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the new multiplayer-only first-person shooter from Valve and Hidden Path Entertainment, has just received a brand new update on Steam that solves a variety of smaller issues, from problems with the warmup mechanic, to bugs on the Vertigo map.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive came out back in August and delivered an impressive first-person shooter experience reminiscent of the franchise’s good old days, when it dominated the online multiplayer segment of the industry.

Now, a brand new update for the game has gone live on Valve’s Steam digital distribution service for the title’s PC and Mac versions.

The patch brings a variety of fixes for some of the game’s different issues. These include problems with the warmup mechanic, bugs that caused the game to stop accepting input from the mouse, as well as quite a few glitches encountered on the Vertigo map.

Check out the things included in the update below.

Matchmaking
-Added a vote to continue playing competitive match with bots after a human player abandons the match, unanimous agreement of remaining human players is required to continue playing with bots.
-Reduced time required for confirming match when searching for competitive players and servers.
-Improved overall search times in competitive queue mode.
-Added a client message when the warmup period ends.
-Extended competitive match warmup period to 90 seconds.
-Message of the day will automatically dismiss itself when competitive match starts.
-Added an explanation to competitive cooldown timer for clients.
-Added a condition to apply competitive cooldown to players who have disconnected from the match.
-Implemented scaling cooldown periods for repeat incidences.

Vertigo
-Rearranged props below the boost-up ladder to prevent players jumping onto the ladder without boosting
-Clipped off various tiny ledges
-Made small props protruding from walls non-solid
-Fixed visible nodraw in ceiling hole

Misc
-Fixed a long standing bug where you could lose mouse input when you got to the team select screen.
-Fixed a bug where the color correction during freeze time did not account for the players also being invulnerable during the new warmup - this fixed the CC gap at the start.
-Fixed some bugs relating to the warmup notification not reliably showing for late joiners.
-The chat now displays when the warmup has ended, just like when it is in progress.

The new update is live on Steam and will be automatically downloaded the next time you start up the Steam client.

Via: New Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Update Now Live on Steam

Highly-acclaimed “Defense Grid” title has just been updated with new features and bug fixes. In addition, all Kickstarter links and buttons referring to Hidden Path Entertainment's Defense Grid 2 campaign.

Keep in mind that the Kickstarter button in the main menu has now been replaced with a Community button.

Video settings now appear in aspect ratio instead of bits-per-pixel (bpp). More importantly, the latest update adds support for more than one monitor.

A Weekly Challenge has been added in the Community section as well: “every week we’ll be choosing (later, with UserVoice, backers will be voting) a level to be the week’s Challenge. The leaderboard for the level will be re-set to ensure a level playing field. What’s in store for the top player of the Weekly Challenge? Bragging rights and momentary fame.”

The update also fixes a bug so unspawned aliens from Seekers and Turtles will now award appropriate bonus resources when destroyed within range of a Command tower.


Via: Defense Grid Update Removes Kickstarter Buttons and Adds Weekly Challenge

When made available in the first quarter of the next year, Research In Motion’s upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system is set to arrive on devices with a nice range of enhancements over current flavors of the mobile platform.

To ensure that developers will get familiar with the new design principles in the platform, and that they will have applications ready for the official availability of the OS, RIM has published a PDF guide that underlines some of the main changes in the OS.

Of course, the guide can prove to be great reading for future BlackBerry 10 users as well, since it will offer them info on what to expect from the platform when compared to current OS versions.

One of the most appealing features of the new operating system release is the inclusion of gestures to operate devices.

These are supported from the bezel itself, as swipes in certain directions will trigger different actions on the smartphone. For example, waking up the device can be done through simply swiping up from the bottom of the screen.

Notifications can be accessed in a similar manner, with a single swipe, regardless of the application users are in (a feature that is not present in the Dev Alpha build of BlackBerry 10).

To minimize an application on the phone’s screen users will simply need to flick in an upward motion from within the app itself.

Users will be able to raise or lower the onscreen keyboard through gestures as well, and the same applies when it comes to viewing the menu or settings of an app.

But this is not all, as the support for gestures is present throughout the BlackBerry 10 OS, so that users can easily scroll, select items in a list, access the BlackBerry Hub and do so much more.

You can have a look at what RIM has to say on the matter via the aforementioned PDF file. Additional details can be found on CrackBerry, which has published a series of videos showcasing some of these gestures.

Via: BlackBerry 10's UI Gestures Support Gets Detailed

Samsung has already confirmed the upcoming availability of its Galaxy Note II smartphone in the United States on the airwaves of no less than five wireless carriers, and the Federal Communication Commission appears to have approved all models.

We have already seen the AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon flavors of the phablet passing through the FCC testing, and it appears that the Sprint and US Cellular versions have also received the necessary blessings.

The Sprint iteration of Galaxy Note II was spotted at the feds with model number SPH-L900 attached to it, while the US Cellular variant featured model number SCH-R950.

As Engadget notes, rumors on a possible availability of the device at Sprint on October 24th have already emerged online, yet an official confirmation on the release hasn’t been provided as of yet.

Via: Galaxy Note II for Sprint and US Cellular Passes FCC Testing

Microsoft’s Surface street ads have been around for a while, but as we get closer to the public launch of the tablet, the company places more and more ads across America.

This photo was taken in a Chicago public transportation station by Surface Evangelist and published on Facebook, but as always, Microsoft remains tight-lipped on the Surface tablet.

As compared to the previous ads however, this time we get to see half of the tablet, along with what seems to be a physical keyboard and a stand case. There’s also the “Click in” motto which appeared in every single ad until now.

The Surface tablet is expected to be revealed on October 25 in New York, as Microsoft has already sent invites for an event that’ll also witness the Windows 8 debut.

Via: Half of the Microsoft Surface Tablet Revealed in Chicago Street Ad

On a curios note, one Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti video card from Galaxy was spotted being listed at newegg.com and, just before the administration took down the page, the information was copied by curious users and some strange information has surfaced.

The new card is apparently rumored to have 768 CUDA cores although this may be a simple typo on the online shop listing.

The Galaxy GeForce GTX 650 Ti GC 1GB has a 65IGH8DL7AXX model number and looks identical to the known Galaxy GTX 650 GC.

The GPU, with 768 or 576 CUDA core is rated at 966 MHz, while the 1GB of GDDR5 memory runs at a high 5400 MHz effective frequency on a modest 128-bit interface.

The slated price of just $149 (116 EUR) makes the new card appear quite affordable, especially if that CUDA number stands.

Via: Galaxy GTX 650 Ti Video Card Could Have 768 CUDA Cores

The KDE Project has announced earlier today, October 2nd, the immediate availability for download of the second maintenance release of KDE Software Compilation 4.9.

KDE SC 4.9.2 is the second of four point releases for the KDE 4.9 desktop environment, until KDE 4.10 will take its place as the next major upgrade, and it comes with general stability improvements and bug fixes.

Among the improved apps in KDE 4.9.2 we can mention Dolphin, Kontact Suite, and Plasma. A great number of applications were also improved in the development platform of KDE.

“These updates are the second in a series of monthly stabilization updates to the 4.9 series. 4.9.2 updates bring many bugfixes and translation updates on top of the latest edition in the 4.9 series and are recommended updates for everyone running 4.9.1 or earlier versions.”

“As the release only contains bugfixes and translation updates, it will be a safe and pleasant update for everyone. KDE’s software is already translated into more than 55 languages, with more to come.” was stated in the official release announcement.

Dolphin File Manager in KDE 4.9.2

KDE Software Compilation 4.9.2 is translated into more than 60 languages and it offers a modern and easy to use desktop environment for Linux-based operating systems.

Major Linux distributions (Kubuntu, openSUSE, etc.) will upgrade their KDE packages to KDE SC 4.9.2 in the next days, so keep an eye on the Update Manager utility if you are anxious to install it.

In the mean time, hardcore Linux users (Gentoo, Arch, etc.) can download KDE 4.9.2 sources right now from Softpedia, and compile them.

If you are still using the old KDE 4.8 desktop environment, we strongly suggest to upgrade to the KDE Software Compilation 4.9 release as it has amazing new features, updated apps and overall improvements, as we’ve announced back in August.

Via: KDE 4.9.2 Has Been Officially Released

Japanese carmaker Toyota today announced that 200,000 employees around the world will use Microsoft’s Office 365 cloud services for the next two years, as part of the company’s efforts to enhance communication and collaboration between its workers.

In addition to Office 365, Toyota will also install Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Lync and Windows Server on its workstations.

"Toyota's decision to deploy Office 365, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync and Windows Server to its 200,000 employees worldwide is further evidence of the enterprise-class quality and scalability of the world's most popular productivity platform, as well as another key milestone in our growing alliance together," said Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner.

This isn’t however the first partnership between the Japanese automaker and the Redmond-based software giant.

Back in 2011, the two companies signed an agreement to provide telematics services using the Windows Azure cloud platform.

Toyota claims that the new partnership will help the company reduce costs, but what’s more important is that all these services will improve collaboration between employees, as they provide enterprise social network, messaging and information sharing tools.

“The building of a communication infrastructure for the 200,000-plus users in Toyota and its group companies in Japan, America and throughout the world is one of the largest projects that Microsoft has ever undertaken,” said Yasuyuki Higuchi, president and CEO, Microsoft Japan.

Office 365 will also be available to home users in two different versions, namely Home Premium and Small Business Premium. Pricing will start at $99.99 / €76.30 (which is only $8.33 / €6.36 per month) for the Home Premium flavor that can be installed on up to 5 devices at the same time.

Via: Toyota to Install Office 365 on 200,000 Computers

Well-known motherboard manufacturer, Taiwanese company Gigabyte has just launched its most powerful AMD FM2 motherboard implementation to date. The new motherboard is a departure from Gigabyte’s classic blue PCB color and it is now painted in cool and gloomy black theme.

The official name of the new board is Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 and it is based on AMD’s A85X chipset.

Gigabyte’s new Trinity motherboard has quite an impressive list of specifications and we’ll start with the 64GB memory support that’s double than what most FM2 mainboards have.

The supported DDR3 memory can have a maximum frequency of 1866 MHz while overclocking will let us use it at more than 2400 MHz along with implementing AMD’s Memory Profile (AMP).

This is an Ultra Durable 5 motherboard and thus it comes with IR3550 PowIRstage ICs from International Rectifier, 2X Copper PCB and high current Ferrite Core Chokes rated up to 60A. These features will deliver cooler temperatures than traditional motherboards.

GA-F2A85X-UP4 features three PCI-Express Gen2 x16 slots that come with 3-way CrossFire support in a x8 + x8 + x4 configuration.

A nice addition is Lucid’s Virtu MVP support for switchable graphics and this will allow the user to cut the power consumption of the system by not using the discrete video card when that’s not needed and only using the iGPU inside the AMD APU.

There are a classic VGA port along with a DVI-D connector, an HDMI one and a DisplayPort on the backside I/O panel and these will offer the user triple-display support although we believe that four displays could also be set up.

HD Audio and Gigabit LAN are taken care of by Realtek while SATA 3 support spans across 7 onboard ports and a useful eSATA port on the I/O panel.

There are two USB 3.0 ports on the I/O panel and two more are available through a header on the mainboard along with two USB 2.0 ports on the panel and 8 more coming from the PCB headers.

Gigabyte uses an Etron EJ168 chip to provide two more USB 3.0 ports on the I/O panel and, being an overclocking-oriented product, the GA-F2A85X-UP4 also comes with one Power button, one Reset button along with a CLR CMOS button.

No information on pricing has been made available yet.

Via: Gigabyte Launches the Powerful GA-F2A85X-UP4 Trinity Motherboard

We’ve discussed half a year ago about the benefits of using ultra processed FD-SOI wafers and how this could lead to huge reductions in power consumption reaching 550% according to research done by STMicro.

The French-Italian semiconductor company has done considerable research on the matter as the world’s largest FD-SOI wafer supplier is Soitec and this is also a French company with close collaborations with STMicro.

FD-SOI does an exceptionally good job at reducing the leakage power and mainly reducing power consumption for chips running at modest frequencies.

The interesting part is that FD-SOI is mainly about the wafer and adapting your manufacturing line to use FD-SOI wafers.

Using FD-SOI wafers brings considerable advantages to the technology and TSMC is using regular bulk 28nm wafers.

There are reports saying that GlobalFoundires has finally adapted most of its advanced manufacturing capacities to use FD-SOI wafers and there are other reports that say that even customers working with the ATIC opened foundry view its 28nm techno as being considerably better than TSMC’s.

We’ve just reported that China’s Rockchip is now working with GlobalFoundires on manufacturing its new ARM tablet SoC on the 28nm technology from the Dresden FAB.

The fabless Chinese chip designer strongly believes that contracting GlobalFoundries manufacturing services will give it an edge over MediaTek even when the Taiwanese chip giant will move to TSMC’s 28nm production.

Therefore we should expect some seriously modest power consumption from AMD’s future 28nm processors and APUs next Spring as well some significant frequency boosts, depending on the design decisions.


Via: GlobalFoundries 28nm Manufacturing Process Is Better than TSMCs

Viewpoints has released the results of a recent poll of iPhone 5 reviewers, noting that Apple’s latest smartphone is getting accolades from regular users for its speed, call clarity, battery life, and even the Maps application.

Viewpoints, a consumer reviews and product rankings website, reports that the 32GB version of the iPhone 5 is rated 94/100 - ten points higher than the average smartphone rating.

Based on consumer sentiment, the most significant changes from the iPhone 4S (besides the obviously-larger display) are the faster A6 processor and the ability to use fast 4G LTE networking.

One reviewer identified as Matt said, “I will say the web browsing does seem faster…the speed increase is noticeable.”

On battery life, nearly everyone found it stronger compared to older iPhones.

A user identified as TerryNakagawa said, “With Wi-Fi turned on, playing games, accessing the web and on a hour-long conference call, the battery never faltered. After 24 hrs and heavy use, more than 60% power still available.”

According to Kyrshen, the phone went from 5am until midnight, with the user saying “can't complain about that.” Of course, that’s under a day of usage, but the user probably used it all day long.

On the Maps thing, Viewpoints reports it best (below).

Apple replaced Google Maps with its own program, which lacks functionality, like display of public transportation, an "epic fail" according to one reviewer. The maps do offer turn-by-turn directions, as well as restaurants as landmarks. Most Viewpoints reviewers aren't inconvenienced and like the look.

The company quotes a user going by the Internet handle GibOlander as saying that “The new Apple Maps are just stunning, the 3D angle and flying sensation are terrific.”

“Sure, there's hubbub around Apple Maps,” said another. “But think of it this way… the iPhone 5 has more computing power than NASA did when they sent a man to the moon in 1969. The phone is spectacular,” wrote rma288.

In reporting their findings, Viewpoints General Manager Denise Chudy said, “Based on early reviews, people are obviously passionate about the iPhone 5. It's our hope that those insights help others decide if the iPhone 5 is the right choice for their needs and budget.”

Via: Regular iPhone 5 Users Are Actually Pleased with iOS Maps, Says Viewpoints

Adele is back! Or at least her hand is. The multi-Grammy winning singer has just posted a photo on Twitter to tease all James Bond fans on the soon to be released “Skyfall” theme song.

Check it out above.

It shows Adele’s well manicured hand and the music sheet, but it doesn’t offer any other important details – such as, say, the release date.

The song is co-written and produced by Paul Epworth (“Rolling in the Deep”), and arranged by Epworth and J.A.C. Redford.

As noted above, no release date has been announced so far but, considering that “Skyfall” opens in the UK at the end of October and in the US on November 9, it won’t be long before the official theme song premieres as well.

Via: Adele Teases Skyfall Theme Song

OS X developers selling software through the Mac App Store are satisfied with the inclusion of Gatekeeper in OS X 10.8. The security-centric feature determines which software gets installed on a Mac, and which programs don’t.

Allowing three types of program installation, one of which removes all restrictions, Gatekeeper is viewed as a thoughtful addition by many developers in the industry, including Delicious Monster, Iconfactory, Panic, and many others.

Interviewed by ars technica, the studios all convened that end-users are much better off with Gatekeeper, than without.

But that thought isn’t shared by hobbyists.

Wesley Reynolds used to maintain a popular Dropbox Droplet widget, but now he gave up development, in part because of Mountain Lion and GateKeeper.

“I could pay my $99 to find out how to fix this problem and sign my app, but I did this as a bit of a hobby to learn how dashboard widgets work, and the $99 was too big a pill to swallow,” Reynolds said.

“I think Gatekeeper is pretty much killing the hobbyist coder on Mac,” he said. “No longer will you be able to grab the tools for free that you need to code a program and then share it with whoever may be interested in it.”

Reynolds continued, saying “It was exciting for me to have created a handy little widget as an experiment to learn about Dashboard Widgets, and then, just because it's done, throw it up on the Web and have many thousands of people download it and use it.”

“Now, a hobbyist coder can still download the tools for free, and learn to code and make a neat app that will run on their computer, no problem, but they can't give it to anyone over an Internet connection without Gatekeeper kicking in,” he added.

What most people will probably extract from this opinion is that Apple is to blame for “killing the hobbyist coder on Mac.”

Actually, it’s the imminent rise of malware on OS X that’s causing it. Apple is simply taking the natural steps to protect its user base.

Via: Big Developers Praise Mountain Lions Gatekeeper, But Hobbyists Dont

Scythe has just launched a new Compact Flash card reader that comes with a protective rubber case and a handy ring for using it as a key chain trinket. The fast USB 3.0 interface comes is very useful considering just how fast CF cards have become these days.

The company claims that the new gadget works with Microsoft’s Windows operating systems as well as Apple’s OS X without the need to install any new drivers.

The card reader supports CompactFlash Type I and Type II cards and is compatible with the classic UDMA mode.

Scythe’s new device is officially named SCCFR-1000 and the pricing is slated at 16.70 EUR ($21.5).


Via: Scythe Launches Handy USB 3.0 Compact Flash Card Reader

The following tutorial will teach Ubuntu users how to install the latest Beta release of the popular Mozilla Thunderbird email and RSS client on their systems.

Following our “How to Install Firefox Beta on Ubuntu Linux” guide, we have decided to make another universal tutorial, this time for the email client app from Mozilla, Thunderbird.

The current Beta channel contains Mozilla Thunderbird 16, which will bring support for background, silent updates, support for Box.com to the Filelink functionality, as well as various other performance improvements and bugfixes.

The Beta release of Mozilla Thunderbird is supported and can be installed on the following Ubuntu operating systems: Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal), Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS (Precise Pangolin), Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot), Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) and Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx).

WARNING: We should warn you that the stable release of Mozilla Thunderbird that you have installed on your Ubuntu machine will be replaced by this Beta version. You have been warned!

Step 1 - Add the Thunderbird Beta repository

No matter what Ubuntu operating system (see above supported OSes) you are running, open a terminal and paste the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/thunderbird-next


Hit the Enter key, type your password when asked and hit the Enter key. Hit Enter again when asked.

Don't close the terminal window! Proceed to the next step.

Step 2 - Install Thunderbird Beta on Ubuntu

Now paste the following command in the same terminal window:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y thunderbird

Wait for the installation to finish and close the terminal window.

That's it! The new Mozilla Thunderbird Beta email client is now fully installed in your Ubuntu machine. You'll need to restart Thunderbird for the changes to take effect.


In time, your Mozilla Thunderbird email client will automatically upgrade to newer Beta releases, as they are published by Mozilla, so make sure you update your system regularly.

If you have problems with the tutorial, do not hesitate to comment below!

Via: How to Install Thunderbird Beta on Ubuntu LinuxRead more

ASUS VG27AH gaming monitor comes with a 3D button that will deactivate stereoscopy when not desired and it also features two 3W speakers for a modest office audience.


The tilt and height are also adjustable and that’s a welcomed feature, but pricing information is not yet available.



Via: ASUS Intros VG27AH IPS Gaming Monitor