Showing posts with label new. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new. Show all posts

Thursday, September 16, 2010

If you haven't got the new Twitter interface (yet), you don't have to worry, you will be getting it soon.

You probably heard about the Twitter's new interface which has been released on Tuesday night (September 14th). I didn't write anything about it because I didn't have time for almost anything on the last few days. So, this is one of the most important changes Twitter did to its official website until now.

However, there are some users who don't see the change even two days after the change has been released (I also don't have it). The change is rolling out progressively, so there might be a few more days to wait for some users to get it. As it writes on its official blog, the update started rolling out on that night for a very small number of accounts, and it's probably still rolling out for some accounts.

What's changed, as I've told you, is the interface which has been redesigned, maintaining its simplicity. Twitter also got more user friendly. It's now possible to view embedded photos and videos from DailyBooth, deviantART, Flickr, Justin.TV, TwitPic, USTREAM, yfrog, YouTube and others. You can now see related content, meaning you can see replies to a tweet, other tweets by a user, the location from where a tweet has been sent, and more. Moreover, you now have "mini profiles", which allows you to view quick information about someones account, without having to leave the page you're on.

Over the following few weeks, both versions of Twitter will be available. The possibility of changing between interfaces allows you to accommodate easier with the new one. We'll see how the users will reaction when the old one won't be available anymore (because there are people who don't like the progress and the change).

Thursday, September 2, 2010

iPhoDroid, the simplest way of installing Android on you iPhone, is available for download (Windows).

iPhoDroid is probably a really waited application for lots of iPhone users. It allows now the installation of Android on your iPhone, under Windows operating systems. However, it is not clear if it is compatible with any Windows or with any iPhone, but it should work over XP and Vista (both 32 and 64-bit platforms), and for the 3G iPhone (from what I've seen on YouTube).

I don't know if it works with Windows 7 or not, or for the other models of iPhone, but as long as you haven't found anyway a confirmation that it works with your OS and with your iPhone, I don't recommend you trying this. Moreover, you're doing everything on your own responsibility, so if something goes wrong, you might have to restore your device.

Direct download for official site (please notify me if the link becomes unavailable): iPhoDroid download.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Breaking: Apple announces new iPod shuffle, iPod nano, and iPod Touch models.

Apple has just announced a new iPod shuffle, a new iPod nano, and a new iPod Touch.

This is the new iPod shuffle:









The new iPod nano is here (what's the most important feature, is, of course, the touchscreen):







And the new iPod touch is also here (with its new Retina Display and front and rear camera):











All photos are from Engadget, and the prices for these products are:

  • $49 iPod shuffle
  • $148 8GB, $179 16GB iPod nano
  • $229 8GB, $299 32GB and $399 64GB iPod touch

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Ubuntu 10.10 Alpha changes its look, I hope you like orange....

Ubuntu 10.10 gets, while still in Alpha 3, a quite big change at its interface. The default wallpaper has been updated a little (this isn't that big change), but there were new, much cooler wallpapers added from which to choose. Its theme has also been updated, and even if the older one was changing with every update, it has been removed and newer Ambiance and Radiance themes were added.

Ambiance looks really good, nice finished, not like the older one, which seemed so unfinished. Regarding to the new Radiance, it looks so...white. It isn't currently very pleasant for the eyes (it's 9:30 P.M. right now and it's completely dark outside, maybe because of that), and, most probably, changing the brightness of the monitor to a (much) lower value would make it pleasant (or trying it while there's sunny outside).

Anyway, you will feel with these new themes like you are returning a little bit in the past. They are bringing back some of that orange I liked very much at Ubuntu, but now it is much more vibrant than before. Window buttons, which are still on the left side (and I hope they'll remain there), look quite strange now. They are a little bigger than before, but they are interesting.

I can't take screenshots (I don't know why, Ubuntu simply doesn't want to take them), and that's why I am sending you to my friend from WebUpd8, which has made a few screenshots of everything which is new in Ubuntu 10.10 Beta.

I want to remember you that on September 2nd the Beta version of Ubuntu 10.10 is going to be released, the Release Candidate comes on September 30th (it represents around 95% of the final product), and the Final Release is expected on October 10th.

Friday, August 27, 2010

TweetDeck announces new Beta version for Android, includes few new features.

TweetDeck announced today their new Beta version for Android, v0.9.5. This new version brings some updates and features, such as:

  • Full compatibility with all Android 1.6 devices and above.
  • Added option to remove Facebook, Buzz and ForeSquare accounts, but also to delete tweets sent by you.
  • Added multi-Twitter account compose.
  • New More button for Twitter profiles and updates, allowing users to: Reply All, Sharing, Translation, Copy update text, Copy update URL.
  • Tapping on top of a column automatically updates that column. 
I really used to be a fan of TweetDeck when I was a user of iOS, but now my favorite Twitter client is HootSuite (both on my Android device and on my computers). TweetDeck seems so unfinished on Android (it's normal, however, as it is still a Beta version), and I think that just the possibility of using other social networks from the same client (such as Facebook or Buzz), isn't a good enough reason just to choose TweetDeck.

The complete changelog of this new Beta version of TweetDeck is available here.

TweetDeck v0.9.5 is available for download from here.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Ubuntu 10.04.1 released, if you used Update Manager regularly, you already got it.

Ubuntu 10.04.1 has been released, WebUpd8 announced yesterday. Like usually, this version puts together all the updates that Ubuntu 10.04 had until now. So, if you used the update manager regularly, you already have it. It has been released just for those two want to make a fresh install of Ubuntu 10.04 (because this version has all the updates until now and they don't have to wait to download and install them).

This is what is called a maintenance update, and it's available for both desktop and server versions, and for both i386 and amd64 architectures.

It's available for download at the known, official download page, here.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Availability of iPhone 4 for 17 more countries has been announced yesterday by Apple.

Yesterday, Apple announced that the iPhone 4 comes to another 17 countries via its Retail and Online Stores, and also via its Authorized Resellers. These countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Honk Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. This is going to happen this Friday, on July 30.

If you hope to get an iPhone 4 in one of the mentioned countries, you should pre-order (if it's available) it at an Apple Retail or Online Store, or at an Authorized Apple Reseller (the best is at the carrier which has an exclusive contract with Apple) as soon as possible, because there are expected important problems with stocks (and big delays, as Apple can't currently keep up with the request only from the US).

If you want the full article, view Apple's press release here.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Android 3.0 test build already done?

Yesterday, Kevin Krause, an editor from Phandroid presented a photo on the website with a device which seems to be running the Android 3.0. From the photo, we can see that it's a Nexus One (this is what's written in "About"), but it is not known why the upper part of the device has been covered with a sheet of paper.

As some users said, it is a high probability for this photo to be a fake one, as it's easy to modify what's written in "About". However, I think that there's a change for the Android 3.0 to be already released for a small group of Android engineers, for testing/developing purposes.

Anyway, I have to warn you. If you see on the following period a build which claims to be the Android 3.0, don't install it until a confirmation from reliable website in the domain is received. Just be patient, and don't make something you'll regret later. I don't think you want a bricked phone...

More on Phandroid.

What do you think about this photo?

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Samsung presents a very resistant, flexible, AMOLED screen.

I know that this is not something new, but I saw it yesterday and I think that this is something that will drastically change the way we use and "communicate" with our phones in the future. I'm talking about a new screen from Samsung, which produces screens for many of available smartphones on the market. As we all know, AMOLED (or Active-Matrix organic light-emitting diode) and Super AMOLED (both from Samsung) are the best screens for smartphones, used by several manufacturers, competing directly with LG's Retina Display, which is used by Apple on the iPhone 4.

I think that with this new type of screen, Samsung continues to show its supremacy on the market, placing LG and its so congratulated (by Apple) Retina Display under it. In the video below, you'll see Samsung's new screen in action. Even if this flexible screen is folded in half, it continues to display the image without any problem, and to demonstrate its resistance, it was hit many times by a hammer, without getting broken at all.



An exact date of launch has not been specified, but it is expected to hit the market within the following two years.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Is Vietnam the place where Apple decided to lose all their new devices?

After the story with the iPhone which was found by somebody in a pub in the United States, and of course, after the start of the investigation for possible theft against one editor from Gizmodo, a new (lost) iPhone appeared in Vietnam. This second device has 16 GB internal memory (on the device which was found in the U.S. it was written "XX GB"), and the main (big) difference is that it doesn't have any screws on the bottom, anything else being the same.

Now, another new device from Apple appears, again, in Vietnam. This time, it is an iPod touch, and the differences compared with the actual iPod Touch are that it seems to have a 2 megapixel camera, and 64 GB internal storage memory. On its back it is written "DVT-1", so it is 99% sure that this is not a final version.


June 7th is the date when Apple Worldwide Developers Conference is scheduled, and it is sure that we will have then a new iPhone, but I think that it is improbable to hear any announcement about a new iPod Touch there.

Even if when the story with the lost iPhone in that pub started I refused to accept that everything might have been planned by Apple, now, that is what I think. Apple is a...too serious company to lose devices like this. My opinion is that they are making this in order to explode the speculations about their devices, and so, their devices to get shortly after launch enormous popularity.

What do you think?

More here, here and here.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Has YouTube player been changed or not?

This is the question to which anybody tries to find an answer. Some users reported that their player changed in a way, others that it changed in another way, so it's a very confusing situation. I found that it has been changed for everybody in a way, but some videos do actually have another, much cooler interface. The second one looks something like this below.
I didn't find anywhere an explanation for this, but I suppose it might be because the player is not yet adapted for some resolutions or qualities of the videos. Anyway, it gives a fresh look to YouTube, but I really don't know why they're still working on Flash, as the HTML 5 is coming strongly behind.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Nokia announces the N8.

Nokia has announced their new high-end model, the N8. This smartphone puts a great accent on multimedia and social networking. It has pushing capabilities to various services such as Twitter, RenRen and Facebook, and you can even view Web TV directly on the phone (CNN and National Geographic for example). Plus, you'll have free GPS navigation (+maps), forever.
A 12 mega-pixel camera has been implemented, with HD video recording capability. The N8 brings the new Symbian 3 operating system (how about Maemo, Nokia?). What it has inside isn't that impressive as the camera is, and we are talking about a modest 680 MHz ARM 11 processor and 256 MB RAM memory. It has 16 GB internal memory, which can be expanded with another additional 32 GB (microSD). There is a 3,5" capacitive touch screen, with a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels.

The quantity of internal memory is too much, in my opinion. Nokia is far away from being an important "player" in the domain of smartphones. Their previous high-end model (N97) was a disaster, and this happened mainly because of really slack performance especially when more data is present on storage memory. Because the improvements at processor and RAM are not that important, a great pressure is being put on Symbian 3.

In my point of view, this smartphone doesn't bring enough change compared to previous models so it won't reach the success. Moreover, it could be a disaster, like his "smaller brother", the N97. The phone will be available in more colors, at a price of 370 euros without any taxes. Shipping starts from the third quarter of 2010.

Monday, April 19, 2010

iPhone 4G/HD rumors - the internet blows up.

It seems that the 4th generation of iPhone has been revealed. A device has been found in a pub in the U.S., and Gizmodo (who currently has the device) claims that it's the new iPhone 4G/HD which everybody was waiting for.
This seems to be the next iPhone because of more reasons. This device seems to be having the next generation of iPhone OS 4.0 on it, and has been remotely modified by Apple so it can't currently boot up (and can't be restored). Also, Gizmodo opened it, and on the chips it's written "APPLE". But this isn't all. Apple lost a device, and it wants it back, so many experts are 99% sure that this is what Apple has lost.

However, if this is the next iPhone, it doesn't seem for me that its something extraordinary, at least, related to its design. Apple 3GS stays perfectly in the hand, while this device, with its new design, won't.

If this is the new iPhone, here are what is new:
  • improved camera (probably 5 MP) featuring a LED flash
  • front-camera for voice conversations
  • standard SIM has been replaced with Micro-SIM
  • split buttons for volume
  • smaller screen than the previous one, but most probably with higher resolution
  • probably noise-cancellation microphone (next to headphone jack)
  • also, it is expected to have a similar hardware platform as the iPad (Apple A4 chip with 1GHz processor and 256 or 512 RAM)
Source: Gizmodo.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

iPhone OS 4.0 - what's new?

Apple's new iPhone OS 4.0 has been announced for a while, and a beta version has also been launched, being available for developers only (I know, it's on torrent networks, but don't attempt to download and install it, because it won't work -- it must be activated with Apple's servers). Now I'm going to describe you what is new inside this version.

A new feature which everybody was waiting for and which Apple decided to implement, is multi-tasking. Or at least, this is what Apple says he has implemented. It won't actually be a full multi-tasking. True, applications like those ones used for music will be making multi-tasking, but games, for example, won't. As Steve Jobs showed in the presentation, if you play a game and you want to....browse a website for example, you have to double-click the home button (the game will pause), go to safari, browse, double-click again, and go to the game, and resume playing. So, the game won't be actually making a real multi-tasking.

Apple said that they didn't implemented multi-tasking since now because it consumes more resources and power, and they have found a method which resolves this. The main advantage of this "multi-tasking" is that apps like Skype can now run in the background, so you don't have anymore to stay into Skype to speak with somebody, without having any possibility to do anything else.

Now, iPhone can finally use folders. You can now put apps for games or for weather together, for example, in a singe folder, so you don't need anymore to browse through more screens just to find an application. This is something good.

Also, you can now set wallpapers. I don't know why Apple didn't implement this earlier, but it's good they finally made it. And you now have "unified" mailbox, so all the mails will come at the same time from all your accounts. This has bad and good points, and in my point of view, I think that it's better without this feature.

What really sucks, is that Apple is going to implement iAd. This means that now everything on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch is going to have ads. Steve Jobs said that this is a good feature, and it is, for advertisers, but for regular users, it is a disaster.

And, from what is known, there will still be no Flash in iPhone OS 4.0. This is totally stupid. I now think that the iPhone is never going to have Flash.

Apple says that this upgrade will be available only for future generations of iPhone, and for the 3GS. Guys who are working on jailbreak solutions showed clearly that Apple does this just for the people to buy new iPhones. Because they ran the OS 4.0 beta on both 3G and even 2G, without any difficulty.

And, you have to know that this new software was jailbroken in less than 24 hours since it was launched, so, probably, when the new OS will be available for anybody, jailbreaking will be easily done on any iPhone.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Testing the iPad (+video).

A few days ago I had the opportunity of testing the product which Apple says that it's a revolutionary one, the iPad (they said the same when they launched any other product).

Firstly, I'll tell you its specifications. It has an Apple A4 1 GHz processor, based on ARM technology. The storage memory varies between 16, 32 and 64 GB, and, related to RAM memory, this is a complete mystery (yet). It is known that physically it seems to be having 512 MB of RAM, but in practice, it reveals only 256 MB of RAM (showed by different tests). It is certain only that the RAM is integrated into the chip of the processor.

It also has a 10 inch capacitive multi-touch screen, perfect for almost anything. On the connectivity side, we have the Wi-Fi model, which starts at $499 with 16 GB of storage, and the Wi-Fi + 3G model which is going to be available soon, this month. The battery offers 1 month for stand-by, and about 10 hours when surfing web on Wi-Fi and stuff like that.

On the Apple Store I've waited for a few minutes after I got one to play with (everybody was running to get one to test when somebody finished testing one). I think that there were about 15-20 iPads available (it is a quite big store, in Dadeland Mall, Miami).

The first sensation was that it was fast. But not as fast as I was expecting, but it was pretty good. The applications are launching like on the iPhone (slowly, showing who made them or things like that), and some of them really looked very well. But several were made especially for the iPhone, and looked very bad because they were running at a low resolution (I'm sure that this will be a problem for a long time).

I found it difficult to play with it using its accelerometer, considering that I used an iPhone for about 1 year and a half, and now I have the Nexus One. It is an updated version of iPhone OS, so the menus are updated in many basic applications (they look really good).

Many fans of Apple said that the iPad is very fast, faster than even the Nexus One. I don't agree with this. They probably said this even without ever touching a Nexus. It is clearly faster than the iPad.

There have been reported several problems with the iPad after only a few hours after it was launched, many users complaining that on their Windows machines and especially when connected to USB hubs the iPad refuses to charge. Apple says that when it gets into sleep, it starts charging automatically, but they can't actually prove that this happens at all times, because there is no icon indicating if it charges or not. And there are also problems with weak Wi-Fi signal and connection problems on LAN configurations.

And if you want one, if need to know that it has no camera and no GPS. You can buy additional accessories, and even if the iPad starts a $499, you can easily pass $1000, considering that Apple has only quite expensive accessories.

Apple has reached again, a great success with the iPad. In the first day of selling, the sells with the pre-orders passed 300 000 units. This is completely astonishing. To compare, Google sold only 135 000 Nexus One units after 74 days, while there were about 1 million iPhones (first generation) sold after the same period of days. I don't know how Apple does this, but it is known that Steve Jobs has currently the most profitable company in the domain of mobile devices.

Below is a video taken with my Nexus One, while I was testing some of iPad's functionalities:

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Opera 10.51 for Ubuntu is available.

Opera claims to be the fastest browser on the earth, so do you want to know if this is true or not? You can now test this by yourself if you are using Linux, because an official build of Opera 10.51 is available for download. Please note that this is not a final release (on the official website only 10.10 is available for Linux), but it works pretty good.

More details can be found on WebUpd8, by clicking here, and the official download link is here.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Put Google Chrome buttons on the left (for Ubuntu 10.04).

Even Ubuntu changed its theme and putted the windows buttons on the left, Chrome is still using its own buttons designed by Google, which are on the right. This might create a lot of confusion for the users who updated to 10.04, because sometimes they have to work with the windows on the left (for almost everything) and sometimes with them on the right (for Chrome), and it's not pleasant at all, trust me.

So, if you need to change the buttons from Google Chrome from right to left, all you have to do, is to go on Chrome's settings (click on the tool icon from the right and click options). Here, go on the "Personal Staff" tab and check "Use system title bar and borders". This is all. Google Chrome should now be looking like this:


Wednesday, March 17, 2010

CONFIRMED: Google is now selling a new version of Nexus One compatible with AT&T 3G.


Yesterday, Google has announced that Nexus one is available in a new version. Since yesterday, the Nexus One has been compatible with most 3G carriers worldwide. However, AT&T and Rangers Wireless from Canada are using a 3G frequency which is incompatible with the Nexus One. But with this additional version of Nexus, Google makes it compatible with the mentioned networks. Now, if you want to buy a Nexus One, you can select if you need this additional version right on the official site (when you make the order):

More on official Google blog here and also on engadget.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Will Windows Mobile 7 come in September, with LG?

After the announcement of Windows Mobile 7 at MWC (Mobile World Congress), rumors about the first phone which is going to have Microsoft's new mobile OS are heading towards both LG and HTC. The phone from LG will be most probably called "Apollo", and it seems that HTC is going to name their phone "Obsession". Nothing is unusual with the expected performances of these phones, except that LG Apollo might have a new Qualcomm processor, which will run at 1.3 GHz.

About the OS, Microsoft tries to attract people with the interface from "Zune", but I think that Windows Mobile 7 is going to be quite similar to Windows Mobile 6. Considering this, even if Microsoft tried to do a great impression at MWC, the new OS will still be pretty buggy, compatible with a low number of applications, and stylus-designed. The only new thing that is probably good related to Windows Mobile 7 is flash support, which Adobe announced that is working on.

LG Apollo is expected to come in September, while HTC Obsession is expected in October. I'm really interested what are they going to be capable of, but they will surely NEVER beat Android with their Windows Mobile 7.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Twitter comes to Ubuntu by default, in Lucid Lynx.


The new version of Ubuntu will be having Gwibber installed, a new social client that allows you to connect to
  • Twitter
  • Flickr
  • StatusNet
  • Qaiku
  • Facebook
  • FreindFeed
  • Digg
  • Identity.ca
Gwibber is already included into Alpha releases of Ubuntu 10.04, and it is a very simple and efficient client. It's easy to be configured, starts fast, moves fast, and it's easy to see your own tweets in the timeline.