tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56627465108882315082024-10-03T19:34:22.209+03:00Download, software, anunturi, stiri, director web, horoscop, curs valutar, program tv, vremea, meteo, felicitari, muzica, teatru, fun.Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.comBlogger309125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-57337423098234306902010-12-24T12:18:00.000+02:002010-12-24T12:18:00.275+02:00 by Vlad Bobleanta on December 15, 2010 at 03:30 PM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="Visa Mobile iOS app" vspace=4 align=right src="/visaipapp-1292436457.jpg">Visa has launched an iOS application that shows you offers based on your location. There are currently over 50 merchant offers, in areas including clothing, entertainment and dining. The app allows retailers, among which are Planet Hollywood, Holiday Inn, Hard Rock Cafe, Zales and New York & Company, to automatically deliver offers to Visa account holders based on their location. <P>Those who own Visa Signature cards will also receive special Signature offers in addition to the standard offers that everyone else gets. The offers can be redeemed either online or at physical retail locations, and they are stored inside the app. You can also get a map and directions to ATMs in your immediate vicinity, as well as nearby retailers where you can redeem offers.</P><P>Visa also has an Android application out, but participation in the Android program is currently limited to select US Bank debit cardholders, whereas the iOS app is free and usable by all US-based Visa account holders.</P><P>Download Visa Mobile Application for iPhone, iPad or iPod touch (iOS 3.0 or newer required) from the iTunes App Store</P><STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> apps, finance, IOS, ipad, iphone, ipod touch, IpodTouch, offers, Visa, visa iphone app, VisaIphoneApp</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/15/visa-ios-app-offers/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-23124897937146020332010-12-24T08:49:00.000+02:002010-12-24T08:49:00.375+02:00 by Vlad Bobleanta on December 16, 2010 at 11:30 AM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="iBooks 1.2 screenshot" vspace=4 align=right src="/ibooksnew.jpg">Apple's iBooks has received an update today, pushing it to version 1.2. New in the app are a few features that have long been requested by iBooks fans. <P>First off, iBooks now has support for folders. These work in a similar fashion to iOS folders, only they're called 'Collections.' The two default collections are Books and PDFs. Of course, you can create your own, name them however you like, and move things around from one collection to another.</P><P>Also supported is emailing PDFs, as well as printing PDFs and notes from iBooks using Apple's AirPrint. Strangely enough, you still won't be able to print actual e-books -- just PDFs or annotations to books.</P><P>Rounding up the new feature additions are support for fully illustrated books (such as children's picture books) and more words per page being displayed, thanks to the addition of auto-hyphenation.</P><P>Also in iBooks-related news, the Canadian government has approved Apple's iBookstore. The iBookstore had been available in Canada prior to this, but did not have any Canadian works in it. Now that Apple and Canada have reached an agreement, expect Canadian books to show up in Apple's book store pretty soon.</P><P>iBooks 1.2 works on the iPad, iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 3.2 or newer installed.</P><P>Download iBooks 1.2 from the iTunes App Store <STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> Apple, apps, Collections, e book, e book reader, e-books, EBook, EBookReader, folders, ibooks, ibookstore, ios, ipad, iphone, ipod touch, IpodTouch</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/16/apple-updates-ibooks-with-folders-and-pdf-printing-and-emailing-canadian/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-25988207454197852992010-12-24T03:51:00.000+02:002010-12-24T03:51:00.261+02:00 by Jay Hathaway on December 15, 2010 at 07:30 PM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=8 alt="" vspace=8 align=middle src="/bingtabbedimagesearch.png"><BR>Microsoft's Bing search engine is getting a pile of new features, mostly focused on improving the search engine's visual experience, the company revealed Wednesday at the Bing Search Summit in San Francisco. Bing has added context-specific results for things like movies, sports tickets, and shopping, so you'll see relevant prices, locations and reviews tailored to your search. The coolest new features, though, are an improved image search (now with tabs!) and Facebook integration. <P>Bing's image search finally delivers something that Google's doesn't: tabs. When you search for an image, you'll see related searches in the tabs on top, and you can jump between them without leaving the page. That'll make it easier to narrow down your image searches and find exactly what you're looking for. Image searches now also have infinite scrolling, to save you the trouble of clicking any "back" or "next" buttons.</P><P>Facebook integration with Bing is also being stepped up a notch. Soon, Facebook likes will be a standard part of Bing search results, so you can quickly spot the pages your friends have liked. Likes are even going to figure into the search rankings for the first time. Facebook-licious!</P><P>Bing Maps is also getting some changes. It has (mostly) switched over from Silverlight to Ajax, added the ability for mobile users to take and upload Panoramas, and introduced Streetside to its mobile app. That last bit is potentially the most interesting, because Streetside is something like Google Street View for Bing, and the mobile version can zoom out even further than the current desktop version allows. For those of us who rely on public transit, the addition of nearby bus and train schedules to Bing's mobile mix is also quite welcome.</P><STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> bing, facebook, image search, ImageSearch, microsoft, mobile, search</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/15/microsoft-bing-update-tabbed-image-search-facebook/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-6366078830676399892010-12-23T23:27:00.000+02:002010-12-23T23:27:00.838+02:00 by Erez Zukerman on December 16, 2010 at 03:30 PM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="WiFi analyzer" vspace=4 align=right src="/snapshot-1292182548.jpg" width=260 height=433>Most people rarely think about this, but your Wi-Fi hot-spot is actually broadcasting its signal on something called a channel. In North America, you can pick one of 11 channels; in most of the world you can pick one of 13. <P>Still, most routers and access points come with a pre-set default (that appears to be 11, at least for the routers around me). When you have several routers broadcasting on the same channel, this can lead to some interference and a performance hit. If you live somewhere fairly isolated and your Wi-Fi signal is the only one in range, you've got nothing to worry about.</P><P>On the other hand, if you're trying to survive in a dense urban jungle, surrounded by paper-thin walls and lots of Wi-Fi-using neighbors, you may gain a bit of a performance boost by switching your access point's channel to a less congested one.</P><P>Wifi Analyzer is an Android application that helps you figure out exactly what that channel is. The screenshot to the right shows how channels 9 and 10 are occupied by a couple of wireless network fighting over the same frequency, while my network (the red one) lives comfortably on channel 1.</P>Wifi analyzer offers several views, including a simple "channel rating" screen with no graph, if you just want to quickly figure out what's the best channel for you. A beautiful app, and free. QR code is after the jump. <P><IMG alt="" src="http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=qr&chs=150x150&chl=http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.farproc.wifi.analyzer?install=web"></P><STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> 802.11, analyzer, android, networking, ssid, wi-fi, wifi, wifi analyzer, wifi channel, WifiAnalyzer, WifiChannel, wireless, wlan</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/16/wifi-analyzer-for-android-helps-you-pick-the-best-channel-for-your-wi-fi-network/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-35016692131701360662010-12-23T20:00:00.000+02:002010-12-23T20:00:02.265+02:00 by Erez Zukerman on December 17, 2010 at 06:15 AM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="AdBlock Plus" vspace=4 align=middle src="/adblockplus-9735.jpg" width=598 height=231>Adblock is already</EM> available for Chrome, and is working very well for us so far. But now Adblock Plus, of Firefox fame, may be joining making the jump to Google's browser platform. <P>AdBlock Plus' developer, Wladimir Palant, has had lots of time to convert the extension; after all, Chrome isn't exactly new. But so far, Palant has been reluctant to do the porting, due to the amount of work required and Chrome's limited blocking capabilities. Times have changed however, as according to TechCrunch, Adblock Plus is on its way. It won't be a complete re-write apparently, but based on an existing extension called AdThwart. </P><P>From an end user's point of view, having Adblock Plus for Chrome might not make a huge difference. After all, the existing options for Chrome do get the job done. But when you step back and look at the big picture, this is one more indication of the rapid rise of Chrome as a browser platform, and now, an OS. <STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> adblock, adblock plus, AdblockPlus, browsers, chrome, google, productivity</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/17/adblock-plus-for-chrome-coming-soon/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-29278613443518889312010-12-23T15:10:00.000+02:002010-12-23T15:10:00.161+02:00 by Lee Mathews on December 16, 2010 at 02:30 PM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="" vspace=4 src="/blocker.jpg" width=600 height=310>Third-party browser tracking -- and how to give users more control over it -- is a hot topic right now. Microsoft and the FCC have similar plans, one former Google employee recently took the wraps off his take, and now there's another Chrome extension which turns the tracking blocker knob up to eleven. <P>It's called <STRIKE>Do Not Track</STRIKE><STRIKE> (DNT)</STRIKE> ChromeBlock, and it gives you an easy way to shut down around 90 different Web tracking networks. Just about every well-known harvester is listed: Google, MSN, Alexa, Doubleclick, Omniture, Quantcast, Tynt and Cleeki, to name a few. You can choose to block networks as DNT detects their presence on a page, or you can opt out in advance by clicking the <STRONG>show global settings</STRONG> link. The overlay on DNT's browser action button tells you how many networks are detected and how many you've chosen to block.</P><P>Do Not Track works nicely in tandem with Disconnect, so those of you looking for as much tracking protection as possible can go ahead and install both extensions. Even if you're not concerned with blocking the connections, it's very interesting to see which sites you browse are sending data to different providers.</P><P>Install ChromeBlock for Google Chrome</P><P>ed note: sorry for the confusion, the extension's name was changed prior to this post being published</EM></P><STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> advertising, chrome, disconnect, do not track, DoNotTrack, extensions, google, google chrome, GoogleChrome, privacy, tracking</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/16/do-not-track-for-google-chrome-puts-the-kibosh-on-third-party-tr/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-61950261492209051972010-12-23T10:11:00.000+02:002010-12-23T10:11:00.379+02:00 by Vlad Bobleanta on December 15, 2010 at 03:00 PM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="Google Chrome for a Cause" vspace=4 align=right src="/browser.jpg">Google's Chrome for a Cause extension promises to donate money to a charity for every new tab you open in Chrome until this Sunday, December 19. At the end of each day you can choose where the money will go, and you have five charities to pick from:<BR>Doctors Without Borders -- an independent, international medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid in 70 countriesThe Nature Conservancy -- a conservation organization working internationally to protect ecologically important lands and waterscharity:water -- a non-profit that aims to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nationsRoom to Read -- seeks to change the lives of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equalityUn Techo para mi Pais -- works in 19 countries across the Americas to build transitional housing for impoverished familiesYou can choose a different charity each day, or the same one every day, it's up to you. <P>Here's how Chrome for a Cause works: you install the extension from the Chrome Web Store. Then, you go along browsing all day, and the extension button will show you how many new tabs you have opened that day. If you click on the button, you'll see details about how much difference you've already made -- for example, my current 17 tabs provide 0.7 vaccinations, 1.7 books, 1.7 trees (isn't it funny that the numbers for books and trees are always identical?), 0.2 square feet of shelter built, and 0.1 person's drinking water. As mentioned above, at the end of each day, you get to choose which charity the money will go to. You can also share the news about the extension straight from its menu to Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz and Orkut.</P><P>The exact amount of money each tab opening collects is never mentioned. And you should know that there are limits to what you can do with this extension. A 250 tab per day limit is enforced for each user, and the maximum total contribution amount is $1 million.</P><P>Still, this is a neat idea from Google, so why not run and download Chrome for a Cause right now?</P><STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> browsers, charity, chrome, chrome for a cause, ChromeForACause, donate, google, google chrome, GoogleChrome</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/15/chrome-for-a-cause-charity-donation/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-88563606271439152692010-12-23T06:00:00.000+02:002010-12-23T06:00:02.803+02:00 by Sebastian Anthony on December 16, 2010 at 09:30 AM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="" vspace=4 src="/20101020appstore2.jpg" width=573 height=376>Apple has just published a press release that confirms a January 6 opening of the Mac App Store. It will be available in 90 countries, and feature free and paid apps. Mac OS X Snow Leopard (time to upgrade from 10.5!) users will need a free download via Software Update before they can use the App Store. <P>The Mac App Store, if it isn't obvious, aims to revolutionize the distribution of PC programs in much the same way as the iOS App Store. The idea is to provide quick and easy access to the latest and greatest in Mac OS X apps, and will feature categories, staff picks, and customer reviews and ratings, just like the other App Store.</P><P>The only comparable service to the Mac App Store is Valve's Steam, and it will be interesting to see whether Apple's new offering nibbles away at Steam's market share. More importantly, it's now only a matter of time until an equivalent marketplace emerges on the Windows platform; and indeed, could the fragmented Windows ecosystem even support an App Store? <STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> app store, apps, AppStore, mac app store, mac os x, MacAppStore, MacOsX</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/16/mac-app-store-to-open-january-6-available-in-90-countries/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-84930259923933927542010-12-23T01:21:00.000+02:002010-12-23T01:21:00.939+02:00 by Lee Mathews on December 16, 2010 at 02:00 PM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="" vspace=4 src="/maxthon.jpg" width=600 height=360>Android users already have a number of capable mobile browsers to choose from: Dolphin HD and Mini, Opera Mobile, Firefox, Skyfire, and even the stock browser are all quite good. Now there's a new challenger: Maxthon. The Chinese makers of the popular-even-though-most-of-the-west-has-never-heard-of-it desktop browser has released a version for Android, and it's a very nice app. <P>Out of the box, be prepared for Maxthon's geographical lean. The default speed dial pages and start page are in Chinese, and the default search engine is set to Baidu (Google and Bing are available -- and familiar to Western users). You'll also want to jump in to the browser options and go through the default settings: Maxthon's default browser box is checked by default, and you'll likely want to untick that until you've had some time to play with it.</P><P>Maxthon packs an array of handy features, including a tabbed interface, cloud sync, orientation lock, speed dial, gesture support, and a download manager. Tapping the overlapping windows icon will display a thumbnail strip which allows you to flick through your open tabs -- just tap one to switch to it. Maxthon also detects RSS feeds, which you can add to the app's built-in reader. While the feed reader displays titles and snippets, tapping an entry will load their URL in a new browser tab (rather than displaying in the reader itself). Tapping the back button on your phone eventually causes the reader window to disappear altogether -- forcing you to tap your Maxthon icon again to re-open the browser. The reader is also pre-populated with feeds: tap and hold to display the context menu to remove them.</P><P>Apart from the back button annoyance with Maxthon's reader, I did experience some other glitches while browsing. Some elements -- like Flash embeds -- had a tendency to bleed over the browser toolbar at the bottom of the screen. Locking screen orientation to landscape sometimes caused the page to rotate 180° before actually locking. At times, scrolling could be a bit choppy. The biggest miss with Maxthon is its lack of pinch-to-zoom support. Tapping works, but it's not nearly as flexible as multitouch control.</P><P>Overall, however, Maxthon performed quite nicely on my HTC Incredible and the browser itself is very solid -- the RSS reader just isn't for me. Check out the gallery after the break for a closer look, and scan the QR Code to try Maxthon out on your Android device. <P>Download Maxthon for Android [APK link]</P><P><IMG id=vimage_3691928 border=0 hspace=4 alt="" vspace=4 src="/maxqr.png" width=150 height=150> <STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> android, apps, browsers, china, maxthon, web browser, WebBrowser</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/16/maxthon-browser-for-android-now-available-and-its-good/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-42729550212498787542010-12-22T20:41:00.000+02:002010-12-22T20:41:00.333+02:00 by Matthew Rogers on December 17, 2010 at 07:00 AM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt=DropBox vspace=4 align=right src="/dropbox.png" width=250 height=230> Dropbox has been around for so long and become so indispensable for so many people, that it's tough to remember that the spry little utility has been in beta all along. Not any longer -- the Dropbox team has announced that their baby has officially left the nursery, and version 1.0.10 is available for download right now. You may actually have to go to the site to get it -- Dropbox has never been known for auto-updating. <P>The folks at Dropbox are particularly proud of this release, which they've for some reason dubbed "Rainbow Shell." Most changes will be completely transparent to the average user, but quite a bit of work's been done to the client over the last few months. For starters, the syncing engine's been overhauled to not only sync files faster, but to use up to 50% less memory doing it.</P><P>New users should now have an easier time setting up Dropbox, as the initial setup wizard's been redesigned with ease of use in mind. Mac users should be a bit happier with their client too, because it's been rebuilt to use Cocoa only, and looks much</EM> more native in OS X.</P><P>The one thing that's sure to be noticed by users however, is the addition of selective syncing, which allows you to choose which files or folders will get synced with each computer. That option can be found in the Dropbox preferences, in the advanced section, and it only applies to the system on which the client is installed. That way you can set your netbook to only sync music files, your work computer to grab all your documents, and your home computer to sync everything the other two have to offer.</P><P>But for the most part, this release is about heaping piles of bug-fixes, and the Dropbox team is extremely enthusiastic about the amount of problems they've worked out. It's certainly been a tough job to make a file-syncing system that works seamlessly between Windows, Mac and Linux, and that's without adding mobile devices to the mix. <STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> apps, cloud, dropbox, linux, os x, OsX, productivity, sync, utilities, windows</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/17/dropbox-hits-1-0-out-of-beta-adds-selective-sync/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-40447356246231169372010-12-22T17:08:00.000+02:002010-12-22T17:08:00.139+02:00 by Samuel Gibbs on December 16, 2010 at 03:00 PM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="Flipboard Google Reader integration" vspace=4 src="/flipboardgreader.jpg">Flipboard, the RSS and social aggregator that recently won Apple's US iTunes iPad app of the year, has gotten a pretty solid update today featuring even more sources for quality content. First up is a pretty big one -- Flipboard now integrates with Google Reader, arguably the most popular way of organizing RSS feeds. Now you can sign in with your Google account, pull in and sync up all your feeds and reads in one smooth motion. Sharing and starring are also integrated, plus you can comment on stories like you would on the desktop, just with all your feeds presented with the Flipboard webazine style instead of the traditional inbox approach. The only thing you might miss that's currently absent is the ability to manage your feeds directly within Flipboard, so you'll have to resort to the Reader Web app for feed maintenance. <P>Flipboard has also scored an excellent visual addition in the shape of Flickr integration. Now you can "browse all that Flickr has to offer," including favorites, your photostream, groups and contacts' photos, plus 'interesting photos of the day.' Considering how visually exciting Flipboard can be, adding your Flickr streams into the mix makes perfect sense.<BR></P><BR>Live previews have made an appearance with the 1.1 update, with a nice, pop-under style presentation. The original site loads underneath the magazine-style layout and is brought front-and-center with a quick flick of the finger. This kind of approach eliminates the 'scraping' accusation leveled at some of the other novel RSS readers for the iPad, while still presenting you with the full content. Flipboard has also seen a speed improvement thanks to performance tweaks and faster navigation within the app. The 'instant section selector' allows you to flip between sections, feeds and generally navigate the content mash-up faster than before, which is a nice addition for people who found the Flipboard experience a little sluggish. <P>Flipboard 1.1 is a worthy upgrade to an undoubtedly interesting content experience, and if you happen to have tried and rejected Flipboard in the past, it might be worth giving it another shot. It's free, so all it'll cost you is 3MB of space on your iPad, and while it may not be the most efficient way of perusing your flood of RSS feeds, you might find it a good alternative to the likes of Reeder. </P><P>Flipboard [iTunes] - Free <STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> apps, Flickr, Flipboard, Google Reader, GoogleReader, iOS, iPad, productivity</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/16/flipboard-ipad-google-reader-flickr/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-9214373702178817712010-12-22T13:43:00.000+02:002010-12-22T13:43:24.904+02:00<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/elUDJwpR2wQ?fs=1" width="480" frameborder="0" height="295"></iframe>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-6995898121683453992010-12-22T13:37:00.000+02:002010-12-22T13:37:00.355+02:00 by Lee Mathews on December 17, 2010 at 07:30 AM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="microsoft security essentials" vspace=4 src="/mse2.jpg" width=563 height=327>There's really no question what the most popular, free antivirus program for Windows is here at Download Squad. You, our readers, make it pretty clear whenever we post about the topic that Microsoft Security Essentials is at the top of the heap -- and we tend to agree. With detection rates every bit as good as some competing paid products (and better than many), MSE might just be the best piece of free software Microsoft has ever released. <P>And it's just gotten better, with the official arrival of Security Essentials 2. The upgrade adds several key improvements, not the least of which is a heuristic scanning engine. One of the big knocks against its predecessor was that MSE's protection relied too heavily upon definitions -- and in today's ever-changing threat landscape, definitions just aren't enough. Still, I never had a single machine at home become infected while running MSE 1, so now that version 2 includes heuristic kung-fu I'm even less</EM> concerned about the safety of my Windows PCs.</P><P>MSE 2 also offers improved defense by better integrating with existing Windows features. The updated app adds muscle to the Windows Firewall and Internet Explorer to offer increased protection against network and Web-based threats. There's also a new network inspection feature which uses the Windows Filtering Platform in Vista and Windows 7 -- XP users won't benefit from this feature, obviously.</P><P>If you're already running MSE, check your update tab for an upgrade notification -- your system tray icon may also be orange if the update is available. You can also download Security Essentials 2 manually from this page and install over the old version. <STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> antimalware, antivirus, malware, Microsoft Security Essentials, MicrosoftSecurityEssentials, mse, mse2, trojan, virus</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/17/microsoft-security-essentials-2-available-for-download-now-even-better/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-75264859265556415582010-12-22T09:19:00.000+02:002010-12-22T09:19:00.456+02:00 by Matthew Rogers on December 15, 2010 at 12:00 PM</P><IMG border=1 hspace=4 alt="Pioneer One" vspace=4 src="/damds.jpg">Alright sci-fi fans, it's that time again -- it's been a month since we last heard from the folks behind Pioneer One</EM>, and the word then was that come mid-December, there'd be a second episode. Well, it's now officially the middle of December, so let's get campy</EM>. <P>Support from the P2P community hasn't waned in the months since the show's premiere, and may even be stronger than before. BitTorrent -- the actual company, not the file type -- has thrown its full support behind the project, and the newest episode is currently available via the App Studio, which you can access in either BitTorrent or µTorrent. The show is also accessible by a plethora of other means, including regular torrents, Bitlet, direct downloads, and streaming video -- so if you've got an Internet connection and a will, then there's a way. Links to those methods can be found on the show's page at VODO.</P><P>This show hasn't been BitTorrent's only foray into the limelight, either. The company helped release Four Eyed Monsters</EM> last month in conjunction with its launch of the App Studio in µTorrent. Also part of the App Studio push is their Featured Artist Program, which aims to give new artists a chance at a huge audience by putting them directly in front of the P2P community and bypassing the middle-man. It's a good initiative, but it's not quite weighty enough to sway the greater public toward the light. People tend to like more singular points of focus, and that's where something like a drama series really shines.</P><P>Which is why projects like Pioneer One</EM> are quickly becoming one of the best methods for companies like BitTorrent to push file-sharing into the realm of legitimacy -- something that's sorely needed after so many years of bad press. It must</EM> be a difficult task for a tiny company that's chosen to keep its name unchanged, despite the fact that it's become synonymous with a scary pirate word.</P><P>Pioneer One</EM> is a donation-funded indie-sci-fi-drama series, which, though a mouthful, is also a breath of fresh air. It doesn't get its funding from a Sprint in return for devoting an entire scene to showing off Qik Video Chat 2-way camera calling (cough... Fringe...</EM>). It gets funded by people who simply want to watch a sci-fi show, and it's a pleasant feeling to lose the commercialism for a bit. It's also nice to see torrents used to distribute media that was meant</EM> to be distributed that way. <STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> bittorrent, file-sharing, indie, media, movies, p2p, peer to peer, PeerToPeer, pioneer one, PioneerOne, sci-fi, torrent, utorrent, video, vodo</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/15/bittorrent-debuting-second-installment-of-pioneer-one-made-for-torrent-sci-fi-drama/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-21044485575947212242010-12-22T05:04:00.000+02:002010-12-22T05:04:00.276+02:00 by Lee Mathews on December 16, 2010 at 11:00 AM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="WebGL Quake" vspace=4 src="/quakewebgl.jpg" width=600 height=336>Okay, so we're not quite at the point where you're going to be playing the next Crysis sequel in your browser, but still -- the arrival of WebGL in Chrome's beta channel is kind of a big deal. Apart from being able to play around with cool demos like the ones offered up by Google in its official announcement, WebGL is another important step in bringing more desktop-like functionality to the Web. <P>In addition to cloud-y 3D support, hardware acceleration support is due to arrive at some point -- presumably before Chrome 9 gets pushed to the stable channel. Whether or not that will happen remains to be seen, but we'll know soon enough thanks to the six-week release cycle.</P><P>Check your Chrome wrench icon for the update notification, or hit <STRONG>About Google Chrome</STRONG> to force a check.</P><P>Anyone else up for some WebGL Quake action? <STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> 3d, browsers, chrome, games, gaming, google, google chrome, GoogleChrome, graphics, hardware acceleration, HardwareAcceleration, webgl</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/16/webgl-has-arrived-in-google-chrome-beta-get-your-gaming-hardwar/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-186143729743851802010-12-22T01:28:00.000+02:002010-12-22T01:28:00.228+02:00 by Jay Hathaway on December 15, 2010 at 04:00 PM</P><IMG border=1 hspace=4 alt="" vspace=4 src="/mozillaf1updated1.png">Mozilla Labs' F1 is a Firefox extension that enables quick sharing of links via Twitter, Facebook and Gmail. It sits right in your browser's toolbar and includes neat features like automatically inserting the shared URL into a new Gmail message and automatic link shortening for Twitter. The latest F1 update makes this add-on even more useful, with a keyboard shortcut to activate F1 -- just press the F1 button, naturally -- and the option to automatically bookmark the links you share. <P>F1 has also added some more ways to share: Yahoo! Mail and Google Apps email accounts are now supported. There's still no Google Reader support, unfortunately, but it's understandable that F1 sticks to a few services when Facebook and Twitter probably make up the bulk of the sharing via F1. There are other sharing add-ons for Firefox, of course, but F1 is extremely fast, and great for people who think Shareaholic is overkill.</P><P>Get the latest version of F1 by checking your Firefox add-ons for updates, or install it from the F1 page at Mozilla Labs.</P><STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> add-ons, browsers, F1, facebook, firefox, mozilla, mozilla labs, MozillaLabs, productivity, sharing, socialnetworking, twitter</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/15/mozilla-labs-f1-sharing-add-on-updated-with-keyboard-shortcut-a/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-37386651732327240972010-12-21T21:32:00.000+02:002010-12-21T21:32:00.544+02:00 by Lee Mathews on December 16, 2010 at 10:00 AM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="" vspace=4 src="/gootv.jpg" width=600 height=368>While tech pundits don't seem ready to give Google TV the thumbs up, yesterday's update certainly makes Google's home entertainment platform a bit more compelling. For starters, there's built-in Netflix support and a better movie search function -- which makes it easy to find your favorite Terry Gilliam flicks (if you're in the US, anyhow) and watch them on Netflix or Amazon Video on Demand. <P>Google has also turned your Android smartphone into a device which can play both Angry Birds and take full control of your Google TV box. The demo video is after the break, as is the QR Code to help you grab Google TV Remote from the Android Market.</P><P>Multitasking fanatics will appreciate the improved Dual View feature, which now allows users to drag and resize the video window which floats atop the Chrome browser. This makes it much easier to actually do things in the browser while you watch -- since the non-movable window could easily get in the way of form elements and links. <BR><EMBED height=362 type=application/x-shockwave-flash width=600 src=http://www.youtube.com/v/pGBMFxN_eys?fs=1&hl=en_US allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></EMBED></P><P>Download Google Remote for Android<BR><IMG id=vimage_3691695 border=0 hspace=4 alt="" vspace=4 src="/grqr.png" width=230 height=230> <STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> amazon video on demand, AmazonVideoOnDemand, convergence, google tv, GoogleTv, netflix, video, video on demand, VideoOnDemand, VOD, web</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/16/google-tv-gets-a-big-update-adds-netflix-support/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-74070584780808673732010-12-21T17:21:00.000+02:002010-12-21T17:21:00.322+02:00 by Sebastian Anthony on December 16, 2010 at 08:00 AM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="" vspace=4 src="/jeopoardyibmwatson-1292503365.jpg" width=598 height=398><BR>Watson, an artificial intelligence powered by IBM's latest, disgustingly-powerful POWER7 processors and the DeepQA natural language parser, will play Jeopardy against flesh-and-blood humans in February, for a $1,000,000 grand prize. <P>Accurate, computerized natural language processing is a killer technology, and perhaps the last cornerstone in the creation of a Skynet-like entity. Search engines such as Google have made great strides, but their emphasis has always been on finding the right results</EM>, rather than understanding your query </EM>perfectly. DeepQA's sole purpose is to create a system that understands spoken natural language perfectly; from your literal, spoken or written words, down to the exact meaning </EM>of those words. To do this, it needs to understand sarcasm, irony, and a world of other linguistic constructs and inflections. Check the IBM FAQ for tons more information about Watson and DeepQA.</P><P>Needless to say, once a computer understands the meaning of our utterances, a wealth of possibilities are opened up. We will finally see Star Trekesque computers! Computer, plot a course to the office</EM>. We will be able to dim the lights, or turn the music up, just by talking.</P><P>The human vs. computer Jeopardy showdown will air in 2011, February 14-16, with the two all-time most successful contestants being pitted against IBM Watson to win $1,000,000. Watson has already beat former Jeopardy winners in internal testing, so it could be a very close battle indeed. Also worth noting is that PBS will air a documentary about the creation of Watson on February 9, just a few days before the game show.</P><P>I for one welcome our new computer overlords...</EM> <STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> AI, artificial intelligence, ArtificialIntelligence, game show, GameShow, IBM, jeopardy, natural language, NaturalLanguage, NLP, singularity, skynet, watson</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/16/ibm-supercomputer-watson-to-compete-against-humans-in-jeopardy/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-49926511340400049432010-12-21T14:15:00.000+02:002010-12-21T14:15:00.128+02:00 by Jay Hathaway on December 15, 2010 at 02:00 PM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="h264 firefox" vspace=4 align=right src="/ht25.jpg">Mozilla doesn't support the proprietary H.264 video format in Firefox, but Microsoft does. While Mozilla has been pushing open-source WebM as the format of choice for HTML5 video tags (with Google's help), Microsoft has released a new plug-in that lets Firefox take advantage of Windows 7's native H.264 support. The plug-in looks for HTML5 video tags and passes the video to the Windows Media Player plug-in for playback. <P>This workaround does make video on the Web more accessible for Windows 7 users, but it doesn't end the Web video format wars. There's still no single format supported by every current browser in every current OS. Microsoft is framing it as an issue of consumer choice and access to content, but H.264 is still proprietary and subject to licensing fees that Mozilla doesn't want to pay. Supporting an open source format such as WebM makes both financial and philosophical sense for the future of Firefox. <STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> browsers, firefox, h.264, HTML5, microsoft, mozilla, plugins, video, web, windows 7, Windows7</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/15/microsoft-brings-firefox-h-264-video-support-to-windows-7/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-76914167723552069332010-12-21T09:43:00.000+02:002010-12-21T09:43:00.152+02:00 by Vlad Bobleanta on December 16, 2010 at 12:30 PM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="Evernote 2.0 for Mac in-app sharing" vspace=4 src="/sharing-1292514992.jpg" width=592 height=363>After having gone through a beta testing phase for around two weeks, Evernote 2.0 for Mac is now 'final' -- it's ready to be pushed to all users. <P>All the new features that the beta brought are in, including in-app sharing and notebook stacks, as described by Jay when the beta launched. As a result, you can now share notes without leaving the app, link notebooks, and organize notebooks via stacks of related content, which you can view or collapse as needed. The left panel has also been redesigned, file attachment has gotten easier, and you can now have up to 250 notebooks in your accounts.</P><P>Evernote's blog post has comprehensive information about all that's new in 2.0, and there's a new Getting Started guide as well, handy for those just starting using Evernote. All of the new features are on their way to Evernote apps for other platforms, although no specific time frame has been given as to when they'll actually make it.</P><P>Evernote 2.0 for Mac is free and you can get it by either checking for updates inside the app (if you already have an older version), or by clicking on this direct download link. <STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> apps, EverNote, Mac, OSX, productivity</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/16/evernote-2-0-for-mac-leaves-beta-is-ready-to-download/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-88541169257110859042010-12-21T05:40:00.000+02:002010-12-21T05:40:01.005+02:00 by Lee Mathews on December 16, 2010 at 04:30 PM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="" vspace=4 src="/aaaa.jpg" width=600 height=492>The Mac App Store is coming next month, but Windows users have a similar store they can enjoy right now. AllMyApps has just launched in beta, and it's ready to help you find, install, and share loads of great free (and eventually paid) software. <P>Apps are grouped by category such as utilities, security, office, video, and communication and you'll find just about every must-have free Windows app you can imagine in the AllMyApps catalog. Favorites like Firefox, Chrome, Skype, Dropbox, 7-zip, and Microsoft Security Essentials are all there for the downloading. The only one of my core apps I found absent was Sugarsync -- all of my other required apps are listed.</P><P>Program detail pages include basic information about their functionality, screenshots, relevant tweets, and other useful tidbits like the app's current version, number of downloads, and file size.</P><BR><IMG id=vimage_3693549 border=0 hspace=4 alt="" vspace=4 src="/aaasdas.jpg" width=510 height=238><BR>AllMyApps' coolest feature is personalized lists. Create an account, sign in, and you can create as many software bundles as you like. Assemble your personal favorites for easy reinstallation on a new system or after a reformat. Put together a first aid kit for all those emergency calls from panicy friends and family in need or your IT know-how. Make as many as you like, and AllMyApps will tuck them away for easy retrieval in the future. As does any good Web 2.0 app, AllMyApps allows you to easily share lists via Facebook and Twitter. You can also generate embeddable widgets -- complete with each apps' icon and an 'install all' link. <P>You'll need to install the AllMyApps desktop client in order to get the install ball rolling, but it's tiny, uses barely any resources, and is also totally free. <STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> allmyapps, apps, bundles, downloads, installers, sharing, utilities, windows</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/16/allmyapps-is-a-sexy-download-store-for-windows/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-85513066284184131062010-12-21T01:56:00.000+02:002010-12-21T01:56:00.378+02:00 by Samuel Gibbs on December 16, 2010 at 10:30 AM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="Fennec for Android" vspace=4 src="/fennec.jpg" width=600 height=300><BR>Fennec for Android, aka Firefox for Mobile, is coming on strong and while still very much in beta, shows enormous potential. Now hardware acceleration support has hit Fennec nightlies with OpenGL-powered compositing. While this isn't the first mention of hardware acceleration for an Android browser -- Opera has promised it sometime later</EM> -- this is the first implementation for the Mozilla browser and marks good things to come. <P>It's off by default, but a quick blast over to <STRONG>about:config</STRONG> will reveal <STRONG>layers.accelerate-all</STRONG>, which should be set to <STRONG>true</STRONG> to enable OpenGL acceleration. After a restart of Fennec, you can check whether you've managed to successfully enable OpenGL by going to <STRONG>about:support</STRONG> and looking for <STRONG>1/1 OpenGL</STRONG> in the 'Graphics' section.</P><P>The latest Fennec nightly builds can be downloaded from Mozilla, but hardware acceleration isn't supported on all devices at this stage. Users have reported mixed results in the comments, so proceed with caution. <STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> Android, apps, Browsers, cellphones, Fennec, Firefox, hardware acceleration, HardwareAcceleration, Mozilla, opengl</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/16/hardware-acceleration-hits-fennec-for-android-aka-firefox-for-mo/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-81713376754459331762010-12-20T21:02:00.000+02:002010-12-20T21:02:00.150+02:00 by Vlad Bobleanta on December 16, 2010 at 12:00 PM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt="iTunes 10.1.1 update screenshot" vspace=4 src="/itunesdw1214dw.jpg">iTunes 10.1.1 is now available for download, either direct from Apple's dedicated website, or via iTunes' integrated Software Update mechanism (which may have already prompted you to download). <P>As the version bump lets on, this is a minor update meant only to fix bugs. Among the issues that it rectifies is one where some music videos did not play on Macs with certain graphic cards, one which made iTunes unexpectedly quit when deleting a playlist, one which made some videos not sync to an iPod, iPhone or iPad, and another which caused iTunes to quit when connecting an iPod to a PowerPC-equipped Mac.</P><P>However, updating to this version via the Apple Software Update has caused iTunes to simply stop working for many users. The solution, if you've already faced this issue, is to download iTunes 10.1.1 from Apple's website and reinstall. If you haven't updated yet, perhaps it would be best to either wait or just download the full package from Apple.com and install that.</P><STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> Apple, apps, iTunes, itunes update, ItunesUpdate, utilities</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/16/itunes-10-1-1-fixes-some-bugs-introduces-another/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-52230660831510442302010-12-20T17:56:00.000+02:002010-12-20T17:56:00.323+02:00 by Erez Zukerman on December 17, 2010 at 08:15 AM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt=kindle vspace=4 align=right src="/kindle-4203.jpg" width=250 height=417>Our good friends over at Engadget report that a new version of Kindle for Android is now out. Here's what's new:<BR><STRONG>The volume buttons</STRONG> can now be used to turn pages. This isn't touted as a major change, but it's actually very</EM> handy.<STRONG>There's an in-app store</STRONG> just like on the 'real' Kindle. It's very mobile friendly, and offers books and subscriptions for newspapers and magazines. Just what you'd expect, basically.<STRONG>SD card support:</STRONG> The app can now be moved to SD with no hackery involved.<STRONG>Chapter titles</STRONG> are now shown on the status bar. That's actually the top part of the status bar; not all books have this enabled, as the screenshot to the right of Food Rules shows, due to their small size, but further testing it with larger books such as Seth Godin's Linchpin it did work.<STRONG>Other updates:</STRONG> Social network sharing, graphics zoom, and bug fixes.All in all, a worthy update. You can find the QR after the jump. <BR><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt=Kindle vspace=4 src="/10x1217kindle-qr.jpg"> <STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> amazon, android, apps, kindle, updates</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/17/kindle-for-android-updated-with-integrated-store-zoom-move-to/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662746510888231508.post-6086622054262086892010-12-20T13:11:00.000+02:002010-12-20T13:11:00.222+02:00 by Erez Zukerman on December 17, 2010 at 05:30 AM</P><IMG border=0 hspace=4 alt=googledocs vspace=4 align=right src="/googledocs-8105.jpg" width=246 height=290>So far, Google Docs has been no match for Excel's raw power. Recent additions such as macro editing and scripting bring it somewhat closer, but it's still an uphill battle for Google. So instead of playing catch-up, they're now giving Spreadsheets users something Office users don't have – multi-user revision history. <P>While Excel does</EM> let users track changes, you can't separate the changes into distinct revisions easily (i.e, "all changes made yesterday"). The new tool for Google Docs allows users to see color-coded previous versions of the spreadsheet, with clear indications of who changed what and when. This functionality has been available for text documents for a while now, but having it for spreadsheets is definitely going to come in handy for collaborative work. <STRONG>Tags:</STRONG> apps, docs, excel, google, microsoft, office, spreadsheets, web</P><br /><p><a href="http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/17/google-docs-spreadsheet-gets-multi-user-revision-history/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Sfartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917256769078751185noreply@blogger.com0