John Lister

Tue
04
May
Dennis Faas's picture

Apple Could Face FTC Investigation Over iPhone, iPad Regulations

Officials may soon investigate Apple amidst allegations that the company is too restrictive in its demands on developers producing applications for the iPhone and iPad. Criticism of that policy has been particularly strong over Apple's stance on ... using the Flash multimedia system. Apple recently changed its terms and conditions to give it the right to pull any application which does not use the company's specified programming and development systems, a list which doesn't include Flash. That prompted Adobe to abandon a tool that allowed Flash developers to easily convert their applications to ... (view more)

Fri
30
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Windows 7, Windows Media Center Coming to TV

Windows 7 could soon be appearing on television sets and set-top boxes. It's the most high-profile outcome of Microsoft releasing a special edition of the system for standalone devices. For many years, Microsoft has released a completely separate ... version of Windows (called "Windows CE") for devices with limited storage space. What Windows CE does is allow small devices to carry out specific tasks without the hardware requirements -- and potential instability -- of a full-blown Windows operating system. Some examples of technology which use Windows CE are in-flight entertainment ... (view more)

Thu
29
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Microsoft Developing New Strategies to Combat Piracy

Microsoft has revealed some of the tactics it uses to fight back against software counterfeiting. It involves the use of nine regional crime labs and 75 dedicated anti-piracy staff. Surprisingly, the company maintains that many users of pirated ... Microsoft software are unaware they are running bogus copies. That may seem hard to believe in Western nations, but does appear a genuine problem in some developing countries where there is less awareness about whether or not a retailer is using legitimate copy of Microsoft Windows, for example. It also appears that software with price tags "too good ... (view more)

Wed
28
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

MS Office Apps Debut Online using Cloud Technology

As part of its ongoing battle with Google for the Cloud computing crown, Microsoft is bringing a version of its Office suite to Facebook, as well as 'Docs.com'. It appears to be a way of promoting the online edition of Office 2010, which includes MS ... Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. (Source: latimes.com ) The Facebook app will simply be known as Docs; a somewhat cheeky title given that's also the name of Google's free spreadsheet application. Microsoft's new tool will be a specially adapted version of Office 2010 designed to work within the social networking system. The idea appears to be to offer ... (view more)

Tue
27
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Apple CEO Refutes Apps Store for Mac PCs, Macbooks

Apple chief Steve Jobs has quashed speculation that the company might switch Mac computers to an App Store system. It comes as a relief to software developers who won't have to go through the same approval process as with portable Apple devices. A ... report published by programmers Rixstep last week claimed that Apple was to end the current system by which, as with most computing platforms, any compatible software can run on a Mac computer and can be installed at will by the user. Rixstep claimed that software developers would have to pay $99 for membership in an Apple program, that they'd have ... (view more)

Fri
23
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

McAfee Update Poisons XP: Automated Fix Not Likely

McAfee is facing a major backlash in sales this morning after a buggy security update left many customers' computers effectively unusable. Worst still, some analysts are predicting that an automated solution may not be possible. As we reported ... yesterday , the problem is the result of a recent McAfee antivirus update gone awry, which then caused the antivirus program to identify legitimate Windows files as being virus infected. The end result was that the legitimate Windows files were sent to a quarantine, resulting in thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of crashes PCs. The problem ... (view more)

Thu
22
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Government Considers New Approach Over Net Neutrality

A former presidential advisor has called for the US government to reclassify the legal status of the Internet. It follows concerns that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may not have the statutory authority to enforce "net neutrality" ... principles or to go ahead with proposed plans to expand Internet access. The FCC has historically sought to uphold the idea of net neutrality. This is the principle that, with the exception of illegal material, all Internet traffic should be treated equally by carriers. This would mean, for example, that an Internet service provider couldn't charge ... (view more)

Wed
21
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Ubisoft Goes Green: Vows to Stop Printing Game Manuals

A major video games producer says it will begin phasing out printed manuals in a bid to cut down on waste. Ubisoft, makers of the acclaimed Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell series, say the move will save both paper and the energy used in ... production. Beginning with the next Shaun White Skateboarding game sometime before the end of 2010, Ubisoft will include the manual, along with safety and legal information, within the game itself. The company says this will offer an easier and more intuitive way of accessing the information. (Source: gamespot.com ) That will certainly be easier to achieve ... (view more)

Fri
16
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Toshiba to Unveil Win7 iPad-Style Tablets Later This Year

Toshiba says it will be launching its own line of tablet computers to rival the Apple iPad later this year. That follows on from a similar announcement by netbook specialists Asus earlier this month . Toshiba may be working on more than two tablet ... machines, one running Windows 7, the other Google's Android operating system (OS). It says that as well as considering a 10-inch screen model, it's also looking at producing a dual-screen device, though the dual-screen version would run Windows 7 only. (Source: reuters.com ) That sounds similar to Microsoft's Courier project, which involves a ... (view more)

Thu
15
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Google Criticized for 'Buzz' Privacy Faults

Google has announced it will ask all users to reconfirm their preferred privacy settings on its social networking site 'Buzz'. It follows a controversial launch in which many believed, correctly or otherwise, that their privacy had been compromised. ... Buzz is Google's rival to Facebook and Twitter. It's integrated into Gmail and allows users to follow and reply to posts made by people they decide to follow on the service. The service also allows users to share information from other Google-owned services such as Google Reader (an RSS newsreader) and picture-sharing site Picasa. It was clearly ... (view more)

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