Microsoft had their chance at defining a market. They pushed for the creation of the Ultramobile PCs (“UMPCs”). The Windows-based mini-tablets have not found their market. However, the Apple iPhone (and now the iPod touch) is actually the UMPC done right.

Labels: Apple, Internet, iPhone, Mac, PC

On November 9th, 2004, you all started a movement. Spread Firefox, supported by tens of thousands of contributors, took just 99 days to deliver 25 million downloads of Firefox to a world of people desperate for a better Web -- a Web that didn't overwhelm them with pop-ups, a Web that didn't infect their systems with viruses and spyware, a Web that was fun again, simply put, a Web that worked.

In less than six months, you all doubled that number to 50 million downloads, turned open source into a household word and reasserted the supremacy of choice and simplicity.

It took the Spread Firefox global community of activists only one year to reach the 100 million downloads mark and to let the world know that innovation was alive again on the Web.

And just one year ago you all helped to double that number again, to 200 million downloads. More than 50,000 of you, with Spread Firefox buttons and banners, not only helped Firefox achieve an amazing download milestone, but you all helped to make Firefox one of the world's most recognized and respected brands.

Today, you all have done it once again. With your amazing efforts, Firefox has reached 400 million downloads and demonstrated that not even the world's most powerful companies can keep people from a better, safer, and faster Web experience.

Labels: Firefox, Internet

Labels: Humor, Internet, Microsoft

Zoho customers can now work with their Zoho Writer documents while offline via the new Go Offline feature in Zoho Writer. Additionally, Zoho Writer's new Comments feature lets users add contextual comments to their personal and shared documents.

The offline move is Zoho's first step toward making its online office applications available for offline use via the open source Google Gears platform. To see Zoho Writer's Go Offline feature in action, visit http://www.viddler.com/explore/Raju/videos/7/.

"When our customers ask for new features, we do our best to implement them as quickly as possible," said Raju Vegesna, Zoho evangelist. "For Zoho Writer, we added support for nine languages last week, comments and offline support this week, and yet another significant new feature will be added next week."

Initially, Zoho users will have read-only access to their Zoho Writer documents when offline. Read/write functionality will follow shortly. Going forward, Zoho plans to bring offline capabilities to other Zoho applications.

Labels: Google, Internet

Firefox... what happened to you? Consuming gross amounts of memory, slower and slower as releases go by. You were supposed to be a slim browser usurping Mozilla by virtue of simplicity, shedding the feature creep and lack of engineering that had convoluted the Mozilla suite. Now you have become the very thing you were created to kill: a bloated browser.

Labels: Email, Firefox, Internet, Mozilla

After August 15, 2007, you will no longer be able to view your purchased or rented videos.

Labels: Digital media, Google, Internet

Apple today unveiled an all new all-in-one iMac line featuring gorgeous 20- and 24-inch widescreen displays encased in elegant and professional aluminum and glass enclosures. The entire new iMac line features the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors and a new, ultra-thin aluminum Apple Keyboard, built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing and iLife '08, making it the ultimate digital lifestyle desktop computer for both consumers and professionals. The 20-inch iMac now starts at just $1,199, $300 less than the previous 20-inch model, and the 24-inch iMac starts at just $1,799, $200 less than the previous 24-inch model.

Apple today announced significant enhancements to its .Mac online service, highlighted by the debut of .Mac Web Gallery, a new feature for sharing photos and movies on the Internet. .Mac Web Gallery lets members easily share photos and movies directly from iLife '08 with anyone on a Mac, PC or iPhone(TM) in stunning quality. In addition, .Mac Web Gallery visitors can download high quality images for printing and even contribute photos using a standard web browser or email. Other new .Mac features include a tenfold increase in .Mac storage to 10GB, support for personal domains for iWeb websites and enhancements to .Mac Mail.

Apple today introduced iLife '08, the most significant upgrade ever to Apple's award- winning suite of digital lifestyle applications, featuring a major new version of iPhoto and a completely reinvented iMovie. iPhoto '08 automatically organizes photo libraries into Events that let users more easily manage their growing photo collections, and iMovie '08 introduces an entirely new way for users to quickly make movies and share them online. Both iPhoto and iMovie integrate seamlessly with the new .Mac Web Gallery, Apple's new service for .Mac members to instantly create and host stunning online websites for their photos and videos. iLife '08 also features iWeb '08, with live web widgets such as Google Maps that let users create even more dynamic websites, and GarageBand '08, with its new Magic GarageBand feature that makes it fun and easy for both musicians and non-musicians to create great sounding songs.

Apple today introduced iWork '08, a significant upgrade to Apple's productivity software suite featuring new versions of Pages and Keynote word processing and presentation applications, and introducing an innovative new spreadsheet application called "Numbers." Numbers introduces the concept of intelligent tables on a flexible canvas, a new approach that makes it easy to organize information, create calculations, analyze results and make spreadsheets look as great as they work. Pages '08 now features distinct modes for streamlined word processing and flexible page layout, a new contextual format bar and change tracking, and Keynote '08 now includes text effects, transitions and themes that help users easily compose spectacular presentations, and Smart Builds with easy-to-set-up A-to-B animations that make impressive animations easy for anyone to create.

Labels: Apple, Digital media, Internet, Mac

I've come to the conclusion that everyone needs to take a test before being able to use e-mail. No, I'm serious.

You have to take an e-mail test. If you pass, you get an e-mail license. Proudly hang it on the wall. If you screw up -- break any of Bass's e-mail regs by, say, sending lots of message with blank subject lines -- and your license is pulled. You go on probation and attend mandatory remedial e-mail sessions.

You think I'm kidding, right? Don't test me, okay? Because I have a laundry list of ways people drive me wild with annoying e-mail behaviors. I wrote about a few in Get Relief From Annoying E-Mail, my Hassle-Free PC print column. But I have more (and God help you if you're one of the offenders). Dig in...

Labels: Email, Internet

Mozilla has been supporting Thunderbird as a product since the beginning of the Foundation. The result is a good, solid product that provides an open alternative for desktop mail. However, the Thunderbird effort is dwarfed by the enormous energy and community focused on the web, Firefox and the ecosystem around it. As a result, Mozilla doesn't focus on Thunderbird as much as we do browsing and Firefox and we don't expect this to change in the foreseeable future. We are convinced that our current focus - delivering the web, mostly through browsing and related services - is the correct priority. At the same time, the Thunderbird team is extremely dedicated and competent, and we all want to see them do as much as possible with Thunderbird.

We have concluded that we should find a new, separate organizational setting for Thunderbird; one that allows the Thunderbird community to determine its own destiny.

Labels: Internet, Mozilla

Developers can create Web 2.0 applications that look and behave just like the applications built into iPhone, and provide seamless integration with iPhone applications and services including making a phone call, sending an email, and displaying a location in Google Maps. Third-party applications created using web standards can extend iPhone's capabilities without compromising its reliability or security.

Labels: Apple, Internet, iPhone, Mobile

Verizon Wireless kicked some network sand in the face of AT&T on Friday by announcing its entire EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) network has been upgraded with higher speeds and lower latency.

Although the Apple iPhone going on sale at Apple and AT&T stores Friday has won praise for its design, features and Wi-Fi capability, in its current form the phone uses EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution), a form of GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) that falls far short of the nation's fastest cellular systems.EDGE averages 70K bits per second to 135K bps downstream.

Verizon announced Friday that its whole EV-DO network has been upgraded to EV-DO Revision A, which the carrier said offers 600K bps to 1.4M bps downstream and between 500K bps and 800K bps upstream. Its earlier EV-DO network delivered 400K bps to 700K bps downstream and just 60K bps to 80K bps upstream, Verizon said. Revision A is also designed for less latency, a type of delay that can hurt time-sensitive applications such as multimedia.

Labels: Apple, Internet, iPhone, Mobile

The most-hyped phone in history goes on sale at 6 p.m. June 29 -- a product launch turned cultural watershed that has created tremendous expectations. An estimated 19 million Americans have "strong interest" in buying the phone that Apple Inc. has promoted as a "breakthrough Internet device."

The buzz and secrecy surrounding the $499 phone have created a cultlike following, but so far Apple and AT&T, formerly known as Cingular Wireless, have been short on the details -- including basics like how to get one.

no one knows yet whether the iPhone will have its own service plan or whether people will buy one of AT&T's existing plans for voice and data. It's unclear whether people who buy the phone at an Apple store will have to take it to an AT&T store to have it activated or sign up for service at the Apple store.

AT&T said details about the terms of service and activation will be revealed next week prior to launch.

An AT&T spokeswoman said that the corporately owned AT&T stores will carry the iPhone, but authorized retailers -- which may look just like the company-owned stores -- will not carry the phone initially.

Apple announced that iPhone will deliver significantly longer battery life when it ships on June 29 than was originally estimated when iPhone was unveiled in January. iPhone will feature up to 8 hours of talk time, 6 hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback or 24 hours of audio playback.*

A group of volunteer designers and developers plan to team up in the Bay Area early next month to host the first ever iPhone Developer Camp, a non-commercial event aimed at making the Web a better place for Apple Inc.'s upcoming mobile handset.

The free gathering, inspired by BarCamp, SuperHappyDevHouse, and MacHack, is open to the public and will run July 6-8 at a still undetermined location in San Francisco, Calif. By the completion of the three-day event, the group's organizers hope to launch a number of iPhone-ready web applications and web sites to the public.

The price of the device itself and the cost of switching carriers may dampen the demand for Apple's iPhone, according to a survey conducted by IDC.

The survey of online mobile phone shoppers, conducted by IDC and Market Insight Corp., found that while a majority of the respondents – nearly 60% of a sample of 456 individuals – were interested in the iPhone, they were unlikely to buy one anytime soon owing to the cost of the device and the potential cost of switching carriers.

Labels: Apple, Internet, iPhone

A failed real estate speculator who created a popular Web site touting his exploits has begun threatening to sue his critics and claims to be in hiding in Australia.

Casey Serin, arguably the world's most-hated blogger, rocketed to Internet stardom after disclosing his pending foreclosures, marital strife and unwillingness to find a job. But the 24-year-old's online fame was hardly flattering: it arose from legions of readers who call themselves "haterz" and frequent his iamfacingforeclosure.com blog to ridicule his financial missteps and urge Serin to pay back up to $420,000 he is said to owe creditors.

Labels: Humor, Internet

There's only one problem -- Safari sucks. A lot of Mac users won't run the browser (I'm one of them), so why would anyone run it on Windows?

On my Mac, Safari is buggy and unreliable. It's always crashing, and it doesn't offer basic features like remembering all the tabs you have open after you quit (or more likely, after it crashes). Until now, it didn't even warn you before closing multiple tabs, although the new version of Safari fixes this.

Labels: Apple, Internet, Mac, PC

Google Inc.'s privacy practices are the worst among the Internet's top destinations, according to a report released Saturday by Privacy International.

The London group assigned Google its lowest grade, a category reserved for companies with "comprehensive consumer surveillance and entrenched hostility to privacy."

None of the 22 other surveyed companies fell to that level, according to Privacy International.

In a statement from one of its lawyers, Google said it aggressively protects its users' privacy and stands behind its track record.

Labels: Google, Internet

At the San Jose Convention Center on Thursday, as Google Developer Day 2007 gets underway in the U.S., Google engineering VP Jeff Huber plans to demonstrate how one of his company's online applications, Google Reader, can be used without an Internet connection.

"Ajax-based applications, browser-based applications, are great and have many, many wonderful properties," said Huber. "But we found that every so often, people get on airplanes."

Google's recently disclosed purchase of browser security startup GreenBorder suddenly makes a lot more sense: Google is moving into Microsoft territory, the desktop.

"With Google Gears we're tackling a key limitation of the browser in order to make it a stronger platform for deploying all types of applications and enabling a better user experience in the cloud," said Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, in a statement. "We believe strongly in the power of the community to stretch this new technology to the limits of what's possible and ultimately emerge with an open standard that benefits everyone."

Google hopes Gears will become the standard for adding offline capabilities -- data storage, application caching, and multi-threading -- to online applications.

Labels: Google, Internet

Google and Dell have teamed up to install some software on Dell computers that borders on being spyware. I say spyware because it’s hard to figure out what it is and is even harder to remove.

About a year ago Google and Dell announced a partnership to include the Google Toolbar on new Dell computers. At the same time, Google was trying to convince the Department of Justice that changing the default search engine in the (then) new IE7 was too difficult (when in reality it’s really simple). Installing the toolbar meant that users would have Google as their default search engine in IE7. It also meant that Dell and Google would share some of the revenue from the advertising clicks that resulted from these installations, much like The Mozilla Foundation does with its Firefox browser.

The computer hardware business has razor-thin margins which means making a profit is tough. So the opportunity for Dell to get a recurring revenue stream from an existing customer long after the sale of the computer is more than just enticing, it’s huge. It also means a couple other things:

1. Dell and Google have an incentive to make it very hard for users to turn this off.

2. Because users can’t get rid of it, Dell and Google can get away with putting more ads on the page and pushing user-relevant content off the page.

They’re now doing both of these things.

Labels: Google, Internet, PC

Google TiSP (BETA) is a fully functional, end-to-end system that provides in-home wireless access by connecting your commode-based TiSP wireless router to one of thousands of TiSP Access Nodes via fiber-optic cable strung through your local municipal sewage lines.

Installing TiSP

Installing a typical home TiSP system is a quick, easy and largely sanitary process -- provided you follow these step-by-step instructions very, very carefully.

#1 Remove the spindle of fiber-optic cable from your TiSP installation kit.

#2 Attach the sinker to the loose end of the cable, take one safe step backward and drop this weighted end into your toilet.

Labels: Google, Humor, Internet

Microsoft has denied reports that users of its Xbox Live online gaming service have had their accounts hacked.

It follows a number of complaints from gamers that their IDs, or gamer tags, have been taken over while playing.

The problems came to light after security researcher Kevin Finisterre reported his experience of a problem first-hand on his website.

In a statement Microsoft said it had found no evidence of any compromise of the security of Xbox Live.

A Microsoft spokesman told the BBC News website that "rumours about accounts being hijacked are false".

In a statement the firm said: "There have been a few isolated incidents where malicious users have been attempting to draw personal information from unsuspecting users and use it to gain access to their Live account.

"We think this is a good time to remind our members that they should never give out any of their personal information."

Labels: Internet, Video games, Xbox 360

Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser may have the lion's share of the general market, but when it comes to security professionals, Mozilla's Firefox open source browser is an even contender, according to a security survey released Monday.

Security-minded people also were quicker to try out Internet Explorer version 7, researchers with the SANS Institute found, though it didn't appear to sway Firefox fans, and the general public quickly is catching up in IE7 adoption.

"Security people are overall more aware of the flaws in Explorer and more likely to play with other browsers," says Johannes Ullrich, chief research officer at the SANS Institute and chief technology officer for the Internet Storm Center. "More common users might not feel comfortable trying out something new. Not as confident."

While IE generally garners about 79% of the browser market, Firefox is just as popular as IE when it comes to security types, the survey shows. Frantzen's survey also shows that that 50/50 stat has held pretty steady over the past six months.

"It isn't that Firefox is really more secure per say, but [Mozilla is] typically patched faster," says Ullrich.

Labels: Firefox, Internet, Mozilla