.::REALITYRECALL::.

Posted by Grace Kwak, Product Manager

Today we’re adding two features that make it easier to customize Google Calendar. First, you can now change your default event length from the standard 30 minute slot. If you frequently create 15 minute meetings, for example, you can now make 15 minutes the default length for all your events. This way, you don’t need to click into the event page to change the duration every time.

You can change the default length of your events from the Calendar settings page. Next to the “Default meeting length” option, choose the length you’d like from the drop-down menu on the right. From there, you can also enable “Speedy meetings,” which automatically shortens events that are 30 minutes or longer to allow you to prep for your next meeting or get to your next appointment if you have a packed schedule.

Second, for those of you who still prefer paper and print your calendar, you can now select a specific date range in the print dialog box. Google Calendar will automatically format your printout for the date range you choose.

We hope you find these new customization options useful. Let us know what you think on Twitter (@googlecalendar) or in the Google Calendar Help Forum.

BlackBerry 7 OS is coming soon but, to take advantage of all those fancy features like NFC and the digital compass (ok, some of them aren’t that fancy), devs are going to need some new APIs — enter the BlackBerry 7 Java SDK. Creators of BlackBerry apps can go download the beta of the new software development kit at the source link and start whipping up augmented reality browsers and 3D games, thanks to support for OpenGL ES 2.0. There’s nothing mind-blowing about RIM’s latest update, but we’re glad to see the corporate stalwart start to catch up to other smartphone OSes, and it’s only a matter of time before Layar and Quake hit the BlackBerry Bold 9900.

BlackBerry 7 gets an SDK, NFC, AR, other acronyms originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 10:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I was walking around the show floor today and caught a glimpse of Antec's Solo II chassis with a slightly different optical drive bay.

As the city of Winnipeg officially returned to the NHL fold and became Canada’s seventh team, former Ottawa Senators owner Bruce Firestone ruminated on a time when the league may even add two more Canadian hockey clubs.

The iPad has yet to transform the publishing world as many expected it would, but some healthy competition from Android tablets should help to keep that process in motion. Zinio‘s reader app is now available on select Android 2.2, 2.3, and all 3.0 tablets, bringing Esquire, National Geographic, and 20,000 other magazine titles to the Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and a half dozen other devices. And, to kick off the launch, Zinio is picking up the tab on the most recent issues of 24 top magazines, as long as you download by June 15. Digital subscriptions are still often more expensive than their print counterparts, but at least Android tablet owners will have a safer place to hide their issues of Playboy.

Continue reading Zinio comes to Android tablets, gives you 24 magazine issues for free

Zinio comes to Android tablets, gives you 24 magazine issues for free originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 May 2011 22:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Talk about a sacrifice that will warm your heart. A group of older Japanese folks are asking for permission to clean up the contaminated nuclear power station in Fukushima. More »

Apple software engineer Nirav Patel wanted to create something useful with his 3D printer, so he designed a system that generates any key from any lock from any manufacturer using just the lock code. Lol, what? More »

A spokesman for Canada Post said there’s still enough time to reach a deal with its postal workers, who are threatening to strike at midnight Thursday.

iPhones. iPads. Android. And Windows Phone 7! We’ve updated all of our essential apps lists to include a few forgotten favorites, some long awaited arrivals and, as always, even more amazing apps. Be sure to check out all the lists! More »

Microsoft has taken a big step forward and introduced a new version of its street view feature in Bing Maps, called Street Slide, and boy, is it awesome. Instead of getting periodic, fisheye-lensed images of the street, you get a continuous view of city blocks for easy landmark-spotting. More »

Toshiba announces Oak Trail-based WT310/C Windows tablet for Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 May 2011 18:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Maciek Nowakowski, Associate Product Manager

Today we’re excited to graduate three more features from the experimental testing ground of Gmail Labs. Superstars, Nested Labels, and Advanced IMAP Controls are now first-class citizens in the Gmail world, thanks largely to your feedback. We’re also retiring the Google Search box lab which was redundant with the “Search the Web” button that’s already in Gmail.

Superstars
Superstars, one of the most popular Labs features, provides different types of stars in addition to Gmail’s basic one. You can assign a certain star to special conversations and use another as a visual reminder that you need to follow-up on a message later. You can now choose your own set of stars from Settings:

Once you’ve done that, the stars will rotate with each consecutive click on the star icon.


Nested Labels
Labels are a great way of organizing your email; nested labels give you the ability to organize labels hierarchically. Starting today, nested labels are enabled for everyone along with a couple of small improvements such as a sticky collapse/expand state and better editing options.


To start using them, you can either create a new sub-label from the dropdown menu on the left hand side or just move an existing label under another one using the edit option:


Advanced IMAP Controls
This Labs feature provided a very useful set of advanced controls for those of you who access Gmail through IMAP clients (e.g. Outlook, Thunderbird, or your iPhone’s native mail app). Now it’s easier to take advantage of features like syncing only selected labels or limiting the folder size limit to improve your IMAP experience.


True to the original spirit of Gmail Labs, we’ll continue to add new features, graduate some, and retire others, so keep trying them out and sending us your feedback.

While fans in Winnipeg are celebrating the return of the National Hockey League to their city, the work is not done – not by a long shot.

Windows 7 has been out for almost two years now, and it doesn’t come as a surprise to many that it is now running on one in every three computers in the world, according to stats from StatCounter.com.

Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, where it was…

Despite our commander-in-chief’s seemingly undying allegiance to BlackBerry, it looks like the federal government could be ready to make a break from RIM. According to a Washington Post article published yesterday, a number of agencies within the federal government are questioning their attachment to the standard-issue BlackBerry devices, and allowing government employees to bring in their own preferred methods of communication — among other things, Congress now allows the use of iPads and iPhones on the House floor and use of BlackBerrys at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has dropped from 1,000 to 700 in the past year. What’s more, the General Services Administration is currently shifting 17,000 employees to Gmail, a move it says could reduce expenses by 50 percent in the next five years. Likewise, the USDA will also move its email services to the cloud with Microsoft’s services, claiming $6 million in annual savings. Now, we doubt Obama’s going to turn a blind eye to RIM entirely, but he has been getting awfully cozy with that iPad.

BlackBerry finally sees competition within US government originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 May 2011 16:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While fans in Winnipeg are celebrating the return of the National Hockey League to their city, the work is not done – not by a long shot.

Android: GrooVe IP is a a simple app that lets you use your Android phone’s Wi-Fi or 3G/4G connection with Google Voice to make unlimited calls in the US or Canada (or cheap international calls) without using voice minutes. It can be very useful overseas. More »

A web of rumor and suggestion has been spun in recent weeks about a new tablet-oriented version of Windows. But when major players like Acer start moanin’ and complainin’ about how they’re going to make hardware to run the new OS, that’s when you know something has to be afoot. According to Bloomberg, Acer CEO J. T. Wang spoke up at Computex to berate Microsoft for being too restrictive in what processors it will permit to carry its new baby, saying it is “really controlling the whole thing, the whole process.” And he wasn’t just speaking for Acer either, because he added that chip suppliers and PC makers “all feel it’s very troublesome.” It begs the question, if Steve Ballmer is borrowing Apple’s approach and becoming a control freak, why doesn’t he just go whole hog and build a Microsoft Tablet from start to finish?

[Thanks, Tiago]

Acer says Microsoft is too ‘controlling’ of Windows tablets, restrictions ‘troublesome’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 May 2011 15:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Everybody’s talking about George Lucas having already filmed his mysterious live action Star Wars TV show today. Just a reminder, we debunked this rumor last week. Sorry, there’s no huge stash of never-before-seen live-action Star Wars in the Lucas Bunker. More »

Well, the Pentagon is finally fed up with hackers picking on its buddies and foreign intelligence taking shots at its computer systems, and has decided that such cyber attacks can constitute an act of war. Of course, the powers that be won’t be bombing you for simply sending them some spyware, but attempts to sabotage US infrastructure (power grids, public transit, and the like) may be met with heavy artillery. It’s unclear how our government will identify the origin of an attack or decide when it’s serious enough to start shooting, but Uncle Sam is looking to its allies to help create a consensus answer for those questions. The retaliatory revelation is a part of the Pentagon’s new cyber strategy that’ll be made public in June — so saboteurs beware, your next internet incursion might get you an ICBM in your backyard.

Pentagon says cyber attacks are acts of war: send us a worm, get a missle in return? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 May 2011 14:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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