Tag: software
LoJack laptop tracker service launches in Europe
If you’re the kind of person who likes to take your laptop out and about with you, whether or not you actually do work or just want a reason for sitting in Starbucks on your own, then you might be interested to hear that some software is about to hit UK shores that will track your computer should someone half-inch it while the diuretic that is caffeine works its magic on your bladder.
LoJack of Laptops embeds itself in the firmware of your machine either in the factory or at the user end and it sits so damn tight that it’ll survive reformats, OS re-installations, HDD removals, re-imaging and just about any other operation beginning with r.
Once stolen, and the service activated, your pilfered PC will do the forensic mining of key captures, registry scanning, file scanning, geolocation, and other investigative techniques to work out where it is, who’s got it and to get the authorities on their ass. How satisfying would it be to catch someone red-handed?
Naturally, LoJack don’t come cheap with a year’s subscription at £45.49 for Windows and Mac. It might be worth opting for insurance instead and buying yourself a brand new, upgraded model in the event of capture. You’d just better hope they don’t dig out your bank details.
Absolute Software
Yahoo! to drop GeoCities later this year
Early adopters and original archeticts of the internet are in mourning this, er, morning with the news that Yahoo! will be shutting down GeoCities. A release from the internet powerhouse readers:
We have decided to discontinue the process of allowing new customers to sign up for GeoCities accounts as we focus on helping our customers explore and build new relationships online in other ways. We will be closing GeoCities later this year.
GeoCities was the web’s easiest and most user friendly way of designing your own piece of internet real-estate for years before it was bought up by Yahoo! for the princely sum of $3bn back in the dot com boom.
On the one hand, I won’t miss it as someone who a) never used it and b) was eternally frustrated when my search results came up heavy with GeoCities logos like badges of untrustworthy fact. On the other hand, I’ve never built my own website. It might have been a good place to start. Oh well.
(via Mashable)
Microsoft planning Office for iPhone?
Microsoft is planning an iPhone version of Office, if you believe the President of Microsoft Business Division, Stephen Elop. He has hinted that Office might be making its way to Apple’s smartphone sooner, rather than later.
Several unofficial solutions are available – Quickoffice being the most recent – but officially, users can only read Office files – not edit them. There’s no Microsoft app.
When questioned further on how soon an iPhone office client would be available, Elop took a step back, saying “not yet, keep watching”. in the meantime, users will be provided a web version of Office over the next couple of years, so hold tight for that.
(via TechCrunch)
HP considering Android for forthcoming netbooks
Top laptop manufacturer Hewlett-Packard, or HP, has confirmed that it’s testing out Android as a operating system for forthcoming netbooks. Normally the platform is only used in phones, and at the time of writing there’s only one phone on the market that uses it.
Android can work on netbooks, as Venturebeat proved back in January. They had a little difficulty with graphics drivers, but if a user wasn’t rendering much more than websites then it could be very effective and very cheap – a great solution for the netbook industry.
HP has said that it hasn’t made any decisions yet on whether to offer it or not, but it’ll be interesting to see how they fare with it. Other netbook manufacturers will almost certainly be watching, too.
(via PC World)
Encarta ended, Wikipedia wins
Microsoft’s encyclopedia software, Encarta, has finally had its plug pulled. In June, the software products will disappear, and on October 31st 2009, the website will go too. Japan gets slightly longer, until December 31st 2009.
Microsoft has an FAQ page dedicated to the subject, which sets out why the project is getting axed: “The category of traditional encyclopedias and reference material has changed. People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years past.”
Basically, it’s saying ‘people use Wikipedia, so we’re giving up’. Fair enough, I suppose – it’s increasingly difficult to cope with the crowdsourced project, and it’s good that Microsoft isn’t kidding itself that it can compete, like it is with Games for Windows.
What I’ll miss most from Encarta is Mindmaze, which I spent many happy hours on at school once I’d got past the orbital simulator and had enough of listening to Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.
Mindmaze was a quiz where you had to travel through a medieval dungeon answering questions to progress. It featured inappropriate cleavage (pictured) as well as insane non-sequiturs from the court jester stood on a big blue box and the creepiest alchemist ever. Ahh… happy days.
(via Ars Technica)
MyID.is online identity security service launches beta
A service by the name of MyID.is has hit beta today with the aim to provide security to your online identity. It’s a pretty ambitious way for a company to claim your id on your behalf and verify all the blog posts, social networking profiles and other accounts set up in your name. It also happens to work as an OpenID.
It’s an excellent idea in theory with only three drawbacks to its success. First, to be really effective, everyone has to start using it, or at least enough people for it to be accepted and used across all major sites and applications.
There’s no reason that can’t happen but, although there are no exact competitors, there are the likes of PayPal who offer something similar in the financial realm and haven’t laid the best foundations with the best public feeling.
Second, is the issue of having to give up all your personal information and banking details to get your account set up in the first place. Now, I’m pretty happy with doing just about everything online but I can’t remember giving up the lot all on one page before. It might be tricky convincing people that it’s a good thing to do.
Lastly, what about the danger of this database being hacked? Well, at least here the company has done as much as they can by sending all the data off into a bank-like security system far, far away without even looking at it. Still not totally reassured by that but I appreciate the effort. I just don’t quite like the idea of having all my eggs in one basket and this vault might prove just too much of a tempting target to hordes and hordes of hackers – a big badge of honour and some serious rewards too.
Still, I do like the sound of what MyID.is does and perhaps once a few more people give it a try, I might pluck up the courage too.
(via TechCrunch)
O2 and Orange refuse to stock Nokia N97
A row has erupted between Nokia and network operators Orange and O2 over Nokia’s plans to pre-load the Skype VoIP service onto the N97.
The N97, Nokia’s flagship touchscreen phone due in June, is eagerly anticipated around here, but networks fear that including Skype on the device could cause them to lose voice revenue, with customers opting for cheap unlimited data plans over plenty of free voice minutes.
It’s prompted “high-level discussions” between the companies, which is code for “someone up top is very angry”. O2’s official comment says “We are currently working with Nokia to understand their Skype service and the business model around it.”
It’s interesting that the major operators have such a problem with the service, especially given the runaway success that Three has seen with its Skypephone and followup Skypephone S2, and the awards that the Facebook-and-Skype-integrated INQ has recieved. I’m sure Three will happily take O2 and Orange’s customers for the N97.
(via Pocket Gamer and Mobile Today)
Dell launching PC software and games download service
Massive PC ubercorporation Dell hasn’t got the best reputation with gamers, despite owning the expensive Alienware gaming PC brand. That hasn’t deterred them, however, from launching a download service where you’ll be able to get PC games and software, as well as music.
Codemasters, Sega, Electronic Arts, Eidos and Atari have signed up on the gaming front to offer titles including Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box, Spore, Tomb Raider: Underworld, F.E.A.R. 2, Alone in the Dark and Football Manager Live. You’ll notice that none of those, with the possible exception of F.E.A.R. 2, could be called “gamer’s” games.
That might be because gamers are generally already invested in one download store -Valve’s Steam. I think Dell realizes that they’re going to find that audience very tricky to crack, so they’re aiming at a more mainstream target demographic instead.
As well as games, the service also offers software from Kaspersky, Nero and Lavasoft, presumably Kaspersky Antivirus, Nero Burning Rom and Lavasoft Ad-Aware respectively. It’s a bit of a shame for PC owners, because programs duplicating the functionality of all those bits of software are widely, and legally, available on the internet for free (for home use).
Lastly, there’s also music. Albums from “major artists” are available, there’s no DRM, and there’ll be new titles on a weekly basis. The catalogue doesn’t look incredible, and the prices aren’t any better than other download sites, but I suppose it could be handy for people who haven’t checked out Spotify yet.
The Dell download store will roll out across Europe in the next few months, starting with the UK, France and Germany. It’s been up and running in the USA for a while, and the UK site is here.
Cuba launches its own Linux variant
Cuba, long the subject of a trade embargo from America, finds it difficult to get its hands on Microsoft software legally. Given that MS Office formats are the global standard, it makes things rather difficult for the island nation, so the country has decided to put its eggs in the Open Source box.
Cuba has developed its own variant of Linux, called “Nova”. It was introduced at a Havana computer conference on “technological sovereignty”, the Cuban government’s desire to become more technologically independent from America.
About 20 percent computers in Cuba currently run Linux – but sales of computers to the public only started last year. The dean of the School of Free Software at Cuba’s University of Information Sciences, Hector Rodriguez, says “I would like to think that in five years our country will have more than 50 percent migrated (to Linux)”.
(via Reuters)
Extensions for Chrome confirmed
Google’s Chrome software, which is already my browser of choice, is getting extensions by May. No, not hair extensions. Little bits of software that do stuff in the browser that isn’t built in.
Now, Firefox users (the majority of our readership) will know about these, because they’ve been available since launch on that browser, but if you’re on Internet Explorer you may not be aware. These plugins enhance the browser’s functionality, adding weather info, toolbars, or various other features.
Those of you who aren’t using Chrome, would the addition of extensions make you give it another try? Chrome users – is this a good move, or will it slow down the blazing speed of the browser? Let us know in the comments.
Chrome (via Google Operating System)
More on Chrome: HOW-TO: Tweak Chrome to get the newest features early | Still searching for reasons to switch to Google Chrome
