.::REALITYRECALL::.

Google is updating its Street View service with increased coverage across Canada.

Microsoft said on Monday that users experiencing battery warnings from Windows 7 are by design.
Last week Neowin revealed reports of users receiving notifications that they should replace their laptop battery. The warning is triggered when a laptops BIOS detects a battery replacement is required. Windows 7 provides the following…

Windows 7 has a lot of neat new features (such as Aero Peek) that help you see what’s behind a window, but reader Verygoodyear shares a very simple, one-key solution for any Windows version that, surprisingly, is new to us.

When moving a window in Windows, if you move the window, keep your finger held down on the mouse and then press Esc, it puts it back where you got it from.

Some of you may have known about this before, but we were a little shocked when we read Verygoodyear's tip—it's perfect for checking what's going on behind the frontmost one without disrupting your window layout and you don't need to activate Aero Peek to do it. Were we just incredibly slow on the uptake on this one (it works all the way back to XP), or is this simple-but-useful shortcut new to you, as well? Let's hear it in the comments.

The youngest son of Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke was killed in a car accident in Indiana on Friday.

TechCrunch reports that Facebook is working on a full webmail system to replace their current messaging platform, including full POP and IMAP support and a customized @facebook.com e-mail address. The codename for the new system: Project Titan.

In the TechCrunch post, Arrington suggests that Facebook has been working towards a webmail service for some time, expanding their messaging platform to be searchable and allowing Facebook users to send messages directly to non-Facebook e-mail addresses. The site has also shown interest in giving its users a more accessible and more complete online identity with the recent implementation of personalized URLs and the proliferation of Facebook Connect login on third party sites.

Project Titan would take this effort a step further, giving users a personalized username@facebook.com e-mail address and letting them access it on Facebook itself or independently via POP and IMAP. Facebook already has 175 million people logging into their site each day, but adding a true webmail solution would be a strong step in their transformation from a centralized communications hub to a broader platform for staying connected online. [TechCrunch]

I wanted to let you know that on April 15, 2010 Microsoft will discontinue Xbox LIVE service for original Xbox consoles and games, including Xbox 1 games playable on Xbox 360. Our first step in this process will be to turn off auto-renewals for those members who only use Xbox LIVE on a v1 Xbox. While I can’t comment on the specifics, this change will allow us to continue evolving the LIVE service with new features and experiences that fully harness the power of Xbox 360 and the Xbox LIVE community. We did not make this decision lightly, but after careful consideration and review we realize that this decision will allow us unprecedented flexibility for future features. 

Xbox LIVE general manager Marc Whitten (Gamertag Notwen) has posted this letter to the community which provides additional context.

The best is yet to come, and we look forward to sharing more details in the near future.

The Atlanta Thrashers traded superstar captain Ilya Kovalchuk to the New Jersey Devils in a five-player blockbuster late Thursday.

Want a wall-sized satellite view of your neighborhood? A full-page street map of the town you’re visiting? Google Map Buddy, a free, portable map maker, grabs data from Google Maps and arranges it exactly how you want it.

When you un-zip and run Google Map Buddy, it asks you to choose your Google Map nationality, then opens a browser to let you search out the location you’re looking at. Once you get there, hit “Select area,” then draw a rectangle around the area you want to capture. After fine-tuning the zoom level and hitting “Create Map Image,” Map Buddy goes to work grabbing, tile by tile, your area’s map. It generates a generally high-resolution PNG of your area, and provides the individual map tiles to keep and arrange yourself into a larger grid, if you’d like.

The software itself can be described as "picky"—you have to "X" out any particular business or destination that pops up in a dialog box on the map, and after zooming in on the Google Map browser to your destination, Map Buddy asks you for a deeper zoom level than what you've already set. So it's not an elegant tool, exactly, but it does deliver the very printable, full-picture map of your destination.

Map Buddy is a free download for Windows systems only, and doesn’t require installation.

With advancements in touchscreen technology, people are rethinking how they interact with their devices. The days of using an external keyboard and a clumsy mouse could soon be long gone. According to Wired, a Portuguese company called Displax has created a thin, polymer film that can be peeled and stuck onto glass, plastic or wood surfaces — transforming basically anything (opaque or transparent, round or flat) into an interactive touchscreen.

The film is about 100-microns thick (i.e., really, really, thin), is equipped with a grid of nanowires, can measure anywhere from 3- to 120-inches diagonally, and, most impressively, can detect movement from up to 16 fingers at once on a 50-inch screen. To do so, the film uses a technology similar to what’s used on the iPhone; which, as you probably know, is pretty darn responsive to touch. But Displax’s film can do something that even the iPhone’s screen can’t. It can detect your breath (although we’re not sure why you’d want to interact with something by blowing on a screen).

Continue reading Thin New Film Turns Anything into a Touchscreen

Filed under: Computers

Thin New Film Turns Anything into a Touchscreen originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen a black-and-white Iron Man MacBook decal before, but this full-color one is much more striking. Although you’ve gotta be OK with equating Apple’s logo with the powers of a superhero. Fanboys. Buy one here: [Etsy via Geeky Gadgets]

The Calgary Flames traded Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust to the New York Rangers for fellow forwards Ales Kotalik and Christopher Higgins late Monday.

Microsoft has issued a reminder that in two weeks Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) users will begin receiving expiration notifications.
Windows 7 RC does not expire until 1 June 2010 but from February 15 users will begin seeing expiration notifications in the task bar one time per day and then a…

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced on Sunday that they have made a seven-player deal with Calgary, with Flames defenceman Dion Phaneuf the centrepiece.

Are you a sci-fi fan who has been looking for some great starship wallpapers for your desktop? Then you will definitely want to look through the “fleet” that we have gathered together for you today.

Note: Click on the picture to see the full-size image—these wallpapers vary in size so you may need to crop, stretch, or place them on a colored background in order to best match them to your screen’s resolution.

These wallpapers not exactly what you were looking for? Not a problem…look through our other wonderful wallpaper collections to find that perfect wallpaper to brighten up your desktop. You can also find more desktop goodness in our new Desktop Fun section.

How-To Geek Wallpaper Collections

• Desktop Fun: Underwater Theme Wallpapers
• Desktop Fun: Winter Theme Wallpapers
• Friday Fun: Retro Nintendo Wallpapers
• Totally Awesome Lego Wallpapers for Your Desktop
• Awesome Desktop Wallpapers: Guitar Edition
• Awesome Desktop Wallpapers: Abstract Art Edition
• Awesome Desktop Wallpapers: Windows 7 Edition
• Fun Wallpapers: The Linux Desktop Edition
• Amazing Desktop Wallpapers: Castle Theme Edition

Firefox: Mozilla’s out with the 1.0 of its Weave project, and it delivers on what it first promised—quiet, complete syncing of bookmarks, passwords, preferences, history, and even open tabs. It also heralds the coming of a really cool mobile experience.

If Weave synced your currently installed add-ons, you’d be up and running after a fresh Firefox installation in 2 minutes. As it is, Weave is still a very efficient and lightweight sync of your core Firefox experience, allowing you to maintain multiple Firefox installations across computers and operating systems. Xmarks does bookmark and password syncing too, and across other browsers, but Weave doesn't offer site "discovery" services or other value-added stuff—just a way to automatically connect your Firefox browsers, and even browsing sessions.

That syncing of open tabs is where Firefox Mobile, just out in a third release candidate, will really shine. As Jay Sullivan told us, the idea is that the minute you step away from your desktop or laptop and wake your phone up, Firefox Mobile will pick up on the tabs you had open while you were sitting down.

Weave syncs through Mozilla’s servers. If you’d rather sync up your passwords and bookmarks to your own hardware or cloud space, Mozilla offers instructions on setting up your own server.

Weave 1.0 is a free download, works wherever Firefox 3.5 or higher (or Firefox Mobile) does.

Apple is developing a knack for ignoring products already on the market, and picking whatever name they choose. Back in 2007, it was the iPhone, which shared its name with (or, robbed its name from) a VoIP handset sold by Cisco Systems. Those two companies eventually reached a settlement allowing Apple to use the name, and, now, with the release of the iPad, the Cupertino lawyers will have to go back to work in a dispute with Fujitsu.

It turns out that Fujitsu filed the name “iPad” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office back in 2002, but the process was held up because of a previous filing for a PIN pad of the same name by Mag-Tech. Fujitsu’s iPad is a mobile point of sale (POS) device that let retailers check inventory and make sales while on the go.

Continue reading Fujitsu and Apple Clash Over iPad Name

Filed under: iPhone

Fujitsu and Apple Clash Over iPad Name originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Joe Wilcox, Betanews

Yesterday, I asked Betanews readers if they would buy and Apple iPad. You responded with a resounding, “No!” I won’t buy one either, and I’ve got 12 reasons why. I couldn’t limit the list to the usual 10. I’ve got a dozen.

For me, there’s relief in yesterday’s iPad announcement. After nearly a month of insanity — with geekdom acting like Jesus was coming on the clouds to set up his heavenly kingdom — the aura is fading. Apple’s tablet didn’t live up to the hype or the lofty “it will change the world” expectations so many people attached to it. Some pundits called Apple’s smartphone the Jesus phone. I don’t expect that many will assign such aspirations to iPad, which isn’t the slightest bit category changing.

I agree with Samuel Axon, who writes at Mashable: “The iPad isn’t going to be a phenomenon with either netbook users or power users. It’s not better than existing devices at anything, and it’s too expensive for most people to use it as a secondary device.” My prediction: Apple’s tablet will be Jack of trades and master of none.

With that, I present my dozen reasons for not buying iPad, despite the allure of its pretty user interface. Perhaps as some Betanews readers asserted, iPad will be a version 3 success. That product is years away. Now to my reasons:

1. The iPad isn’t good enough to replace smartphone or laptop. Apple’s tablet offers too much functionality that overlaps the smartphone below and laptop above. The overlap makes the $499 to $829 price hard to justify. The iPhone 3GS, many Android smartphones (like the Nexus One) and Nokia N Series handsets offer most of the important, similar capabilities, with benefit of persistent data connection. The smartphone is a device always and easily carried, while the iPad is too big for the pocket.

A Windows laptop would offer way more functionality — and for about the same price, or even less, than iPad. Sure, iPad costs less than a Macbook or MacBook Pro, but those laptops run a real desktop operating system, while iPad packs iPhone OS. From that perspective compared to Windows laptops, iPad costs even more for much less.

More importantly — and this should have been a separate point — there’s no multitasking. My smartphone and laptop allow background applications to run. From that perspective, iPad is functionally inferior to the two other devices.

2. Persistant data connection costs too much. The cheapo, 16GB model sells for $499 with 802.11n wireless. For 3G, buyers must pony up between $629 and $829 plus another $30/month to AT&T for data service. Well, there's a 15-buck plan for 250MB of data. Amazon's Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook ebook readers come with free 3G service. Sure, iPad does so much more, but the user not only pays about twice as much for the device but $15 or $30 month, instead of nothing. The bigger question: Why pay for two 3G services — smartphone and iPad? My answer is none.

3. Web experience is inferior to other devices in its size class: Apple’s promotional Website claims that iPad is “the best way to experience the Web.” But the device doesn’t support Adobe Flash, for starters, and that means the experience is no better than iPhone or iPod touch and less than comparably sized PC slates or netbooks running desktop or desktop-class browsers. Hell, my smaller Nokia N900 smartphone, with 800 x 480 screen resolution, packs a full Mozilla browser that runs Flash.

4. Screen resolution is inadequate: iPad’s native screen resolution is only 1028 x 768. That’s simply too little for the size and price, particularly when many PC slates, netbooks or laptops offer higher screen resolution for about the same price. Pixel density is 132 per inch. By comparison, my N900 is 267 pixels per inch — granted with only 800 x 400 display. But iPad ships with a LED display, for which I want more ppi, not less.

5. Aspect ratio is 4:3 in a 16:9 world. Widescreen everything is today’s video consumption standard. But iPad’s aspect ratio takes you back to the last decade. My smartphone not only displays video in 16:9 ratio, it shoots photos that way, too.

6. It’s nothing more — and some things less — than a big iPhone (without cellular voice) or iPod touch. Like its small siblings, iPad runs iPhone OS, accesses iTunes Store and built-in App Store, displays photos, plays movies and music, etc., etc., etc. OK, so there is iWork and bigger screen. I’m not pining for the differences.

7. There’s no camera. But there should be two, one pointing outwards for taking photos and supporting applications and another inward facing for video conferencing. Camera is one of the greatest utilities on most portable devices, whether cell phones, laptops or even netbooks. Camera already is important on cell phones for using third-party services like Amazon product search, barcode search and location informational services.

8. Connectivity options are limited without paying more money. In the Apple world of giving users less they pay more to get what they need. The iPad uses the same connector as iPhone or iPod touch, and Apple ships the same USB cable as comes with the smaller devices. There’s no HDMI port or any other useful one. It’s either pay Apple more for the connectors — gasp, even for a digital camera — or make do with wireless options, which should be good enough for printing but not connecting to projectors or TVs.

9. Accessories tell the real story — iPad isn’t good enough at any of its price points. Reiterating #8, iPad demos well as a slick tablet, but to use many of its features users will need to pay more to Apple for accessories, like the aforementioned camera connectors (there are two) and the keyboard dock. During yesterday’s iPad launch event, Apple CEO Steve Jobs emphasized the ease of using the virtual keyboard like a real one. But writing for Gizmodo, John Herrman asserts: “The iPad’s onscreen typing solution Isn’t a solution at all.” The thumbs are important for typing on smartphones, but iPad’s virtual keyboard needs to be more touch-type ready. Hermann writes: “Seriously, this thing’s got its own version of iWork — you’re supposed to type on it. That explains the giant hardware keyboard attachment, I guess!”

10. The iPad requires a Mac or PC. That USB connector comes with iPad for a reason. The tablet would make more sense as a standalone device connecting to cloud services. In #1, I dinged iPad for not being a smartphone or laptop replacement. Sadly, that’s by design.

11. There’s no GPS on three models — not without 3G radio. No-3G limits the device’s mapping capabilities and its ability to spatially orientate for using augmented reality applications. The accelerometer and compass are OK — as they are on iPod touch — but 3G makes a big difference when also orienting location. GPS is available on three 3G iPad models, but buyers will pay more for the device and for monthly data service fees.

12. It’s a closed system. Actually it’s a step backwards. Apple has brought back the onerous developer non-disclosure agreement. Apple had lifted NDAs for App Store, but they’re b-a-a-a-ck! At a time when Google and Nokia are pushing open-source operating systems and mobile applications stacks, Apple’s approach ranks of last-century software development practices. We’ve been there with Microsoft. Must we trade Microsoft closed for Apple closed? Something else: Everything is tied to iTunes Store, which is as closed as Apple is secretive about new products.

Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010