Technology News

Microsoft knows that Windows Vista was a huge letdown for them, which is why the software giant has been working hard on a new operating system. Windows 7 is hoped to be a huge leap forward over Vista, but what Microsoft has in store for the new OS is anyone’s guess.

Many believe that Windows 7 will be with us in 18-months, that is a long time of but we should see a preview of the new OS in October. We should learn a little more about Windows 7 from two major conferences that are on the horizon.

The Professional Developers Conference (PDC) and the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) will give us a chance to see the new operating system in the flesh.

What we will get to see is anyone’s guess; it could be a technical build of a beta version or something different. One thing is certain it should be far better than Windows Vista.

What we do know so far is that Windows 7 will have touchscreen technology; this is the kind of technology that users have been crying out for. October seems like such a long way off, I will have plenty of sleepless nights until then.

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The idea of Open Source is for the community at large to help improve the project and for computer software to be made available for free public download without the problems of copyright in most retail software.

Today things have changed and become more confusing thanks to a U.S. federal appeals court that has ruled something that sounds strange to most people.

The judge ruled that open-source groups can protect their code under copyright laws, and this is a ruling that other open-source groups can use.

Software companies like Microsoft, normally keep software code secret while Open-source software makers like to share the source code for improvements.

When we look closer at this ruling it seems that most open source developers will like the results. Individuals who do not follow conditions set out in the open-source license should be open to copyright infringement claims. This is now possible thanks to the ruling.

Read the full story via the read link below this post or leave a comment with your opinion on Open Source and how it should be protected.

Source: Read

With Acrobat 9 Pro software, the updated editions of Adobe Creative Suite 3.3 software give you the power you need to produce and deliver rich, engaging experiences online or in print.

Real-time Collaboration - Quickly get on the same page—and to an exact location—with a client or colleague by syncing your view of a PDF file with theirs. Simply send an e-mail invitation to collaborate live, and attach the PDF file or upload it to Acrobat.com. When the reviewer logs in, zero in on the content that needs attention and they’ll see what you’re seeing as you move through your synced view of the document.

Enhanced Print Production Tools - Intelligent Overprint Preview allows you to reliably preview how overlapping elements will display, helping to avoid costly printing errors. A new Object Inspector displays metadata about any selected object.

PDF Portfolios - Combine diverse documents, including video, audio, and applications, into a single, compressed PDF Portfolio. Add your own brand elements, define the sequence in which documents are presented, and include descriptions of each document.

Native Support for Adobe Flash Professional - Reliably share video, animations, applications, and widgets across platforms in Acrobat and Adobe Reader software.

Visit adobe.com or view more news about Adobe.

The public beta for SlingPlayer 2.0 is finally released and gives you a chance to get to grips with it. This will be welcome news for eager fans ever since it was announced last year at CES 2007, but the player will be without one of its big features, Clip+ Sing.

I guess not all features will make it into the beta after all, so it looks like only the local DVR features are present, so you’ll be able to test out the new 60-minute buffer and EPG which is still exciting.

Other minor changes to the player include a tweaked UI, and the removal of Slingbox Finder Ids in exchange for user accounts, Skin supported has also been dropped.

At the moment, it only runs on Windows, but expect more announcements on this software soon. To read more details on SlingPlayer and view a video of it in action, follow the link below.

Source: Read

IBM bosses have sent a warning to Linux Desktop Developers; they have told the open source community to make Linux like a desktop OS for consumers and businesses. What they mean by this is “Not to Copy Windows.”

Bob Sutor, Vice President of open source and standards at IBM was at LinuxWorld Conference in San Francisco. He told the attendees there that the open source community has to make Linux as popular as Operating Systems used on desktops for both consumer and business users.

In the conference Sutor said “Stop copying 2001 Windows. That’s not where the usability action is.”

Yesterday we reported that IBM was joining forces with three major Linux distributors Canonical/Ubuntu, Novell and Red Hat, to come up with a Microsoft Free PC by 2009.

All four companies have agreed to provide hardware partners with the software needed to build these desktops. IBM carry a lot of weight when it comes to the Linux community, this is because they put a huge amount of investment into the program.
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There is no denying that the iPhone from Apple has to be the greatest handset of all time. We all know that this cell phone can do a number of things that other phones can only dream of doing, but there is more to the iPhone than meets the eye, as it has a few tricks up its sleeve.

Here is a list of three tricks that the iPhone is capable of doing. We have to tell you that the first one will work with any phone, but works best with the iPhone. The second works with any iPhone and the third trick will work with iPhones and iPod touches, as long as they are running iPhone software version 2.0.

The first is that your iPhone is in fact a dictation machine. The thing is when it comes to writing a long email it can sometimes get a little boring on the touchscreen. But there is an easy way around this problem and that is to use a free voice-to-text transcription service.

The second trick is that your iPhone is an exit stratergy. There has been many times when I have been stuck in a meeting and I just feel the urge to get out of there. Well the iPhone is on hand to help as you are able to open your clock program and select the timer. You can then select say 30 minutes from now, then the iPhone will use your ring tone to alert. You can then pretend that you need to take this urgent call.

The third trick is that your Apple iPhone is a weather station. Just by using a free app from iTunes Store called WeatherBug, you are able to get the current temperature along with wind speed, wind chill temperature, humidity, dew point, precipitation level, and highs and lows for the day.

For all the details on these three iPhone tricks visit PC World

There is no denying that the iPhone from Apple has to be the greatest handset of all time. We all know that this cell phone can do a number of things that other phones can only dream of doing, but there is more to the iPhone than meets the eye, as it has a few tricks up its sleeve.

Here is a list of three tricks that the iPhone is capable of doing. We have to tell you that the first one will work with any phone, but works best with the iPhone. The second works with any iPhone and the third trick will work with iPhones and iPod touches, as long as they are running iPhone software version 2.0.

The first is that your iPhone is in fact a dictation machine. The thing is when it comes to writing a long email it can sometimes get a little boring on the touchscreen. But there is an easy way around this problem and that is to use a free voice-to-text transcription service.

The second trick is that your iPhone is an exit stratergy. There has been many times when I have been stuck in a meeting and I just feel the urge to get out of there. Well the iPhone is on hand to help as you are able to open your clock program and select the timer. You can then select say 30 minutes from now, then the iPhone will use your ring tone to alert. You can then pretend that you need to take this urgent call.

The third trick is that your Apple iPhone is a weather station. Just by using a free app from iTunes Store called WeatherBug, you are able to get the current temperature along with wind speed, wind chill temperature, humidity, dew point, precipitation level, and highs and lows for the day.

For all the details on these three iPhone tricks visit PC World

There are reports that the new Xbox 360 System update is now live, this has only just happened so we hope to give you more information a bit later. If you have not had the chance to update yet, I would not hurry as the system is probable under a lot of stress at the moment.

From what we have heard so far, the new Xbox 360 update has no new features or dashboard enhancements. What you do get is some code that prepares the system for growth of the service.

The new service is the new Xbox experience update; this is the live update that we are all waiting on. That system update has all the bells and whistles on; it should go live sometime in the fall.

That is as much as I can tell you for the moment. Once more people have had a chance to download the Xbox 360 System update, then we will be able to tell you a little more about it.

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If you have had a chance to try out the new update, please let us know what you think.

Mozilla Labs has released a video which explains all you need to know about their Aurora browser concept. Mozilla hope that by launching this video, it will help to inspire people to take an active part in what is being described as the future of the web.

Mozilla Labs hope that they are able to provoke the thought of this new browser concept; they would like to facilitate discussion in designing the new direction of Firefox as well as other Mozilla projects.

The video has been created by Adaptive Path and Mozilla Labs. When watching the video, you will get to see how the Aurora browser looks and works. The concept browser uses OS X, this uses a dock-like and drag and droppable interface.

We could be watching the future of Firefox; so far I like what I have seen. The look is futuristic with objects fading away which lay further back in the past. I do worry when a concept looks this good, it will just be one of those things that we never end up seeing.

Check out the Mozilla Labs Aurora browser concept video below.

IBM have said that they want Windows free computing, this is something that they are working on with three major Linux distributors, Canonical/Ubuntu, Novell and Red Hat.

They aim to achieve a Vole-free personal computing world by 2009 however; this is a tall order. All four of these companies are in collaboration with each other and are working on the development of a PC which will come pre-loaded with Linux, IBM’s Open Collaboration Client Solution (OCCS), Lotus Notes, Symphony and Sametime.

Consumers as well as independent software vendors will then be encouraged to develop applications that will run on this new PC. This will be done via Lotus Expeditor; this is a software framework which is based on the open source Eclipse programming model.

IBM Lotus Software vice president, Kevin Cavanaugh has said “The slow adoption of Vista among businesses, coupled with the proven success of a new type of Microsoft-free PC in every region, provides an extraordinary window of opportunity for Linux.”

It seems that more and more PC customers are asking for a computer that does not have any Microsoft software in it. It looks as though IBM has listened to them; let us hope that this collaboration works and all four companies can come up with something that consumers have been waiting for.

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