Software News

Tim Schafer, the leader of the Double Fine studio, says that indie developers have many ways to promote and publish their titles at the moment and do not need to work with big platform holders to launch their games on the new Xbox One or PlayStation 4.

He tells Edge that, “There are just too many options right now for indies as far as publishing goes.“

He adds, “Steam is huge, mobile and all of those things are really profitable for indies so there’s too many reasonable and successful alternatives for indies to look towards.”

The boss of Double Fine believes that indie games can be successful on next generation devices as long as Microsoft and Sony make the publishing process simpler.

The studio is currently working on Broken Age and on Massive Chalice.

Via: Double Has Alternatives to Xbox One and PlayStation 4, Says Tim Schafer

A source close to videogame publisher Capcom says that the company has no plans to reveal Resident Evil 7 during the coming E3 2013 trade show, despite the leak of a promotion poster for the game during May.

Geimaku cites an anonymous report as saying that the leak was premature and that Capcom is not willing to talk about the popular series yet.

The Resident Evil 7 poster does not offered any real information on the game but bears the tagline The War Ends Now.

Many fans of the series have questioned whether the leak is genuine or just a very well put together fake.

Capcom has previously said that it will continue to see how players react to the launch of Resident Evil 6 and the Revelations spin-off before deciding on how the future of the series will look like.


Via: Resident Evil 7 Will Not Be Shown at E3 2013 - Source

Google is expanding its interior photo program, dubbed Business Photos, to several more countries in Europe. The program, as the name implies, enables businesses to provide interior photos for Google Maps and search.

The catch is that the interior photos span 360 degrees and cover the entire shop or restaurant. These photos require specialized equipment to shoot and experienced people to shoot them, which is why they're not available everywhere. Google first needs to train photographers for them.

The program is now available in six new countries in Europe, namely Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Russia, and Switzerland. It's also expanding to Singapore in Asia.

"The Business Photos program enables merchants to create 360-degree, interactive tours of their establishments. This imagery allows potential customers to look inside and explore businesses before they go," Google describes the feature.

Businesses can now ask a certified photographer to come visit their locations, on their expense, and photographers can sign up to be part of the program in all these new locations.

Via: Google Expands 360-Degree Interior Photo Program to Six More Countries in Europe

Microsoft has issued a statement concerning a recent leak of a project named Halo Bootcamp, which is apparently on online game for the PC, confirming that the experience is in development and that it will be officially revealed in the near future.

Microsoft's recent efforts have focused on the Xbox One next gen console but a South Korean listing mentioned that the company is preparing to debut an online PC game called Halo Bootcamp.

The company quickly issued a statement concerning the project to GameFront, confirming its existence and even revealing that it isn't related to the Xbox One or the Reclaimer Saga, which was started by Halo 4 on the Xbox 360 last year.

"What's Bootcamp? It is not related to our Xbox One efforts, or the Reclaimer Saga, but rather a project we're very enthusiastic about and will have more to say about in the near future," the representative said.

No other details are known so PC gamers will probably have to wait until E3 2013 to learn about Halo Bootcamp.

Via: [DE STERS]

A man has been arrested for murder in California after his dogs viciously attacked and killed a senior out on a jog.

The owner will be charged with possession of drugs with intent to sell, negligence and felony murder, Daily Mail writes.

Police found eight dogs in the home of 29-year-old Alex Jackson of Antelope Valley. Marijuana was also being grown at the residence, reports say.

Authorities performed DNA testing on the remains of 63-year-old Pamela Devitt and confirmed that the dogs belonged to Jackson.

As I noted earlier this month, Devitt was mauled in the street found when a motorist called 911.

According to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lt. John Corina, police found her scalped, with one arm missing and with some 200 bite marks on her body.


Via: Dog Pack Murder Ends in Pitbull Owner Arrest

Strauss Zelnick, the chief executive officer of video game publisher Take Two, says that he expects impressive sales from the upcoming Grand Theft Auto V, better than those for any previous titles in the series.

Speaking during the Cowen Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference the executive is quoted by Gamespot as saying that GTA V will perform better than the company projects.

During its first year on the market the game is expected to move 18 million copies to players.

Retailer have already said that GTA V is setting pre-order records for the franchise.

The game will be launched on the PlayStation 3 from Sony and the Xbox 360 from Microsoft on September 17.

Take Two and Rockstar have not commented on availability on the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4.

Via: Strauss Zelnick: GTA V Will Sell Extremely Well, 18 Million Units in One Year

For most users it does not happen too often to feel the need for more than one desktop screen, especially if the monitor is large enough to accommodate all the necessary application windows.

Those looking for a solution that offers multiple virtual desktops in order to increase their productivity have plenty of choices.

Dexpot is among the most versatile solutions that can provide as many as 20 virtual environments along with customization options for each of them.

The most important aspect is that the spaces are individualized in terms of visible applications, allowing for clear separation between them.

It is free for personal use only. The developer added a step during the installation procedure that clearly informs about the categories of users that can use it without charge. A 30-day trial is available for them, though, and the cost for one license is 24.90 EUR / $32.

There is also a version that does not require installation; obviously, it is subject to the same terms of usage previously mentioned.

Dexpot does not come with an interface per se, as it is manageable mostly through keyboard shortcuts and from the system tray icon, which also offers access to the configuration menus and usability functions.

By default, the application comes with a set of four desktops, which sometimes is more than what a user might need. If more virtual spaces are required, the number can be increased up to 20; controlling all of them might prove a bit difficult, though.



The level of customization available in Dexpot is quite overwhelming at the beginning. There are plenty of options for setting up the program, as well as for tweaking up the behavior and functionality of each particular desktop space.

The developer put a lot of effort into providing a flexible set of choices for handling the application and the virtual areas.

As such, apart from components such as Desktop Manager and Desktop Preview, which allow easy jumping from one desktop to another, users can appeal to keyboard shortcuts for the job.

Alternatively, there is the possibility to enable screen corner/edge sensitive areas that can be configured to react when moving the mouse over them. Modifiers that trigger this action are supported and can be anything from keys and mouse buttons to duration, distance and sensitivity.

More experienced users should feel overwhelmed with excitement at the numerous actions that can be executed via keyboard shortcuts.



From simply switching between desktops, moving and copying application windows from one to another, controlling the opacity level for active windows or accessing Dexpot components to adding or removing a virtual desktop, they’re all available. The only thing you should worry about is remembering all the triggers.

Moving a program window to a different screen can be achieved in multiple ways. One of the simplest is from the application’s titlebar menu. This spot also allows copying or closing it on all other areas as well as define a transparency level.

Another way to do it is by accessing the full-screen preview of all virtual environments and simply drag it to the convenient place. However, in this case said application needs to be visible on the desktop and the feat does not work with minimized items.

There are plenty of general options for the application, but a more interesting part is customizing the desktops individually. The list of options includes naming each of the virtual locations, setting a specific resolution, password-protect access, define special sound alerts, background image and processes that should start with it.

As far as the latter function is concerned, it allows you to add specific processes that are automatically started when you access the desktop they’re associated to. Thus you can have certain programs that load up according to the virtual space you switch to.

Furthermore, Dexpot offers the possibility to assign opened applications to any area you want, which makes it easy to link desktops to particular activities.



Handling all the screens along with the programs on them is not an easy thing, but as you get accustomed to the action triggers and the variety of options available using the application should result in boosted productivity and performance.

At the first run there will be a button on the taskbar allowing access to any of the available desktops (thumbnail preview is also supported).

It comes in handy for switching between the spaces, but during our tests it failed to reappear at next launches of the program. In order to have it at all times, you have to activate SevenDex plug-in under the Plugins and Extras section in the “Settings” panel.

That is the place for adding more pizzazz by enabling 3D effects when skipping to another desktop, hot corner support or the possibility to assign a different Wallpaper Clock for each area.

However, these are far from being the highlights in Dexpot considering the overall flexibility of configuration.

The application allows you to set up multiple profiles to store and load various settings (hotkeys, properties, tools, background pictures, etc.).

These are particularly useful because they allow saving a specific configuration and test its functionality. During our tests, we noticed that certain settings would work properly after restarting Dexpot.

Loading up a profile can be done with the application running, but you can also have them listed before Dexpot is deployed.



The Good

It is highly versatile in terms of functions and options. There are multiple methods to switch between the virtual spaces and to move applications as well.

You can assign applications to be visible on certain screens only or to be deployed when said space is accessed. Each desktop can be password protected or customized in terms of wallpaper and screensaver.

The Bad

We could not find comprehensive documentation for working with the program. In some cases, the options in the context menu of the tray icon would not be visible (except for the desktops).

We experienced minor glitches during our testing, such as a program window not sticking to its assigned desktop. Other malfunctions would generally get fixed by restarting the application.

The Truth

Dexpot is very complex in terms of the choices it makes available. It is definitely aimed at power users that handle a large number of application windows on a constant basis.

However, it can also be used for completing different tasks on a single station without having to close GUIs.

Via: Add as Many as 20 Desktop Screens to Windows

Google Chrome 29 has finally arrived in the dev channel for Chrome OS, bringing with it a few new features and plenty of improvements.

According to Google, the notable updates are a new Google Talk plugin, useful in Hangouts, and a new Flash 11.7.700.202.

Thankfully, there's actually more than that, though the changes are mostly cosmetic. For one, you can now move the app launcher button in the dock and position it wherever you want. Previously, it was fixed to the left corner of the dock.

Another small but welcomed change is to the app launcher itself. As Google is getting ready to make the switch to a new packaged app system, it wanted to differentiate them from the old apps so it added an ugly arrow emblem next to the icons in the launcher.

Thankfully, the arrow is now gone and the app launcher doesn't look like it's plucked from Windows 98 anymore.

Finally, the new notification center has gotten a few improvements, notably a pause button to, well, pause notifications.

Via: Chrome 29 Dev for Chrome OS Comes with Improved App Launcher and Notifications

The following tutorial will teach Arch Linux users how to install third-party packages on their newly installed Arch Linux operating system. This is for Arch Linux beginners only, of course.

So, now that you've installed the Arch Linux distribution, we will teach you how to install third-party applications in this awesome Linux operating system.

First of all, you need to know that there's a lot of documentation about how to install popular applications in Arch Linux, accessible from the Arch User Repository (AUR) community-driven Wiki. Click the link to access it, and don't forget to bookmark it, as you will always need it.

Second of, we should inform you about the method used to install third-party applications in Arch Linux, as the distro uses source packages and a clever method to grab them, compile them (if necessary) and install them. See below for a detailed example.

Therefore, access the AUR Package Database web page, and bookmark it. Now, every time you need to install a package, you should open the aforementioned page and search the respective package.

Let's say we want to install the Dropbox client for Linux. Of course, the official Dropbox Linux download page doesn't offer a proper package for Arch Linux nor any other Linux operating system. So you need to access the Arch Linux Package Database page and search for Dropbox.

Some queries will output many results, so try to access the one that is more appropriate for your needs. For example, searching for "dropbox" will output 51 packages, but the one we need is called "dropbox 2.0.21-1." You can also re-arrange the search results after votes, and you will see that dropbox is the first one.

Access the page, and you will see something like this...


Actually, this is what all the package details pages look like on the Arch User Repository (AUR).

So, to install any third-party package in Arch Linux, you need to click the "Download tarball" entry from the Package Actions frame in the right side. See the photo above for details or access the page yourself and execute these instructions while reading.

Download and save the archive on your desktop, extract it, and open the folder. Open a terminal in the respective folder and type the following command:

makepkg -s

Hit the Enter key and wait for the process to finish. The above command will download official source or binary package, extract it, download and install the dependencies (if needed), compile the source package (if necessary) and generate an Arch Linux binary package.

When it's done, an Arch Linux package will be created in the current folder. All you have to do is install it, using the following command:

sudo pacman -U package

Note: Replace "package" in the above command with the complete name of the package, including the file type. E.g. sudo pacman -U dropbox-2.0.21-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz

Hit the Enter key, and again when asked, and wait for the package to be installed. That's it! Dropbox is now installed in your Arch Linux operating system.

Don't forget, you can also use the method above to update packages installed with this guide. Do not hesitate to comment below in case you run into trouble. Have fun using Arch Linux.

Via: How to Install Third-Party Apps in Arch Linux

The team at Mad Catz and Microsoft announced that they are collaborating in order to create a range of new accessories for the coming Xbox One home console that will be launched later in 2013.

Darren Richardson, the president and chief executive officer of Mad Catz Interactive, says that his team is interesting in creating innovative products for the new platform, although he was not ready to offer any sort of details.

He is quoted by NationalPost as saying that, ”The launch of the Xbox One adds a new revenue stream and the enhanced performance of the Xbox One opens up additional scope for innovation.”

Microsoft revealed a new controller model for the Xbox One and Mad Catz will probably get access to it in order to create more specialized versions linked to big titles, like Call of Duty: Ghosts.

Via: Xbox One Will Get Accessories from Mad Catz

Today, XOLO made the XOLO Q1000 smartphone official in India, as part of its QCORE series of devices, which already includes the Q800 and Q700.

The new mobile phone was spotted online a few weeks ago, and was even listed at retailers in the country, as recently reported.

In fact, XOLO too confirms that the new Q1000 is already available for purchase around the country, and that it sports a price tag of INR 14,999 ($267 / €207).

“XOLO’s Q Core series is getting bigger and better with every new launch. After the successful launch of XOLO Q800 and Q700, XOLO announces the launch of its 3rd smartphone in this series. The new Q1000 is very sleek and is designed for single hand operation,” the company said, AndroidOS reports.

The new mobile phone arrives on the market with a 5-inch 720p HD (1280 x 720 pixels) IPS touchscreen display with DragonTrail Glass, and features a 1.2GHz quad-core processor inside, with PowerVR SGX544 graphics.

Furthermore, the new XOLO Q1000 sports 1GB of RAM, along with 4GB of internal memory, while also packing a microSD memory card slot with support for up to 32GB of additional storage space.

The specifications list of this smartphone also includes an 8-megapixel rear photo snapper, with BSI and HD video recording capabilities, as well as a 1.2MP camera on the front, to enable video calling while on the go.

The device also features Dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) capabilities, a 2100 mAh battery (which can deliver up to 10 hours of talk time on 3G, or up to 346 hours of standby time), WiFi, Bluetooth, and the usual set of sensors.

XOLO Q1000 runs under Google’s Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system, and can be seen on this page on flipkart’s website (at the moment, the retailer lists it as out of stock).

Via: XOLO Q1000 Goes Official in India at INR 14,999 ($267 / 207)

Just a short while ago, a video of Matt Kemp giving his jersey and hat to a fan in San Francisco emerged online and went viral shortly afterwards. The other day, Kemp flew the fan out of Los Angeles for an amazing visit to Dodger Stadium.

The fan’s name is Joshua Jones and he is a terminally ill cancer patient. USA Today Sports says he “suffer[s] from inoperable tumors on his spine.”

He has only a few months to live and, in paying for his and his family’s trip to LA and spending time with him, Kemp did a wonderful thing.

Check out the video below to see Jones and his dad on the field during batting practice. Kemp even introduced them to Mike Trout, but also to many of his team mates.



Via: Viral of the Day: Matt Kemp Flies Terminally Ill Fan to Dodger Stadium Video

The latest episode of the new E! reality series “What Would Ryan Lochte Do?,” starring Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte, proved that one of the cons of being on a reality show is that, sometimes, certain things you might want to keep private.

Like for instance, getting dumped over the phone.

Check out the video below to see Ryan getting a call from his girlfriend of 4 years Jaimee Holler, who told him that their long-distance relationship was too problematic to actually work out.

The actual breakup isn’t shown on camera, but everything else leading up to it is. Lochte explains afterwards that he didn’t think it fair for Jaimee to have cameras around during that particular conversation, which totally makes sense if you think about it.

Of course, there are also those who say the breakup is staged since Ryan and Jaimee were probably never together in the first place, given that his own mother said last year he was simply too “busy” to have a steady girl.



Via: Girlfriend Dumps Ryan Lochte over the Phone, on His Reality Show Video

The team at Wargaming announces that it is getting ready to reveal the its first console based video game during the coming E3 2013 trade show, with development duties handled by its new West studio, previously known as Day One Studios.

Those who go to E3 will be able to get exclusive hands-on with the new title and the company is not yet ready to offer any details about the genre it is tackling or the platforms on which the game will launch.

The former incarnation of Wargaming West is best known for the work they have done on the FEAR series.

Those who visit the booth that Wargaming is creating will also be able to take a look at World of Warships, the game that aims to give players command of powerful battles taken from the history of the XX century.

Via: Wargaming Will Announce First Console Game During E3 2013

Harmonix has confirmed that all the different downloadable songs and song packs for Dance Central 3 have received massive price cuts until June 3, allowing all owners of the game to enhance their library on the cheap.

Dance Central 3 appeared last year for the Xbox 360, and Harmonix has delivered a variety of impressive songs as DLC for the game, so that owners always have fresh tunes to dance to.

Now, Harmonix has confirmed that all the different DLC tracks can be purchased via the Xbox Live Marketplace with major discounts until June 3.

As such, Dance Central 3 owners can get great songs like PSY's Gangnam Style, LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem, and many other popular tracks, each with their own custom choreographies.

Plenty of song packs have also received big discounts, so make sure to check out the full list on Harmonix's website available at this link.

Via: All Dance Central 3 DLC Songs Get Big Price Cuts Until June 3

Discovery has launched TestTube, a new channel that will only be available online.

The channel, which was produced in partnership with Revision3, is a digital video network that was designed to “ignite online audiences who are incurably curious about the world around them,” Broadband TV News reports.

There are already 15 short series available at launch, while more are in development.

“Discovery is in the business of igniting curiosity – from on-air to on-line – and for all types of audiences,” said JB Perrette, chief digital officer for Discovery Communications.

He said that this is simply another step in the company’s mission to be the number one nonfiction video and media company on all screens.

According to him, they’ve doubled the original online video output this year.

TestTube will host new series of DNews and a brand new show called Distort. MyBusters’ co-host Tory Belleci will also star in a new series that launches this summer, called Blow it Up.

Via: Discovery Launches Online Channel TestTube

South Korean mobile phone maker Pantech appears set to bring to the market a new high-end device in the not too distant future, one that sports the model number IM-A880X, and which has just emerged in the AnTuTu benchmarking application.

The device is said to pack a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor inside, and appears to be capable of delivering far better performance capabilities when compared to what Samsung’s Exynos 5 Octa-based Galaxy S 4 has to offer.

As AndroidAuthority notes, the smartphone can perform 10 percent better when compared to what Galaxy S 4 has to offer, with a score of 30133 in AnTuTu, with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean on top.

Furthermore, as the news site points out, the Snapdragon 800-powered device can best the Snapdragon 600-based Galaxy S 4 as well, if the benchmarking results are indeed accurate. Hopefully, more on this will emerge soon, so stay tuned.

Via: Pantech IM-A880X Spotted in Benchmark with Snapdragon 800 Processor

God of Blades, a side-scrolling 2D action game developed by the White Whale Games studio, has arrived on the Linux platform.

God of Blades has been released on a lot of other platforms, before Linux, including App Store and Google Play.

According to the developers, players assume the role of a nameless spectral king who has risen to defend his planet against a rampaging doom-cult the devouring touch of the cosmic horrors they serve.

The players will go through breathtaking environments, battle to regain the memories of their character, go through an extensive campaign, access unlockable weapons and new gameplay modes.

The PC version of God of Blades includes better graphics, a new 1-2 player mode called Slayers, and an exclusive mode called Chaos Storm.

More details about God of Blades can be found on the official website.

Via: Action Game God of Blades Gets a Linux Version

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia is planning on delivering enhanced imaging capabilities inside its future Windows Phone-based Lumia handsets, moving beyond the simple inclusion of larger camera sensors.

Apparently, the addition of a 41-megapixel photo snapper to a future Lumia smartphone might not be enough to meet the needs of today’s mobile users, and Nokia is set to focus on that.

In an interview with DNA, Jo Harlow, Nokia’s executive vice president for smartphone business, confirmed that the vendor was actually seeking means to help users capture more data when taking a shot.

“If you look at where imaging is going, computational imaging is an area of exploration. Being able to capture even more data — data you cannot even see with the human eye that you can only see by actually going back to the picture and being able to do things with them,” Jo Harlow said.

Basically, the company is working on Lytro-like light field photography for smartphones, which could allow users to tweak photos after taking them by changing their focus, or making other modifications, a post on BGR India explains.

This means that photos taken with upcoming Nokia devices would include enough data to remain alive even after they are shot.

“I think that is a key challenge to bring to a smartphone because computational imaging or computational photography requires computational power,” Jo Harlow continued.

“That was one of the limitations in bringing that kind of experiences on a smartphone. Changes in the processing capabilities of smartphones opens it up as an area of exploration.”

As BGR India notes, Nokia has already taken the first steps towards bringing computational photography to its Lumia smartphones, given its investment in Pelican Imaging.

Furthermore, smartphone chipsets to support such features are already available, such as Qualcomm’s solutions that pack Adreno 320 GPUs.


Via: Nokia to Enhance Imaging Capabilities of Lumias Beyond Camera Sensors

There are loads of tablets up for sale or on the way, and Samsung is responsible for a fair number of them.

The Galaxy Tab 3 alone can be mixed up with itself quite easily. Which is to say, it comes in three different sizes.

There is a 7-inch device (which got priced earlier at $199.99 / 199.99 EUR), and the 8-inch and 10.1-inch versions whose prices have only now surfaced.

As revealed by SamMobile, the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 will cost $329.99 / 329.99 EUR when it has 16 GB of storage space. It will be colored Gold-Brown or White.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 will be priced at $379.99 and will have the same color options.

Sales should begin at some point next month (June 2013). I imagine that 32 GB and maybe 64 GB models will arrive eventually.

Via: Prices of Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 and 10.1 Tablets Posted

Some of us can only dream of looking this good at Barbara Eden’s age. The actress, who starred in the popular sitcom “I Dream of Jeannie” with Larry Hagman back in the ‘60s, slipped back into the Jeannie costume the other day at a charity event.

The photo above (click to enlarge) was then posted on her Twitter feed. She’s 78 years old, just in case you were wondering.

“Here it is folks! The navel that put NBC on edge! Barbara Eden, Sat. night at the Life Ball!” Mrs. Eden writes in a tweet accompanying the photo.

She was joined on stage by former US President Bill Clinton.

Other celebrities in attendance included Olympic diver Greg Louganis, Fergie and Sir Elton John. The Life Ball is considered the biggest charity event in Europe, raising money for HIV and AIDS awareness.


Via: Barbara Eden Gets Back into I Dream of Jeannie Costume Photo

The Legacy of Kain series might soon get an official sequel reveal as a new game called War for Nosgoth is being mentioned via a new AMD driver and by the official Steam database.

It's unclear what development team might be working on the game or how it might be linked to the core narrative of the series, according to AllGamesBeta.

Nosgoth is the game world in which all the Legacy of Kain titles take place and all its events show it as being in a constant state of decline, which no one can stop.

War for Nosgoth is probably in development for the PC, given the AMD and Steam mentions, but the project might also be linked to the next generation of consoles, the Xbox One from Microsoft and the PlayStation 4 from Sony.

Via: Legacy of Kain Sequel War for Nosgoth Revealed by Steam, Drivers

Empathy, a messaging program that supports text, voice and video chat, and file transfers over many different protocols, is now at version 3.8.3.

Empathy 3.8.3 uses Telepathy for protocol and the user interface is based on Gossip. The Empathy messenger is also the default chat client in current versions of GNOME.

The application supports all major protocols, including Google Talk (Jabber/XMPP), MSN, IRC, Salut, AIM, Facebook, Yahoo, and more.

This latest version of Empathy is just a bugfix release, with just a couple of changes.

Highlights of Empathy 3.8.3:

• The history function no longer uses the wrong encoding to show utf8 logs;
• Empathy no longer crashes with SIGSEGV in listing_failed_cb().

For a complete list of fixes and updated translations, you can check out the official changelog.

Download Empathy 3.8.3 right now from Softpedia.

Via: Empathy 3.8.3 Fixes History Logs

The KDE 4.10 branch is one of the most successful releases in their history, and the developers have decided to release the 4.11 branch as an LTS.

Aaron Seigo, a developers for Plasma workspaces, has shared with the community some of the future plans of the KDE project.

“It will be the last feature release in the 4.x series of Plasma Workspaces. Feature development will switch fully to the Qt5 and KDE Frameworks 5 based Plasma Workspaces 2.

We will be providing stabilization releases (bug fixes, translation improvements, etc.) for two years for the 4.11 release of KDE Plasma Workspaces,” stated Aaron Seigo in a blog post.

This is actually great news for developers who want to integrate a more stable version in their distributions.

The fact that KDE 4.11 will become a LTS release (long term support) means that the development team will focus more on stability for the next couple of years. Don’t expect new features, you will have to leave those for the 5.x branch.

“This does not effect, in any way, anything other than the code currently in the kde-workspace repository. Applications are not affected, kdelibs and kderuntime will continue on as they currently are (with kdelibs in a feature freeze of its own already).

I fully expect there to be a 4.12 and likely a 4.13 release of the applications, and how long that goes on will be up to the application developers and release team,” said Aaron Seigo.

Another important announcement from the KDE developers, is that the term Software Compilations might not apply any more.

Even if a couple of major updates, per year, for the desktop environment might be enough, the integrated software needs to be updated more frequent than that.

This means that the development cycles in the KDE project will have to be decoupled and some parts will be updated faster than others.

The first release in the KDE 4.11 branch is expected to arrive on August 14, 2013.

Via: KDE 4.11 Will Be a LTS Release, KDE 5.x to Get All the New Features

This May 24, Russia's Far East was hit by an earthquake whose magnitude was reportedly one of 8.3. Several specialists now say that, all things considered, the shake could be the biggest deep temblor thus far recorded by science.

Information shared with the public by the US Geological Survey (USGS) says that the earthquake struck at 608.9km (378.4m) below the Earth surface, and that its epicenter was located at about 400km (248.5m) from the city of Petropavlosk-Kamchatsky.

“The May 24, 2013 Mw 8.3 earthquake beneath the Sea of Okhotsk, Russia, occurred as a result of normal faulting at a depth of approximately 600 km,” the USGS write on their official website.

What is interesting is that, according to Nature, earthquakes do not normally hit this deep below the Earth's surface. 

This is due to the fact that the rocks located at such depths are too hot and tend to deform rather than break at speeds which would trigger a temblor.

The same source informs us that this 8.3 magnitude earthquake was made possible by the fact that, just beneath the Sea of Okhotsk, a portion of the old Pacific crust is currently descending under Eurasia.

Since its descent is a rather fast one (i.e. approximately 8 cm /3.15 inches per year), the plate gets to stay cool enough to be prone to rupturing and causing an earthquake to occur.

“At the latitude of this earthquake, the Pacific and North America plates are converging at a rate of approximately 78 mm/yr in a west-northwest – east-southeast direction, resulting in the subduction of the Pacific plate beneath Eurasia at the Kuril-Kamchatka trench.”

“The depth and faulting mechanism of the May 24 earthquake indicate that it ruptured a fault deep within the subducting Pacific lithosphere rather than on the shallow thrust interface between the two plates,” the USGS details.

Although the earthquake was felt all the way to Moscow, preliminary reports indicate that the shake caused little damage to the areas it hit.

Via: Russia's M8.3 Earthquake on May 24 Said to Be Biggest Ever Deep Temblor

Brain surgeries can be quite tedious, especially if you're the patient and you find yourself with nothing else to do but sit on your back while doctors are busy trying to fit a pacemaker implant inside your skull.

So why not pass the time playing the guitar? As the video above shows, this was precisely what one guy did when undergoing brain surgery at UCLA Health.

Brad Carter, the man featured in this video, is an actor and a musician who has been suffering from tremors for several years now.

In order to treat his condition, specialists decided to implant a pacemaker in his brain and then carry out deep-brain stimulation operations.

Luckily for us, the surgery was live-tweeted, and we can now kill about 30 seconds by watching Brad Carter play an original tune while lying on the operating table.

Via: Watch: Guy Plays Guitar While Getting Brain Surgery

XWiki Enterprise, a professional wiki that has powerful extensibility features such as scripting in pages, plugins and a highly modular architecture, has reached version 5.0.2.

Highlights of XWiki Enterprise 5.0.2:

• hibernate.cfg.xml has been properly generated for pgsql;
• It's no longer possible to get the Distribution Wizard, with a COMPLETE state, if there is still something to do;
• The panel is now shown only if the user has the view right on the panel page;
• Users can’t access the local extension file trough the script service;
• The Distribution Wizard no longer upgrades too many documents, even when there are no changes in them;
• Deleted pages are no longer installed again after a Distribution Wizard upgrade;
• An error, that occurred when copying a wiki with a corrupted attachment, has been fixed.

Check out the release notes for a complete list of changes.

Download XWiki Enterprise 5.0.2 right now from Softpedia.

Via: Professional Wiki Creator, XWiki Enterprise 5.0.2, Is Available for Download

Google has released several demo videos and trailers of the Google Glass augmented reality headset.

One would think that everything worth knowing about the gadget has already been disclosed, but this is not really the case.

It turns out that there is a Functional Chrome browser in there somewhere, and that there is a feature called OK Glass Everywhere that lets users start a voice command chain from anywhere in the interface.

A video stabilization mode is supposedly included as well, but not ready for prime time yet.

According to GitHub and Android Police, these features need polishing, and Google might not weave the Chrome browser into the user experience at all. Nevertheless, there is much room to grow, and I can definitely see future firmware updates enabling or adding new things.

Of course, Google will have to actually release the thing first, with or without Samsung OLED.

Via: Watch Video Demo of Google Glass Secret Features

Gmail Touch has again received an important update on Windows 8, so all users who have already installed this particular Metro app are recommended to open the Store and get the new version.

Unfortunately, the developer behind the project hasn’t provided the release notes of this new build, so it’s hard to spot any difference in the updated version.

Still, the app has most likely received a few bug fixes and performance improvements, which pretty much means that it should be a bit more stable and responsive on every Windows 8 version.

And speaking of Windows 8, Gmail Touch can be basically installed on every Windows 8 flavor currently on the market, so you can use it on both desktop computers and tablets.

Download the new version of Gmail Touch from Softpedia

Via: Gmail Touch for Windows 8 Update, Download Now

VLC for Android is moving steadily towards a stable release, as a new flavor of the app has been pushed out in beta, namely version 0.1.1.

The new app iteration was meant to resolve some of the issues that version 0.1.0 was bound to be affected by, though no specific details on the matter have been provided.

Available with support for Android devices running under OS 2.1 or newer, the application provides users with the possibility to enjoy the features of the popular media player while on the go.

The software comes with support for all files and formats that the classic VLC app can play, and also for subtitles, media library, search, network streams, and other features as well.

Those who would like to take VLC for Android Beta 0.1.1 for a spin will find it available on this page on Softpedia.

Via: VLC for Android Beta Gets Updated to 0.1.1

Bing has announced that it will officially launch the Bing XML Sitemap Plugin to the public.

While a preview was released a few months ago, the company has only now given everyone the green light to use it.

The sitemap plugin has been designed to allow webmasters from all over the world to easily create XML sitemap files for their websites. These can then be submitted to Bing Webmaster Tools or any other search engine.

The tool works on both Internet Information Services (IIS) for Windows Server and Apache HTTP Server.

Bing brought several changes to the beta version that was released a few months ago. Now, the plugin supports automatic ping for search engines after the Sitemap is updated.

It also offers an improved computation algorithm for the value that is calculated. Custom installation and data directory at installation time is also available.

Download Bing XML Sitemap Plugin for Windows

Via: Download the Bing XML Sitemap Plugin 1.0

The last of a string of tidbits coming from Japan’s Macotakara, the iPad 5 will reportedly employ a number of alterations that are taking their toll on the microphone hole, and the SIM card module.

According to a source with alleged knowledge of the device, Apple’s iPad 5 will sport a redesigned microphone hole.

The tweak was initially tested on the iPad mini (the blog mistakenly says “iPod), then abandoned, and now it seems it’s going to be used in the final version of the iPad 5, the report notes.

“And he told iPad 5th may support standard SIM nor than only support data-SIM,” reads an additional tidbit, translated from Japanese.

The source also says the iPad 5 will not be shipped before the iPhone 5S, but afterwards, meaning we’re in for another special event in fall (following WWDC).

All this information is in line with reports from various analysts who’ve been talking to Apple’s Asian part suppliers and assemblers.

In June, Apple will have a special showcase that focuses on software, including iOS 7 and OS X 10.9, the next-generation of the company’s operating systems.

Analysts find it extremely unlikely for Apple to release a new iPhone or iPad at the event, but there’s a lot of chatter about new Macs scheduled for unveiling at WWDC.

The same analysts say Apple has a second event planned for the September-October timeframe, like in previous years, during which the Cupertino giant will lift the cloth off a new iPhone (or multiple new iPhones), as well as a new iPad (or multiple new iPads).

The fifth-generation iPad, in particular, is expected to mark a departure from the current design.

Apple is said to have prepared a full-size iPad with the same 9.7-inch display but a much narrower bezel, and a design akin to (if not identical to) the design of the iPad mini.

Via: iPad 5 Has Mic Hole Tweaks, Standard SIM Support, Source Says

Google has already made it clear enough that it doesn’t plan to release any other Metro apps, so our only hope is that third-party developers would eventually step in and create alternative software tools.

gMusic is one of these apps, as it allows adopters of Microsoft’s new OS to access Google Play Music and listen to music straight from the Metro UI.

In addition, it comes with playlist management options, 5-star rating systems for songs, Last.fm support and live tile support to quickly access your favorite songs.

The app comes free of charge, but in-app adverts are displayed, so those who wish to get a seamless experience need to purchase the premium version available in two different packages, ad-free and ultimate.

Download gMusic for Windows 8/RT from Softpedia


Via: gMusic Is a Full-Featured Google Play Music Client for Windows 8

The latest Chrome beta didn't just bring faster HTML parsing, it also marks the debut of rich notifications. The feature has been available for a few months, but it hasn't been enabled by default in the beta channel, Google has just been experimenting with it.

But rich notifications are now ready for a wider release. With this, Google Now for the web is one step closer to becoming a reality.

"We’re enabling Chrome apps and extensions to show richer notifications with a revamped user interface," Google explained.

"We’ve designed these notifications to be beautiful, useful and engaging. They can display formatted text and images, and can include actions directly inside the pop-up (so you can respond to that email right away)," it added.

The new rich notifications are designed to look like desktop notifications, though they don't integrate with the operating system but rather share a common look across devices.

Apps and extensions can use the notifications to alert users to things happening in the background. There's also a new notification center, you'll notice it in the system tray, to access notification history.



Via: Chrome 28 Beta Brings the New Rich Notifications Google Has Been Working on for Months

A new flavor of the Google Play Magazines is now available for download for the owners of Android-based devices, namely version 2.0.

The new app iteration packs a brand new magazines library UI, as well as a variety of bug fixes, the release notes unveiled.

The application was designed to provide users with the possibility to easily discover hundreds of bestselling magazines on Google Play, while enabling them to shop a wide selection of titles, ranging from cooking to technology, travel, fashion, sports, photography, and more.

Users will also be able to buy new or older issues, subscribe and receive free 14 or 30-day trials, and enjoy a customized reading experience on their Android tablets and smartphones.

The latest flavor of Google Play Magazines can be found on this page on Softpedia.

Via: Google Play Magazines Gets New UI in Version 2.0

The shocking attack on a British soldier in broad daylight on the streets in London has been witnessed by many passers-by, some of whom were asked by suspects to tape the killing.

*The video contains graphic, disturbing images, therefore user discretion is recommended.

As I mentioned before, two men butchered and possibly beheaded the 20-year-old soldier with meat cleavers while motivating the act as a revenge for Muslim killings in Afghanistan.

“We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you,” one of the assailants said to a witness, according to NY Daily News.

“The only reason we have done this is because Muslims are dying every day. This British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for tooth,” he proclaimed.

Another man described the incident as “rock-style violence” due to the public nature of the crime and the unapologetic manner in which the killers took to the spotlight afterwards.

Via: London Cleaver Attack: Jihadist Suspect Says Killing Is Eye for an Eye

Zakia Clark and Makia Underwood lost their mother to breast cancer after a 4-year fight with the disease. This past weekend, they were kicked out of the King of Prussia Mall for wearing anti-cancer hats, as they were shopping for funeral dresses, ABC 6 reports.

The sisters’ hats read “[Expletive] Cancer” in pink sparkly letters, with the C in the F-word replaced by the well-known symbol for breast cancer awareness, the pink ribbon (pictured above).

Security approached them and asked them to remove their hats, which they eventually did. They were still kicked out for protesting against the request.

“The mall is first and foremost a family destination. Certain words and images, whether obvious or suggested, spoken or written on clothing, are considered profane and can offend many people,” management of the Mall says.

Ironically, the Urban Outfitters T-shirts they’re selling come with even more offensive (and uncensored to boot) messages, as one of the sisters also points out.

After the story went viral, the Mall apologized to the sisters, offering to donate a sum of money to a cancer charity of their choice.



Via: Sisters Ejected from Mall for Wearing Anti-Cancer Hats Video

Most Linux users are familiar with the Enlightenment desktop environment, but most people don’t know about the conflict between users who say GIF with a soft “j” and the rest of the world. The two aspects are closely related.

It’s not every day that someone has the courage to speak up about this really big problem, which is the pronunciation of the word GIF (Graphics Interchange Format).

The creator of the GIF format, Steve Wilhite, has put an end to this debate when he explained GIF is said with a J and not with a G.

The release manager of E18 has a different opinion about this matter and has assured the users that will not have to choose.

“To that end, I am officially stating, on record, that the EFL and E18 will not require its developers or users to pronounce GIF with a flimsy, soft ‘j’ sound.

Enlightenment has always been about choice, and I respect Mr. Wilhite’s choice to be retroactively wrong about the pronunciation of the name of something which he himself invented,” stated the release manager of E18.

With this important aspect in mind we will wait for the next installment of Enlightenment.

Via: Enlightenment Developers Go to War Against the Word GIF

South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung Electronics is reportedly gearing up for enhancing the security of its smartphones, and might include fingerprint protection inside them as part of these plans, rumor has it.

Apparently, the company is already testing the feature, as a recently leaked Galaxy S III firmware was found to pack application files that pointed at that.

According to a recent article on SamMobile, Samsung might plan on packing the feature inside future Galaxy smartphones, and could tie it to the home button, as the photos find inside said firmware unveil.

However, with no official confirmation on the matter available as of now, it remains to be seen whether such security feature will indeed make it inside future Samsung handsets, so keep an eye on this space for more details on the matter.

Via: Samsung to Include Fingerprint Protection in Future Smartphones

VueScan, an easy-to-use replacement for the software that usually comes with scanners and that supports most flatbed scanners, printer/scanners and film scanners, has reached version 9.2.19.

VueScan 9.2.19 is a minor release in the series as it doesn’t bring any performance improvements for the Linux platform, just small fixes and changes.

Highlights of VueScan 9.2.19:

• A problem with the infrared alignment on Epson Perfection V700/V750 has been fixed;
• A problem with green scans on some Brother scanners has been corrected;
• Silverfast HDRi files are now read properly;
• A problem with some PIE/Reflecta scanners has been corrected.

VueScan provides support for 1100 scanners on the Linux system. Not all the scanners work with all SCSI/USB/Firewire interfaces, but most combinations are known to work.

A complete backlog of modifications, implemented in all the past versions, can be found in the official changelog.

Download VueScan 9.2.19 right now from Softpedia.

Via: VueScan 9.2.19 Fixes Green Scans Problem

Microsoft has recently signed a deal with Janet, the research and education network in the United Kingdom, to provide more than 18 million teachers and students with access to cloud services based on Windows Azure.

The deal was signed at the Goldsmiths University of London, with local staff praising Microsoft’s efforts for their tools and performance.

"In the UK, higher education institutions are fortunate to have high speed network services as provided by Janet," Professor Anne Trefethen, CIO at the University of Oxford, was quoted as saying by Computing.

"The capability afforded by Janet's peering with Microsoft's Azure Cloud with high-bandwidth secure connections creates new opportunities for researchers and the university community as a whole."

As I’ve told you, cloud computing is becoming much more important for the tech giant, so Microsoft will soon open two new data centers in Australia to support the expansion of this kind of services.

Via: Microsoft, Janet Bring the Cloud in British Universities

Google continues its Chromebook "for everyone" campaign with a short "For Dads" clip.

Since a "For Moms" clip has been around for a couple of months now, racking up more than 12 million views in the process, perhaps it was about time dads got some attention as well.

The clip is simple and short, like the previous ones, but once again it drives home the point of Chromebooks. They're laptops you can use anytime, anywhere, for anything. For when you need something to just work and not have to worry or wait for it.

Google hasn't had much success with Chrome OS until the cheap Chromebooks came around, and it makes sense for the company to focus on just that.

The device is never the focus in any of the ads, it's always about what you can do with it, how it can improve your experiences.

Via: Google's Latest Viral Chromebook Ad Is for Dads Video

Neocore Games is a Hungarian indie developer, mostly known for the King Arthur series of games that mixes strategy and RPG elements.

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing is the studio’s upcoming title, which is set to land on PC on May 22. According to developers, an Xbox version will be available as well, though no release date has been unveiled yet.

Nevertheless, I had the chance to play the closed beta version of the game and things are looking much better than I expected.

The story is set in 19th century in Eastern Europe in a world full of magic, monsters and weird technology.

As a RPG fan, I found this steampunk universe intricately depicted by Neocore, starting from monsters that freely roam the fictional kingdom of Borgovia and continuing with the plethora of weapons, armors, skills and perks including in the game.

I cannot refrain from comparing Van Helsing with Diablo III and Torchlight II. Even though the former borrows lots of RPG elements from the other two, it takes all those features to a whole new level.

The main protagonists, Van Helsing and his ghost(ly) companion Katarina, will make use of a wide range of weapons, including revolvers, swords, muskets and rifles.

There are all sorts of actions that you can predefine for your companion, like allowing her to collect all loot that drops from monsters.

You can set Katarina's behavior or how exactly you want her to fight: melee, ranged or ghost. The latter only provides buffs to your character, but it's extremely useful in boss fights.

Your character's skill tree is huge and it's split in three categories: Mystic Warrior (melee), Occult Hunter (ranged) and Auras. There are no classes in this game, so you can choose the skills that define your play style.

The good news is that you can level up your companion as well. Although Katarina's skill tree is not that big, I found most of the abilities extremely powerful.

In fact, one of the things I liked is that you can choose various skills and perks that complement each other and there are a buck load of choices.

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing is the first part of a trilogy and has been confirmed by developers to have about 8-10 hours of gameplay.

According to Neocore Games, the time span between two parts will be of about 6 months, so we can expect the next installment in the series to arrive by the end of the year.

Worth a full Softpedia review? Yes.

Via: Quick Look: The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing with Gameplay Video

A couple of weeks ago, Anonymous vowed to shut down the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay which is used to keep suspected terrorists and people involved with terrorist groups, and which has been very controversial.

More than half the inmates are now on hunger strike and there have been many reports criticizing the possibly illegal conditions there.

Anonymous urged the White House to do as it promised and begin the shutdown of the prison.

Now, in response to the perceived threat, officials at the prison compound have shut down the wireless network and closed off access to sites such as Facebook or Twitter.

Anonymous is labeling this as a success, in a way, since they did manage to disrupt operations there, if only in a small way. But Anonymous never actually threatened with a hack, all it did is protest about the conditions in the prison and urged others to add in their voice.

Via: Guantanamo Prison Shuts Down Wi-Fi After Anonymous Protests

Shuffle Party for Windows 8 has just received an update, so adopters of Microsoft’s new operating system should now experience not only enhanced performance, but also faster loading times.

This new build now fixes an issue with the cloud storage option, so your saved game should basically move across devices to be able to resume games on a different Windows 8 system, such as tablet or desktop computer.

In addition, it also packs minor bug fixes and enhancements, so Shuffle Party is basically expected to run smoother regardless of whether you’re using Windows 8 or Windows RT.

As a reminder, Shuffle Party comes with a very appealing feature list, including Xbox Live support to compete with friends online using a Windows 8 device.

Click here to view and download Shuffle Party for Windows 8 / RT.

Via: Shuffle Party for Windows 8 Updated and Released for Download

The Wii U version of the Ghost Recon Online multiplayer title is at the moment on hold, according to Ubisoft, as the team is focusing on the PC launch, trying to make sure that players get the best experience possible with the game.

An official message from the Twitter account states, “The WiiU version of the game is currently on hold while we focus on developing the PC version.”

Ghost Recon Online was first announced in 2011 and was supposed to be one of the first shooters to be available on the Wii U.

In 2012 publisher Ubisoft failed to offer more information on the development process for the Nintendo platform.

The company says that it big titles set to arrive on the Wii U include: Rayman Legends, Watch Dogs, Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag and Splinter Cell Blacklist.

Via: Ghost Recon Online Wii Version Is on Hold, Not Canceled

Even if Windows 8 adoption rate could use some boosting, third-party developers continue to capitalize on the operating system’s lack of a start button for the desktop part.

Start Menu Reviver is one of the latest additions to the category and promises to deliver a fresh experience, in tune with the modern UI design promoted by Microsoft in the touch-friendly Start Screen.

The program has been created as a customizable application launcher that works on both Windows 7 and 8. It features a tile-based, intuitive interface ready for usage with the traditional mouse and keyboard as well as on touchscreen devices.

You may notice some strange things happening to your desktop during the installation, such as brief disappearance of the icons briefly or of the taskbar. No computer restart is required for completing the procedure. The application is free of charge.

In order to make sure that all users learn the ropes of the program, the developer included a screen with video tutorials that pops up at application launch.

Start Menu Reviver’s interface is segmented into several distinct parts that allow quick access either to installed programs and modern apps, to specific system areas, or to power options.

Just like the start button in Windows 7, there is a search bar that can help find applications or files; moreover, the function can be used to find various settings and other places on the computer. Results are returned as soon as you stop typing, regardless if the query is complete or not.

A second search function is present in the interface, in the left part of the interface; however, this activates the search in the Start Screen on Windows 8 and in Explorer on Windows 7.

On the left hand side of the menu, there are links to important areas such as the Network and Sharing Center or the Run dialog. The “Settings” tile shelters additional shortcuts, for accessing the Action Center, Control Panel Device Manager, Personalization menu, Programs and Features, the system configuration or Windows Firewall and Updates.



“Tasks” tile is the counterpart for the Alt+Tab shortcut in Windows. However, it seems to be contextual because during our tests it showed the switcher strip for modern apps when an app would be running. Otherwise, it would display the list of regular application windows. On Windows 7 it runs Aero Flip 3D feature.

Organizing the tiles in the main application window is a simple job. This can be done either by dragging and dropping the shortcuts from the expanded list of programs or by editing the tile.

A tile can be anything from a shortcut to an application, a specific location on the computer (file, folder, drive) to a web location of your choice. Furthermore, the developer makes available a set of custom icons for the tile, but you can also pick any picture. A very interesting option is the possibility to run executable files in administrator mode.

The configuration panel for Start Menu Reviver is pretty simple and allows customization of the start button icon from ten different choices or forcing the system to boot into the classic desktop.

Using the Windows key on the desktop can launch either the modern Start Screen or Start Menu Reviver, which is the default setting. Alternatively, from the modern environment it can display the program switcher.

The dashboard tile, which helps you switch to the touch-friendly part of Windows 8, has four states: enabled, hidden, disabled and dynamic. Despite our testing, we could not determine a clear distinction between the last two options because both seemed to have the same functionality.

By default, the launcher is set to expand the application side menu automatically. This can be changed so that it becomes visible only when clicking on the “Apps” button or it can be displayed at all times.

On the downside, given the large interface of the launcher, this would take a hefty chunk of the desktop screen, which affects the overall experience.

The application provides a button for power actions like logging off, switching to a different account, locking the station, putting it into hibernation or sleep, restarting or turning off the computer.

Among so many solutions filling the void left behind by Microsoft’s decision to pull out the orb in Windows 8, Start Menu Reviver is definitely a breath of fresh air. It looks clean and the design embraces the modern GUI.

On the other hand, the application shows that it is still in early development as minor glitches such as the interface persisting on the screen when clicking outside it are giving away the current state.

On the same note, during our tests accessing the recent items list displayed only shortcuts, plenty of them no longer residing on the computer. Furthermore, they were not organized by access date and time.



The Good

Installation is easy and works immediately, without having to restart the system. Power controls are within easy reach, just like important system areas. The interface is highly customizable.

The application (free of charge) can force the system to boot straight into the classic desktop.

The Bad

The interface is quite large for displays that are not touch-ready and it does not hide away when clicking outside, forcing the user to access the start button to make it go away.

The Truth

There is no denial about Start Menu Reviver improving user productivity on Windows 8, but with such a large interface that takes almost half of the screen, it seems that its design is more for touch screen devices.

It does come with minor glitches that may be overlooked by the user and which could be easily fixed by the developer in a future release.

Via: Tile-Based Start Menu for Windows 8 and 7

As expected, Finnish company Jolla has just revealed its first smartphone, which is set to arrive on the market by the end of 2013.

According to the handset maker, the availability of its smartphone is subject to demand in local markets. It appears that the Jolla phone will be initially released in European countries with more countries to follow.

Those who wish to support Jolla by pre-ordering the smartphone will be able to do so for only €400/$515, including applicable VAT in Europe, but excluding shipping costs, duties and any local taxes. Check it out here.

Jolla’s Sailfish OS phone will be launched on the market with colorful replaceable casings that are called “Other Half.”

The device features a Jolla original design with ample 4.5-inch Estrade capacitive touchscreen display. It also packs a dual-core processor, but for now there are no additional details on the type of CPU.

Jolla also confirmed its Sailfish-based smartphone will also be packed with 4G support, but supported countries will be defined closer to shipment date so there’s no telling which regions will get this feature.

On the inside, the handset packs 16GB of internal memory, which can be further expanded up to 32GB via microSD memory card. No word on the amount of RAM yet, but we expect it to come with at least 1GB of RAM.

There’s also an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus, LED flash and video recording, but there’s no mention of a secondary camera for video calls.

Given the fact the smartphone features changeable back cover, Jolla phone’s battery is user-replaceable. It is powered by gesture based Sailfish OS and is compatible with Android applications.

The latter has just been confirmed by developers, though Jolla encourages developers to start creating Sailfish apps in order to support the new operating system. Stay tuned for more updates on the matter.





  

Via: Jolla Reveals the First Sailfish OS Smartphone, Arriving in 2013 for 400/$515