Month: August 2010

What happens when a Windows 7 tablet takes on the iPad head to head in a series of every day usage battles? This video happens. Place your bets! More »

Well what do we have here? It appears our friends over at Joystiq have received word from diligent tipsters that Microsoft’s Connect customer feedback service is sending out Kinect beta program invites. Details are predictably sparse, but naming ironies aside, the note does specify that chat will be limited only to those involved in the preview program. While this isn’t really surprising given the context, Joystiq surmises that this choice clarification could hint invitees will have the chance to sample the video chat app available through the Kinect’s new dashboard, which was shown off at E3. Unfortunately, Ballmer and crew have yet to lend any official credence to these murmurs, though apparently the email address behind these notes is valid. It’s also not that outrageous to imagine Microsoft wanting to spin Kinect’s wheels in the wild before releasing it to the unwashed gaming masses on its official November 4th launch date. Considering the program would have to put hardware in the hands of testers though to pull something like this off, we’re counting on more than a few overly excited gamers shining additional light on the situation should things get serious.

Is Microsoft quietly opening up a Kinect beta program? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 05:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ilya Kovalchuk is once again an unrestricted free agent being pursued by the Devils after arbitrator Richard Bloch rejected the 27-year-old Russian winger’s epic 17-year, $102-million US contract, signed last month with New Jersey.

YouTube is today rolling out a new-look screen which displays at the end of every video, showing related videos and further interactions including the ability to “like” and “share” the just-watched clip.

Capping off one of the biggest re-design periods in YouTube’s history, the YouTube team have reportedly begun the roll-out…

Today, we’re happy to announce that you can now convert files already uploaded to your documents list into a Google Docs format. Previously, this option was only available on upload.

This addition includes converting image and PDF files to text using our recently added Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. The full list of files that can be converted include:

• For spreadsheets: .xls, .xlsx, .ods, .csv, .tsv, .txt, .tsb
• For documents: .doc, .docx, .html, plain text (.txt), .rtf
• For presentations: .ppt, .pps
• For OCR: .jpg, .gif, .png, .pdf

To convert your file, right-click on it while in the document list and select Make a Google Docs copy. This option leaves your original file in place and adds a new Google Docs copy to your docs list.

Now you convert your old files and collaborate on them in cloud. We hope you enjoy it! Let us know if you have feedback or suggestions.

Posted by: Jim McMaster, Software Engineer

If there’s a name I trust when it comes to writing implements, it’s Sharpie. Their newest creation is the Liquid Pencil, a smooth-writer that gives you a few days to erase your work before it becomes set in stone. More »

Come on, admit it, you want to believe that RIM is working on a tablet called the BlackPad don’t you? You’d better, because Apple Daily is piling on with more unsubstantiated rumor this morning. So, in addition to the 9.7-inch display, Bluetooth, WiFi, and front- and rear-facing cameras already mentioned by Bloomberg‘s sources, Apple Daily claims that Quanta won the bid to manufacture the tablet with plans to ramp up for 2 million units starting in September (for a November retail launch) with another 8 million planned for 2011. The price? $499 is the target, naturally.

RIM BlackPad tablet priced at $499 when it ships in November? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Aug 2010 06:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Western Digital has quietly revealed the Elements Play on their site, which combines pared-down playback features of the WD TV series with up to 2TB of internal storage right out of the box. It’s about time, considering competitor LaCie has offered integrated drives in its LaCinema line for more than a year, though we wish WD would have included the Netflix streaming capabilities of the WD TV Live Plus here — or any streaming at all, for that matter. If an unconnected box with 1080p playback via HDMI and fabulous codec support (including Monkey’s Audio!) is appealing to you though, then this latest offering might be worth your while — especially if it’s priced in line with its “value conscious” featureset, a fact we haven’t been able to verify. To be competitive, it’ll have to cost below LaCie’s LaCinema Classic HD, which throws in UPnP / DLNA server support on top of similar features for as little as $229. If you’re curious, find the user’s manual (including a full codec list) at our more coverage link.

[Thanks, Steve]

WD’s Elements Play media streamers bring internal HDDs at a presumably good price originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Brandon Morrow came within one hit of entering Toronto Blue Jays history when he struck out 17 on the way to a 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Want Flash on your iPhone 4 something fierce? Great news, flash lover, for it is now possible thanks to these simple steps: More »

New Zealand based firm “Swiftpoint” is trying to revolutionize the way you use your laptop mouse from tomorrow with its new product, an ultra-portable, fast charging laptop mouse.

The revolutionary device is tiny, held like a pen and designed to be used on a laptop’s palm rest, but can even be…

Following in the footsteps of Google Chrome, Mozilla is planning to make updates for Firefox 4 behind-the-scenes. The feature is “on track” for the latest version of the browser.

Two betas have been released for Firefox 4 in the last 4 weeks with a 3rd update due next week. The ‘silent’…

Google knows a lot of stuff, but sometimes the most fascinating is what it knows about you. This page reveals just how it identifies social search results based on its understanding of your friends (and their friends.) [Google via BoingBoing] More »

Farmers in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta stand to lose up to $3 billion due to heavy rain and flooding, analysts from the Bank of Montreal say.

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

HP Chairman, CEO and President Mark Hurd resigned from his positions in the company on Friday after sexual harassment claims were brought against him by a former HP contractor.

“As the investigation progressed, I realized there were instances in which I did not live up to the standards and principles of trust, respect and integrity that I have espoused at HP and which have guided me throughout my career. After a number of discussions with members of the board, I will move aside and the board will search for new leadership.” Hurd’s official statement said Friday. “This is a painful decision for me to make after five years at HP, but I believe it would be difficult for me to continue as an effective leader at HP and I believe this is the only decision the board and I could make at this time. I want to stress that this in no way reflects on the operating performance or financial integrity of HP.”

An investigation found that Hurd did not violate HP’s sexual harassment policy, but did violate HP’s Standards of Business conduct.

HP Chief Financial Officer Cathis Lesjak has been assigned as the interim CEO of the company following Hurd’s departure. Board members Marc Andreessen, (founder of Netscape and co-founder of Ning) Lawrence Babbio, Jr., John Hammergren and Joel Hyatt will lead the search for a permanent replacement.

Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010















Mark Hurd – HewlettPackard – Marc Andreessen – Sexual harassment – Joel Hyatt

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

HP Chairman, CEO and President Mark Hurd resigned from his positions in the company on Friday after sexual harassment claims were brought against him by a former HP contractor.

“As the investigation progressed, I realized there were instances in which I did not live up to the standards and principles of trust, respect and integrity that I have espoused at HP and which have guided me throughout my career. After a number of discussions with members of the board, I will move aside and the board will search for new leadership.” Hurd’s official statement said Friday. “This is a painful decision for me to make after five years at HP, but I believe it would be difficult for me to continue as an effective leader at HP and I believe this is the only decision the board and I could make at this time. I want to stress that this in no way reflects on the operating performance or financial integrity of HP.”

An investigation found that Hurd did not violate HP’s sexual harassment policy, but did violate HP’s Standards of Business conduct.

HP Chief Financial Officer Cathis Lesjak has been assigned as the interim CEO of the company following Hurd’s departure. Board members Marc Andreessen, (founder of Netscape and co-founder of Ning) Lawrence Babbio, Jr., John Hammergren and Joel Hyatt will lead the search for a permanent replacement.

Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010















Mark Hurd – HewlettPackard – Marc Andreessen – Sexual harassment – Joel Hyatt

We’re excited to announce we’ve acquired Slide, a social technology company with an extensive history of building new ways for people to connect with others across numerous platforms online.

For Google, the web is about people, and we’re working to develop open, transparent and interesting (and fun!) ways to allow our users to take full advantage of how technology can bring them closer to friends and family and provide useful information just for them.

Slide has already created compelling social experiences for tens of millions of people across many platforms, and we’ve already built strong social elements into products like Gmail, Docs, Blogger, Picasa and YouTube. As the Slide team joins Google, we’ll be investing even more to make Google services socially aware and expand these capabilities for our users across the web.

While we don’t have any detailed product plans to share right now, we’re thrilled to welcome Max and his very talented team to Google, and we can’t wait to work together to give people more and better tools to communicate and connect.

Posted by David Glazer, Engineering Director