Okay, so 2.35 million downloads in a single day is nothing to scoff at, but it’s also not a monumental achievement in terms of browser downloads in the first 24. A post to Internet Explorer’s official blog used the word “wow” to describe the IE9 numbers, but considering Firefox 3 got the Guinness world record for most software downloads in a day, with 8 million way back in 2008, we’re reluctant to call this news wow-worthy. Given, Firefox 3 was available for both Mac and PC, but it still beat Windows’ new browser three times over. Don’t get us wrong, we like IE9, but we still think a little bit of modesty goes a long way.
On Saturday March 19, we will be treated the largest full moon in some time. Don't worry about this perigee moon causing tidal weirdness — this extra-large moon will simply be 14% bigger and 30% brighter than apogee moons. More »
It’s not just desktop web browsers getting hacked at this year’s Pwn2Own challenge — mobile browsers have also been targeted for vulnerabilities, and a fairly big one has now been found in RIM’s browser for BlackBerry OS 6. Apparently, there’s a JavaScript-related bug that could let a “maliciously designed” website gain access to data stored on both the phone’s media card and built-in storage, but not data stored in the storage portion for applications (such as email or contact information). For its part, RIM says that it hasn’t actually seen any evidence of anyone exploiting the vulnerability, but it’s nonetheless urging folks to disable JavaScript on affected devices, and it’s now busy providing IT departments everywhere with guidelines on how to do so. If that proves to be complicated, it’s suggesting that you simply disable the BlackBerry Browser altogether until it can be patched.
It seems likely that Microsoft and RIM are about to unveil a new free-hosted BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES). The idea behind the service is to make it as easy to use as Apple’s MobileMe system, but be designed for business users.
According to ZDNet the service will be available to BlackBerry’s…
There aren't many sights in nature more breathtaking than Mt. Everest—especially when put against the unexpected backdrop of these stunning rainbow clouds. Captured by photographer Oleg Bartunov on a recent journey through the Himalyas, the phenomenon is the result of light reflected off of minuscule ice crystals in the cloud's vapor. That, or Michael Bay finally decided to tackle that Care Bears origin story. Either way, absolutely stunning. [Photo credit: Oleg Bartunov via Daily Mail] More »
BlackBerry OS 6.1 will introduce mobile hotspot, so you can share your cellular connection with 5 devices over Wi-Fi. A batch of slides demos how it’ll look.
This is refreshing news for those located in Saskatchewan. Just last week we let you know that the HTC Incredible S was coming to Canada on Virgin (possibly Bell too). Today, SaskTel has announced that this Android device will be available to their customers. On Twitter they stated that “Capture life in HD…the stunning HTC […]
Soda's bad for you, but plastics—especially the petroleum-based PET plastics used widely for bottles—are bad for everyone. Thankfully, after millions of dollars and years of research, Pepsi thinks it's cracked the code on a 100% plant-based PET bottle. More »
Michigan researchers have built a prototype of a new auto motor that does away with pistons, crankshafts and valves, replacing the old internal combustion engine with a disc-shaped shock wave generator. It could slash the weight of hybrid cars and reduce auto emissions by 90 percent.
The generator is about the size of a saucepot, and would replace the 1,000-pound power train in most cars — no transmission, cooling system, emissions regulation or fluids needed. Norbert Müller and colleagues at Michigan State University showed off the new motor prototype at a meeting with the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency.
It consists of a rotor carved with wave-like channels. Fuel and air enter through central inlets, and the rotor spins to block their exit through a separate outlet. The sudden build-up of pressure generates a shock wave, compressing the mixture. Then it’s ignited, and as the rotor keeps spinning, the outlet opens again to let the hot gases escape. New Scientist explains in further detail.
The novel generator would use about 60 percent of fuel for propulsion, according to MSU. This is a dramatic improvement over typical car engines, which use only 15 percent of fuel for forward movement. The system could also make cars 20 percent lighter, improving fuel economy even more.
MSU received a $2.5 million ARPA-E grant to develop the technology. Müller said he hopes to have an even larger 25-kilowatt prototype by the end of this year.
There will be sixteen games available on the Nintendo 3DS when it goes on sale on March 27, but its best games may be the ones built right into the machine. And video doesn’t show the half of it. More »
This animated short from Sucker Punch shows what happens to the poor fallen soldiers in Zack Snyder’s dark war universe. From the mind behind Harry Potter’s Deathly Hallows animation, Ben Hibon, comes “The Trenches.” Watch! More »
The Japanese Nuclear situation at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant is ongoing and ever-changing but if you were curious at how and what happened to cause such problems, this NHK video serves as a great explainer (it’s easy to understand, too). The video details the three safety precautions created to cool the nuclear reactor and discusses how all three have failed in some way. A must watch. [CNN via The Awesomer] More »
Remember the Galaxy Player (or Galaxy S WiFi) we saw back at MWC? Sure you do, it basically strips out the 3G and calling functionality of a Galaxy S phone and leaves you with a Android 2.2 media player or shrunken tablet. Well, it looks like both the 4-inch Galaxy Player 4 and the 5-inch Galaxy Player 5 will be headed to the US this spring. Samsung’s demoing the players here at its NYC Spring Product Showcase today, although it isn’t talking exact timing or pricing. Either way, it looks like this Android 2.2 player (it’s upgradable to 2.3, by the way) with full Market access will be headed stateside sometime soon. We’ve got the full specs after the break and we’ll be trying to dig up more details here — stay tuned.
When the new BlackBerry PlayBook finally becomes available there will be several locations to grab one: Rogers, TELUS,, Videotron, Bell stores and retail outlets such as The Source (owned by Bell), Sears Canada and now Staples Canada looks like they might be having available stock. This picture surfaced of what appears to be a “District […]
When we launched the new Google Docs last April, one of the big changes was moving comments to the sidebar and letting people reply to comments. Today, we’re updating comments in Google Docs to facilitate rapid and seamless discussions and integrate with email in an intuitive way. Since there are a number of significant improvements, this update is only available for newly created documents for now.
To start, we’ve improved the discussion flow by adding ownership and edit rights to individual comments. Each comment now has a timestamp and profile picture.
Google Docs doesn’t force you to delete comments. Instead, you can resolve comments to remove them from the visible document and view them later by clicking the discussions button at the top of any document. You can even re-open comments from here.
We know you can’t watch all of your important documents all day to see if there are any suggestions, which is why we’ve integrated comments with your inbox to facilitate more rapid and responsive communication. You can now add someone to a discussion with an @mention. For example, typing @eddy@altostrat.com in a discussion will send a notification email to Eddy with the text of your comment.
Eddy gets a message in her inbox with your question or comment.
She can easily click through to open the document itself to respond, or simply reply to the email.
The reply will show up in the document as soon as the email is sent.
To turn off email notifications for a document, just select Mute updates from this comment at the bottom of any email or select Discussion notification settings… from the Discussions drop down.
We’ve been using this next-generation commenting system inside Google for several months and have seen it make the feedback cycle shorter and get more people involved. The combination of added structure and intuitive email integration have really given life to the discussions that surround our documents, and we’re excited for this new feature to do the same for you.
Discussions will be available over the next few days to all users with personal Google Accounts as well as to Google Apps customers on the Rapid Release track. Please note that improved comments are only available in new documents at this time so if you want to try it out make sure to create a new document. The comments you’ve created in existing document won’t be changed.
We’re excited to hear what you think so let us know on in the comments.
Sanjay Jha and various leaks already told us as much, but here’s the official word: the WiFi-only Motorola Xoom is launching on March 27th for $599. Retail availability will be truly widespread, with Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, RadioShack, Sam’s Club, Staples and Walmart all offering up the Honeycomb tablet. Other than the omission of the 3G and 4G radios of the original Xoom, you’re basically looking at an identical hardware package. That includes a 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, a 5 megapixel autofocus camera, and a 10.1-inch display with 1280 x 800 resolution.
Have you been struggling to stay on top of your mobile bills ? With these Android applications, you can send free sms and monitor your mobile usage, so that you’ll never have to go over your monthly mobile allowance.
To accomplish this, we will use two Android applications: HeyWire for sending free local and international sms, and Droid Stats to monitor our monthly phone usage. Both of these applications are available for free from the Android market, so head over to the market, and install them when you are ready.
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