TechJunction

where life and technology meets…

Will new browsers really upgrade the Web?

Mozilla is exhorting users to “upgrade the Web” with Firefox 3.5 and variations on that better-browsing theme can be found with Google’s Chrome, Apple’s Safari, and Opera.

The hope is that the Web will evolve from a series of relatively static pages to a lively home for Web applications–everything from today’s e-mail to tomorrow’s spreadsheets. But it could take awhile for reality to catch up with the vision.

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Apple iPhone 3.0 software update released

The iPhone 3.0 update promises 100 features and enhancements for users, including copy-and-paste functionality and push notification

 

As promised during last week’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple on Wednesday released the iPhone 3.0 software update, a major overhaul of its mobile operating system that promises more than 100 new features and enhancements. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Third Chrome beta another notch faster

 

Google Chrome Sunspider Speedtest

On the SunSpider JavaScript peformance test, the new Google Chrome beta edges closer to TraceMonkey-enhanced Firefox. But the cutting-edge ‘Minefield’ version of Firefox edges ahead, too. (Credit: CNET News)

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Vista SP2 beta this week when Windows 7 pre-beta arrives

Windows Vista SP2Earlier this year Vista’s first SP1 service pack arrived with a few hiccups that were smoothed out in the end, dramatically improving Vista. Now, SP2 is on the radar with the first beta due on the 29th of October and a final release before Windows 7 goes gold.

Windows Vista SP2 will be launched in beta form this Wednesday to Microsoft’s “Technology Adoption Program” (TAP) customers as part of the development and testing process, according to the Windows Vista Blog.

Microsoft’s Mike Nash shared the details and said that SP2 wouldn’t be released until Microsoft was assured of its “quality”, which will be tracked based on “customer and partner feedback”. 

SP2 beta will contain “previously released fixes focused on addressing specific reliability, performance, and compatibility issues” and is expected to “retain compatibility with applications that run on Windows Vista and Windows Vista SP1 and are written using public APIs” – which could mean software written using non-public APIs could come unstuck. 

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How to get Windows 7 for free?

We’ve already seen a few apparent Windows 7 screenshots and videos turn up, and it looks like there could soon be plenty more where those came from, as Microsoft has now officially announced that it’ll be handing out “pre-beta” builds of the OS at both the Professional Developer Conference (PDC) in late October and the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in early November. As we had heard previously, you can also expect to hear plenty of technical details about the OS straight from Microsoft at PDC and, who knows, we may even get word of an actual release date. [link]Windows 7 screenshots  [Read the rest of this entry...]

32GB iPhone 3G on the way at last?

AppleInsider is suggesting that the long awaited iPhone 3G with 32GB of storage could soon be making an appearance, due to apparent shortages of the 8GB model – while in-home activation could well be making a re-appearance. 

Rumours here, rumours there, rumours popping up everywhere – and the latest from AppleInsider is that the iPhone 3G could soon be getting a 2 and a B to become an iPhone 32GB.

32GB iPhone 3G

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AMD to launch new GPUs

AMD is planning to launch mid-range ATI Radeon HD 4000-series GPUs (the ATI Radeon HD 4600-series) this month and two 45nm quad-core CPU by the end of this year, according to sources at motherboard and graphics card makers.

AMD will launch the ATI Radeon HD 4650 graphics card, adopting its RV730 core with 512MB DDR2 memory, and the HD 4670 in two versions, one with 512MB GDDR3 memory and the other with 1GB DDR3 memory. The cards will be priced between US$69-89.

For the entry-level market, AMD will launch the ATI Radeon HD 4550 in late September. A version with 512MB DDR3 memory will be priced at US$45-55 and a version with 256MB DDR3 memory will cost US$39-49. In mid October, the company will launch the ATI Radeon HD 4350 with 256MB DDR2 memory priced below US$49.

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Google’s Android Mobile Phone Platform delay: Bluetooth, GTalk APIs

Two major features have been dropped from the APIs for version 1.0 of Google’s Android mobile phone platform: Bluetooth and GTalkService (Google Talk).

Google Android

Is the mighty Google slipping or are delays to a potentially world-beating smartphone platform nothing to worry about?
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Creative Zen X-Fi: 16GB and 32GB Version

Creative is selling two versions of the Zen X-Fi: a Wi-Fi model in 16GB and 32GB version, and an 8GB version without the Wi-Fi. All of the models are extremely competitively priced, given all of the out-of-the-box features available. The 8GB sells for $149.99, while the 16GB and 32GB sell for $199 and $279, respectively. All of them are available in just one color option: black with silver trim.

Creative Zen X-Fi

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iTunes 7.7.1 Released From Apple

Apple has updated iTunes to version 7.7.1. The release comes hot on the heels of iTunes 7.7, which appeared alongside the iPhone 3G earlier this month.

iTunes 7.7.1 is available for Mac OS X and Windows. As usual, Apple is being coy about what the update delivers, saying only that it “includes fixes to improve stability and performance.”

Version 7.7 added support for the App Store and for the Remote application for the iPhone and iPod touch. [Read the rest of this entry...]


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