Monthly Archives: October 2011

21 posts

Chrome Browser Remote Computer Control Extension

Google has announced a remote computer control extension for it’s Chrome browser.

“Chrome Remote Desktop BETA is the first installment on a capability allowing users to remotely access another computer through the Chrome browser or a Chromebook.

The goal of this beta release is to demonstrate the core Chrome Remoting technology and get feedback from users. This version enables users to share with or get access to another computer by providing a one-time authentication code. Access is given only to the specific person the user identifies for one time only, and the sharing session is fully secured. One potential use of this version is the remote IT helpdesk case. The helpdesk can use the Chrome Remote Desktop BETA to help another user, while conversely a user can receive help by setting up a sharing session without leaving their desk. Additional use cases such as being able to access your own computer remotely are coming soon.

Chrome Remote Desktop BETA is fully cross-platform, so you can connect any two computers that have a Chrome browser, including Windows, Linux, Mac and Chromebooks”

More: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gbchcmhmhahfdphkhkmpfmihenigjmpp

Google AdWords Mobile Call Tracking and OurMobilePlanet.com

Google AdWords will now let you track calls made from mobile devices to your business after users have clicked the phone number on your website.

“AdWords call metrics (currently available to US and Canada customers) allows you to easily measure phone calls originating from your ads. We will assign and display a custom phone number (a unique Google forwarding number that is dynamically generated for each ad group) in your ads on both mobile and desktop devices. Calls to this number will be rerouted to your business phone number. As with basic call extensions, the forwarding phone number will be clickable on high-end mobile devices with full Internet browsers capable of making phone calls.” http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1059396

Google, Ipsos, and the Mobile Marketing Association launched a resource at OurMobilePlanet.com to help users pinpoint how consumers are using smartphones.

“Mobile Planet provides insights into smartphone usage and mobile attitudes. Use it to create custom charts that will deepen your understanding of the mobile consumer and support data driven decisions in your mobile strategy.”

T-Mobile Unveil myTouch, MyTouch Q

T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced the upcoming availability of the new T-Mobile® myTouch® and the T-Mobile® myTouch® Q, both by LG, as the latest Android™-powered smartphones to join T-Mobile’s line of myTouch products running on America’s Largest 4G Network®. The myTouch and myTouch Q, designed to be easily set-up on the first day and continue to be easy to use, are perfect for individuals adopting the benefits of smartphones for the first-time.

The myTouch and myTouch Q are designed with a number of features that make them approachable, including the option of two different styles of hardware to suit customer needs: the myTouch touts a 3.8-inch touch screen and a virtual keyboard with Swype®, while the myTouch Q is equipped with a 3.5-inch touch screen plus a physical slide-out full QWERTY keyboard.

To help customers not only get up and running and keep running, the myTouch and myTouch Q offer a number of useful tools, including the following:

Set-up Wizard: Simple instructions for quick e-mail and social network integration
Tips Widget: A quick ?how-to? providing an overview of the available device features, including a collection of instructional videos
Genius Button™: One-shot voice commands to call, text, or search the Web all with the press of a button

When moving to their first smartphone, customers want a simple and uncomplicated experience without compromising on quality,? said Andrew Sherrard, senior vice president, marketing, T-Mobile USA. ?With the introduction of these new myTouch smartphones paired with our worry-free data plans and fast 4G network, we’re making it easier than ever to step up to 4G experiences.

Both devices are powered by Android™ 2.3 (Gingerbread) and a 1GHz Qualcomm® processor giving customers the power and functionality they desire. Additionally, the myTouch and myTouch Q are equipped with advanced multimedia features, including a 5-megapixel camera and 720p HD video recorder for capturing photos and videos while on the go. The myTouch also includes a front-facing camera with access to T-Mobile Video Chat powered by Qik™ for face-to-face video chat.

With access to T-Mobile’s 4G network*, the myTouch and myTouch Q allow customers to browse the Web, access email and social networking services, download free and paid applications through Android Market™, and much more. Both devices also offer built-in entertainment applications, including T-Mobile® TV in Mobile HD, Netflix® and YouTube® for real-time mobile video streaming and on-demand TV and movies.

Availability

The T-Mobile myTouch is offered in two colors – either black or white – and the T-Mobile myTouch Q is offered in two colors – either gray or violet. Both phones, exclusively from T-Mobile, are expected to be available in time for the holiday season. Customers can visit www.T-Mobile.com for more information.

*T-Mobile’s HSPA+ 4G network not available everywhere. See coverage details at http://www.t-mobile.com.

BT Openreach Announce 300Mbps Broadband for the UK

Openreach today announced three significant developments that will provide a major boost to Broadband Britain. As well as launching its up to 110Mbps Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) service, Openreach revealed it will use this technology to deliver downstream speeds of up to 300Mbps from next Spring. These speeds are three times faster than those offered by other major networks and they will be available on a wholesale basis supporting a competitive retail market.

The business also revealed a third boost for broadband speeds by saying it now has approval from the relevant authorities to roughly double the speeds delivered by Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) broadband. This development will see FTTC downstream speeds roughly double from up to 40Mbps to up to 80Mbps.

These developments will transform the broadband speeds that are available across the UK. BT is investing £2.5 billion to make fibre broadband available to two thirds of UK premises by the end of 2015. More than five million premises already have access and tens of thousands are gaining access every week.

Speaking today, Openreach chief executive Liv Garfield said: “Today is a significant step in the UK’s broadband journey. These developments will transform broadband speeds across the country and propel the UK up the broadband league tables.”

Communications Minister Ed Vaizey said: “These are significant announcements and good news for the UK. High-speed broadband is essential for economic growth, which is why we want the UK to have the best superfast broadband in Europe by 2015.

“Improving the UK’s broadband infrastructure will help our high-tech, digital industries grow. It will ensure the UK is an attractive place to start-up and base the businesses of tomorrow.”

Garfield added: “All our fibre products are fit for the future and these developments show that to be the case. As always, we want to go further and faster and so our journey doesn’t end here. We can turn up the dial should there be demand and so we can look to the future with confidence.

“No-one is keener than us to extend these super-fast speeds to rural areas and so we will be bidding for public funds to help extend these services even further. The challenge is a tough one but by working with the public sector it is within our reach.”

Openreach has this week launched its Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) service on a commercial basis. FTTP is where fibre is deployed all the way from a BT exchange directly into a customer’s premises. It is the most technically advanced broadband as it is the only one that is solely based on optical fibre.

The service, which becomes available in six locations 1 from late October before wider deployment, is open to all Communications Providers (CPs) to use on an equivalent and wholesale basis allowing them to market the service to end users.

It is initially available to CPs in various speed combinations with downstream speeds reaching 110Mbps and upstream speeds reaching 30Mbps. The fastest speed combinations being made available this month are 110/15 and 100/30 but speeds of up to 300Mbps will be available from next Spring. The technology is capable of delivering even more dramatic speeds of up to 1Gbps and these are currently being trialled by BT in Kesgrave, Suffolk.

The launch of FTTP builds on Openreach’s rapid deployment of FTTC broadband. This latter service – where fibre is deployed from the BT exchange to the cabinet and copper is then used for the final connection to the premises – is already available to more than five million homes and businesses. The recent approval from the network frequency authorities means that Openreach now has permission to roughly double the speeds delivered over the service at some stage in 2012.

Flash 11 and AIR 3 Dolby Surround Released

Dolby Surround Sound Delivered to Connected Digital Home Devices with Adobe AIR

Dolby Laboratories, Inc., (NYSE: DLB) today announced that Adobe® AIR® 3 will support Dolby® Digital Plus to deliver surround sound to connected devices including televisions, set-top boxes, and Blu-ray Disc™ players. Content aggregators will be able to build Flash®-based applications that deliver the complete high-definition entertainment experience with HD video and multichannel Dolby surround sound.

“Dolby Digital Plus in AIR 3 will further extend the availability of high-quality entertainment across screens,” said John Couling, Vice President, Products and Platforms, Dolby Laboratories. “Dolby is committed to bringing a cinema-quality experience to the home on a wide range of devices. Now consumers will be able to enjoy premium surround sound from more applications in their living rooms.”

“Flash is the technology of choice for delivering rich, high-end media experiences,” said Florian Pestoni, Group Product Manager, Adobe. “Media companies and content distributors can leverage AIR to deliver and monetize premium video applications with pristine sound while consumers can enjoy HD video paired with HD audio delivered directly to the TV.”

Adobe AIR 3 supports streaming of HD video with Dolby Digital Plus for up to 7.1 channels on select connected televisions, Blu-ray Disc players, and set-top boxes.

Adobe AIR, a superset of Flash Player, enables developers to leverage existing code to create and deliver standalone applications across devices and platforms. Thousands of Flash-based applications have already been created and made available through Android Market, the iTunes App Store, Samsung Apps, and BlackBerry App World™.

Dolby Digital Plus allows consumers to enjoy outstanding high-definition audio from broadcasts, streaming and downloaded media, and Blu-ray Discs. Dolby Digital Plus has been included in more than 430 million products worldwide, including TVs, set-top boxes, Blu-ray Disc players, audio/video receivers, and mobile phones.

About Dolby Laboratories

Dolby Laboratories (NYSE: DLB) is the global leader in technologies that are essential elements in the best entertainment experiences. Founded in 1965 and best known for high-quality audio and surround sound, Dolby creates innovations that enrich entertainment at the movies, at home, or on the go. For more information about Dolby Laboratories or Dolby technologies, please visit www.dolby.com.

Dolby and the double-D symbol are registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories, Inc. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners. S11/24937 DLB-G

Security Vulnerability in HTC Android Phones

“Security researchers say they’ve uncovered a flaw in several smartphone models produced by HTC that gives any application that has Internet access the keys to a trove of information on the phone, including e-mail addresses, GPS locations, phone numbers, and text message data.’ reports PCWorld

“Phone models claimed to be affected by the vulnerability are the EVO 3D, EVO 4G, Thunderbolt, and possibly HTC’s Sensation line.

The researchers, Trevor Eckhart, Artem Russakouskii, and Justin Case, say they informed HTC of the vulnerability on September 24, but after HTC failed to respond to their warning for five days, they went public with their knowledge on Friday.”

UPDATE:

HTC confirms security hole.

HTC Public Statement
HTC takes claims related to the security of our products very seriously. In our ongoing investigation into this recent claim, we have concluded that while this HTC software itself does no harm to customers’ data, there is a vulnerability that could potentially be exploited by a malicious third-party application. A third party malware app exploiting this or any other vulnerability would potentially be acting in violation of civil and criminal laws. So far, we have not learned of any customers being affected in this way and would like to prevent it by making sure all customers are aware of this potential vulnerability.

HTC is working very diligently to quickly release a security update that will resolve the issue on affected devices. Following a short testing period by our carrier partners, the patch will be sent over-the-air to customers, who will be notified to download and install it. We urge all users to install the update promptly. During this time, as always, we strongly urge customers to use caution when downloading, using, installing and updating applications from untrusted sources.

Google Maps Launches Helicopter View

Paul Yang, Google Maps engineer has announced Helicopter view of your driving directions on Google Maps.

“Getting directions is one of the most popular features on Google Maps, whether it be for driving, walking, biking or transit. Today, we are launching a new feature that allows you to bring your upcoming trip to life, by allowing you to preview your route in 3D.

Read more: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/09/helicopter-view-of-your-driving.html

Ubuntu One Cloud Storage Extended to Windows

Ubuntu One cloud storage has been extended to the Windows platform. The Ubuntu One official client for Windows is now available for download, according to the Ubuntu One Blog.

“We’ve looked at many use cases, the most common being the Ubuntu user who is using more than one device or OS. Many people have to work in Windows or Mac environments, even if they prefer to use Ubuntu as their home desktop or OS of choice.”

LiveLens MFT Adapter Gives Aperture Control to Canon EF lens

The Redrock Micro LiveLens MFT™ is the first active lens adapter that enables Canon EF lenses to be used with any micro four-thirds (mft) camera, such as the Panasonic AG-AF100, Panasonic GH1/2, and Olympus Pen cameras.

Canon EF lenses require power and electronic controls in order to adjust the lens’ aperture. Without power and control electronics, The aperture of the EF lenses are stuck wide open, severely limiting the usefulness of the lens. The Redrock LiveLens mft active lens adapter solves this problem by providing power to the EF lens and a control pad to adjust the lens aperture. With LiveLens mft you can set the EF lens’ aperture to any stop in increments as small as 1/3 stop. It works with just about every lens available today, including variable aperture zoom lenses, prime lenses, consumer-level lenses, and professional L-series lenses. It also works with most third party EF-compatible lenses. There are some limitations to please make sure to read Technical Details.

The Redrock Micro LiveLens mft is the solution for using sharp EF-mount lenses on Micro Four Third bodies without sacrifice. Where standard “dummy adapters” just physically mount EF lenses to the Micro Four Third body, the Redrock micro LiveLens MFT talks to the lens, giving you the ability to adjust your aperture without the need to use time consuming workarounds on set. Don’t work around the ability of your lenses; make your lenses work for you, starting today.