Monday, 31 December 2012

Windows 8 getting a built-in PDF reader, Metro-style

For what seems like an eternity, Download Squad readers have reacted to news of security exploits targeting Adobe Reader with a common sentiment: why doesn't Microsoft build its own secure PDF reader into Windows? Apparently the Windows 8 team agrees, and they're working away at an application called Modern Reader which is exactly that.

From the handful of screenshots Paul Thurrott has shared, it's clear that Modern Reader has been built with Metro in mind. You can see the Reader back button in the top-left corner of the yellow image and the minimal page navigation bar on the right. We've posted some larger images we managed to scrape from Google's cache after the break.

Thurrott also mentions that Modern Reader is the first program spotted which is built using AppX -- a packaging technology that may allow developers to roll a single build to both Windows 8 desktops and Windows Phone 8 mobile devices.

Continue reading Windows 8 getting a built-in PDF reader, Metro-style

Windows 8 getting a built-in PDF reader, Metro-style originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/windows-8-getting-a-built-in-pdf-reader-finally/

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I’m Bored. What’s Next?

boredIt’s just about 2013 and I gotta say, I’m a little bored. At least, the blogger in me is. As an investor things are just peachy. All this panic about overpriced consumer startups has led to a nice softening of the market (periodic reports of Blubbles are great for that). And other sectors, like business to business, is still under capitalized v. the consumer sector.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/zOMuUT45FpA/

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Zoho Docs 2.0 adds iPad support

zoho docs ipad
Zoho has offered an iOS app for a while now -- at least for the iPhone and iPod touch. Those of you who have been wanting to use the Zoho app on your iPad were out of luck, but that's no longer the case.

Zoho Docs 2.0 has landed in the App Store, and the most notable change is that it's now a universal app. Now you're able to take advantage of the app's mobile productivity powers on your larger iOS device. Retina display support has also been added, as have document sharing options -- which you can utilize in both the viewer and collaboration modes.

Just like the basic Zoho service, the app is available totally free of charge. Paid subscriptions get you additional storage space and start at $3 per month for professional use.

Zoho Docs 2.0 adds iPad support originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 22:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/zoho-docs-2-0-app-for-ipad-arrives/

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Snag a copy of “Old Computer, New Life: Restoring Old Hardware With Ubuntu”

Old Computer, New Life: Restoring Old Hardware With Ubuntu [affiliate link] is a guide that will help you breathe new life into that old desktop, laptop or netbook that you thought was obsolete and gathering dust on the shelf. There are a few hoops to jump through to get this guide, but it helps The [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/12/28/snag-a-copy-of-old-computer-new-life-restoring-old-hardware-with-ubuntu/

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Chocomize personalized chocolate: giveaway and discount code

chocomize
Okay, I know what you're thinking: chocolate on Download Squad? That's right! That's because Chocomize is one of the nerdiest ways to get chocolate online: it's a website where you customize your own bar using a multi-step process.

We've covered Chocomize before in our holiday gift guide, so when they reached out to us offering to do a giveaway, we really couldn't resist.

Chocomize is giving away ten gift certificates, each worth $50, for you to create your own customized chocolate. They sent us some pictures of their recent creations, which you can find in the gallery below.

Regardless of the giveaway, you can use the discount code switched to get 10% off any Chocomize order. The code is valid through April 20th - just in time for Easter!

To participate, simply leave a comment. Fine print is after the jump.

Continue reading Chocomize personalized chocolate: giveaway and discount code

Chocomize personalized chocolate: giveaway and discount code originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/giveaway-and-discount-code-chocomize-personalized-chocolate/

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Microsoft trumpets Windows Phone 7 numbers on first birthday

windows phone 7
Happy first birthday, Windows Phone 7! One year on, and the fledgling mobile operating system has 36,000 active developers in its AppHub community, 1.5 million downloads of its Developer Tools, and 11,500 apps in its Marketplace.

Microsoft is quick to take a couple shots at competitors' app stores, beating its chest about not re-counting tanslations of an app or "lite" apps, "increasing tonnage" by supporting apps from other mobile platforms, and not listing wallpapers as a category.

That's all fine and dandy, but we spend a lot of time sifting through WP7 app feeds -- and we're still not seeing a lot of awesome apps on the platform. We think a few marquee apps would've made a pretty nice first birthday present -- along with a much smoother update process for WP7 users.

Microsoft trumpets Windows Phone 7 numbers on first birthday originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/microsoft-trumpets-windows-phone-7-numbers-on-first-birthday/

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Sunday, 30 December 2012

How The Huang Brothers Bootstrapped Guitar Hero To A Billion Dollar Business

Screen Shot 2012-12-30 at 12.50.24 AMEditor’s note: Derek Andersen is the founder of Startup Grind, a 35-city event series hosted in 15-countries that educates, inspires, and connects entrepreneurs. He also founded Commonred (acquired by Income.com) and is ex-Electronic Arts. There are virtually no companies in Silicon Valley that exit north of $100MM or create a billion dollar business, that don’t raise Venture Capital funding. Charles and Kai Huang, the founders of Red Octane are the exception having done both. They went on to sell more than 30MM units of Guitar Hero becoming one of the top videogame franchises of all time. Recently I sat down with Charles at Startup Grind and heard this fascinating story. In 1999 Charles and his brother Kai founded Red Octane. Launching six months before Netflix, the goal was to be the Netflix of videogames. But six months after they launched the dot com bubble burst and so did their business. As funding completely dried up, the capital intensive rental business became unfundable. Of that time Charles said, “It looked like the whole valley was just going to die and go away. So that’s when we scrambled and looked at video game hardware, and eventually videogame software. That was the beginning of what was many lives of Red Octane.” Startup Survival. 2 Weeks Of Cash. They were gamers and were playing a lot of Playstation 1 games, especially the pirated stuff out of Japan. Dance Dance Revolution was just making it’s way to the States so they stated selling dance pads. “We realized the dance pads that we were buying and reselling were garbage, because they were breaking down and we thought we could make better dance pads than this,” Charles said. “I literally packed my bags, went to China, visited a few of these factories that made dance pads, figured out how they made them and took a bunch of suggestions that users had given us and incorporated them into new designs and so we started coming out with our own dance pads and believe it or not, that kept the company afloat (from 2001 to 2003).” Everything was sold online due to lack of cash. “We had to start that way because we couldn’t afford to sell to stores due to cash flow. The way it works is you sell to Gamestop and they don’t pay you for 60 to 90 days. We didn’t have the money to do that, so we had to sell everything

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/81i8mgCqGyA/

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Ask Engadget: best barebones workstation chassis?

Ask Engadget best barebones workstation chassis

We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is from Charles, who's capping off the year with a fine question about DIY PC chassis. If you're looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

"I work in motion graphics and it's upgrade time. I'm a DIY and Windows nut, so I'm looking to build my own tower, but the cases are all so horrible! I don't need a plastic window, or something that looks like it was designed by aliens -- just something that's sharp, solid, good looking and has a respectable airflow. Is that too much to ask?"

Well, we trawled our brains (as well as a fair chunk of the internet) looking for some classy chassis, and this is what we found:

  • Corsair's Obsidian 550D may have a plastic window, but otherwise it's a monolithic piece of imposing black metal that won't ugly up your office.
  • Coolermaster's Silencio 650 is hewn from diamond-cut aluminum and drops the plastic window, and given the company's heritage, should have excellent airflow.
  • Finally, there's the Lian-Li PC-A71F, which can only be described as terrifyingly sleek.

But what about you all? Let's cap the year off with some stylish PC cases, peace and goodwill to everyone and a very happy New Year to you, the Engadgeteers.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/bu81h6u1Srk/

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Best paid iPhone apps

Best paid iPhone apps

The App Store is flooded with apps, both good and bad, so it can be overwhelming to decided which apps you're going to spend your hard earned cash (or gift cards) on. Stress no more! We've gathered up some of our all time favorite apps that we believe to be worth every penny.

1Password 4

1Password 4 for iOS, re-written from pixel to bit to keep your data safe and more accessible than ever

1Password is not only one of the best apps for your iPhone, but one of the best for your iPad, Mac, and PC as well. With 1Password, you can say goodbye to using the same, insecure password for all your logins all over the internet and instead give each login its own individual secure password yet only need to remember one password to gain access to them all.

1Password is not just extremely useful and practical, but it's extremely well designed that gives the perfect combination of functionality and beauty.

Fantastical

Fantastical comes to iPhone, makes appointment entry ridiculously easy

Apple's built-in Calendar app is great and all, but if you want a superb calendar, take a look at Fantastical for iPhone. This awesome little calendar app lets you simply type your meetings in normal language and it translates them into an appointment for you. For example "meeting with Rene Ritchie next friday at noon" will automatically fill in the appropriate fields to schedule this event. If you're a quick typer, this is typically much faster than adding all the information yourself. Fantastical will make you wish you had more things to add to your calendar so that you can use it more. Seriously.

Tweetbot

Tweetbot for iPhone and iPad on sale for $0.99 each - today only

Tweetbot has been one of our favorite Twitter apps for quite some time, now. It's perfect for the power tweeter, with useful features like, intuitive gestures, granular notifications, and flexible mute filters all wrapped up in fun sounds and a great design.

Camera+

The iPhone's is, without question, an excellent camera, but the iPhone isn't exactly equipped with all the tools to make the most use out of it -- but Camera+ is! Camera+ is a photography app that is useful for both taking photos and editing them. With features ranging from separate exposure and focus points, stabilizer, dozens of effects and borders, different scene modes, and more, Camera+ is sure to help you grow to become the awesome iPhone photographer you desire to be!

iMovie

The still camera isn't the only great camera in the iPhone -- the video camera is also pretty great! But with the restrictions of simply shooting video and trimming clips, the built-in Camera app doesn't allow you to actually make movies, but iMovie does! iMovie is a fantastic video editor because it's super easy to make fun videos in just a matter of minutes. Videographers may yearn for more, but for everyone else, iMove is an excellent video editor for the iPhone.

Clear

Clear review: A bright, bold new generation of task management for iPhone

Clear is a task list app for those who don't like task list apps -- a new, gesture-based approach that's manages to be simple without being simplistic. It takes an almost Windows Phone Metro-style approach. It's not a task app for those who want power features or a more traditional interface. But for anyone new to todos, who wants something fresh and fun, who just has a few lists of a few items and finds Reminders far too much of a chore, Clear might be the perfect place to start.

Solar : Weather

Solar : Weather for iPhone review

Sure, the built-in Weather app on the iPhone gets you basic weather information in a somewhat appealing packages, but it's nothing compared to Solar : Weather. This little gem is a unique weather app for the iPhone that offers a one-of-a-kind interactive UI and experience. Instead of simply displaying the weather forecast for you, Solar: Weather will display different information based on gestures. For example, swiping up with scroll through the 24-hr forecast, swiping down will display the 3 day forecast, and swiping left/right will switch between locations. It's actually very fun to use.

Launch Center Pro

Tap an app icon on your Home screen and what happens? The app opens up, that's it. Tap an app icon in Launch Center Pro and what happens? Messages are ready to write. Events are ready to be added. Movie times are there for you to see. And much, much more. That's because Launch Center Pro doesn't just launch apps, it launches actions. Sure, iOS doesn't allow real app-to-app communication yet, but App Cubby, the makers of Launch Center Pro, have toiled away taking what Apple does allow -- the URL schemes that let apps send and receive small amounts of information in links -- and made something not only wonderful, but wonderfully productive.

Instapaper

Instapaper is one of the most popular read-later services on the web and iPhone that saves web pages and articles for offline reading and is optimized for readability on your device's screen. It offers a distraction-free text only environment with the ability to adjust fonts, text sizes, line spacing, and margins to truly satisfy your specific reading needs. You can save articles to Instapaper via a bookmarklet that you save in Safari or from one of the many Twitter, reading, and social apps in the App Store.

Reeder

If you use Google Reader, you want Reeder - plain and simple. It's an RSS reader that will sync with your Google Reader account and present your feeds on a beautiful and clean interface. You can also choose to sync with Fever and Readability and Reeder allows you to share to nearly every social service out there.

Instacast

Instacast 3 is the all new version of Vemedio's popular iPhone and iPad podcasting app. With it, Vemedio has switched out a lot of old methods for newer technologies like automatic reference counting and Core Data to make Instacast better and faster. Alongside these fancy new technologies is Instacasts new Cloud sync. Instead of using Apple's iCloud to keep your podcasts in sync, the folks at Vemedio put in a lot of work to create their own. All you need to do to use it is sign-up for a free account and all your data will be seamlessly moved to the cloud. If Apple's free Podcasts app isn't up to your needs, give Instacast a whirl.

Byword

Byword for iPhone and iPad review

Byword is a text and Markdown editor that focuses on being simple, distraction free, and beautiful. It's available on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac and can keep all your work in sync via iCloud or Dropbox. It also features a special keyboard with a swipable row at the top that includes selective word and character counters, a tab key, smart paring characters, and undo key, Markdown helpers, and more.

iWork: Pages, Numbers, and Keynote

Apple updates iWork apps Pages, Keynote, and Numbers

Want to create posters, write papers, design spreadsheets, and create presentations? Apple's iWork suite consisting of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote has go you covered. All three of these apps are available on both the iPhone and iPad and sync over iCloud with their Mac counterparts.

Your favorite paid apps for iPhone?

This really is just a short list of fantastic apps out there, and we know there's some other great ones that have been left out. That's where you come in! What are the best paid apps you have installed on your iPhone and use regularly? Let us know in the comments below!



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/qYr411k1OII/story01.htm

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Toyota pulls Cydia theme and ads to appease Apple

Apple asks Toyota to remove jailbreak Cydia theme
In news that will no doubt shake the very bedrock of your belief system, Apple has asked Toyota to remove its Scion theme and its advertising from ModMyi, a Cydia repository. The Scion theme has been available for weeks, but after it received a ton of press in the last couple of days, Apple finally lashed out.

It's not like we should be surprised, considering Apple has claimed in the past that jailbreaking is illegal -- but at the same time, did the Cupertino cronies hear about the ruling that made circumventing DRM, and thus jailbreaking, legal? Anyway, whether Toyota was supporting illegal, legal, or deliciously gray and ambiguous, activity, it doesn't matter: Apple asked Toyota to remove the theme, and Toyota graciously bent over and capitulated.

This story raises a much more interesting topic, though: this is the first time a multinational company has publicly acknowledged and embraced the jailbreak community. Considering jailbreaking is technically legal, and Cydia's creator, Jay Freeman, estimates that up to 9% of OS devices are jailbroken, it simply makes good, commercial sense to target jailbreakers with ads. Toyota was simply trying to make some money, for shame!

As long as Apple continues to throw around its increasingly-expansive mass, the legality of jailbreaking will continue to be inconsequential. It will be interesting to see if another big company dares embrace the jailbreak community after this, too.

Toyota pulls Cydia theme and ads to appease Apple originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 05:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/toyota-pulls-ios-jailbreak-theme-and-ads-to-appease-apple/

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Saturday, 29 December 2012

Sony 'Xperia Z' and 'Xperia X' rumored for CES unveiling, January release

Android Central

By now we’ve heard plenty of leaked details about Sony Mobile’s next big thing, the ‘Yuga,’ also rumored to come to market as the Xperia Z. We’re due a 5-inch, 1080p phone with a glass back, a 13MP camera and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, if recent rumors are to be believed. But fresh details from China suggest that the phone could be released as early as mid-January in that country, and in some territories another model, the ‘Xperia X,’ may be offered instead.

The reports come from Chinese site ePrice, which has a history of leaking information about upcoming Sony phones. The Xperia X, it’s said, will be almost identical to the Z, with only design differences being reported. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Sony adopted a similar strategy this year with its Xperia T and Xperia TX. The T was released in Europe with an external microSD slot, while the TX hit Asian markets a smaller battery.

ePrice reports that the Xperia Z is almost certain to be unveiled at CES in early January, which should come as no surprise considering Sony’s track record of showcasing major phones at the event. A domestic Chinese launch is purportedly scheduled for around Jan. 15. No word on when Xperia Z or X will launch in Europe, but with strong Android competition from HTC expected at Mobile World Congress in February, Sony may want to follow up with a quick international launch.

We’ll be live from Sony’s CES press conference in early January to bring you full details of whatever’s announced.

Source: ePrice; via: UnwiredView



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/HoXy9TUXzNI/story01.htm

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social media: Virginia Town Releases Crime-Fighting App

social media: Virginia Town Releases Crime-Fighting App
Crime-fighting is tough. Look at Batman. That guy's a mess. Still, for most people, if you witness a crime you want to do something about it. And while screaming "citizen's arrest" seems about as toothless as a substitute teacher in ...

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/12/crime-fighting-app/

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rumor watch: Leak: BlackBerry Messenger Will Feature FaceTime-Like Video

rumor watch: Leak: BlackBerry Messenger Will Feature FaceTime-Like Video
While RIM's stock is taking a beating, the leaks leading up to the BlackBerry 10 operating system and devices launch are on par with Apple and Microsoft.

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/12/facetime-like-bbm-video-feature-leaked/

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Toyota pulls Cydia theme and ads to appease Apple

Apple asks Toyota to remove jailbreak Cydia theme
In news that will no doubt shake the very bedrock of your belief system, Apple has asked Toyota to remove its Scion theme and its advertising from ModMyi, a Cydia repository. The Scion theme has been available for weeks, but after it received a ton of press in the last couple of days, Apple finally lashed out.

It's not like we should be surprised, considering Apple has claimed in the past that jailbreaking is illegal -- but at the same time, did the Cupertino cronies hear about the ruling that made circumventing DRM, and thus jailbreaking, legal? Anyway, whether Toyota was supporting illegal, legal, or deliciously gray and ambiguous, activity, it doesn't matter: Apple asked Toyota to remove the theme, and Toyota graciously bent over and capitulated.

This story raises a much more interesting topic, though: this is the first time a multinational company has publicly acknowledged and embraced the jailbreak community. Considering jailbreaking is technically legal, and Cydia's creator, Jay Freeman, estimates that up to 9% of OS devices are jailbroken, it simply makes good, commercial sense to target jailbreakers with ads. Toyota was simply trying to make some money, for shame!

As long as Apple continues to throw around its increasingly-expansive mass, the legality of jailbreaking will continue to be inconsequential. It will be interesting to see if another big company dares embrace the jailbreak community after this, too.

Toyota pulls Cydia theme and ads to appease Apple originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 05:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/toyota-pulls-ios-jailbreak-theme-and-ads-to-appease-apple/

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LG Optimus G is certified 'Carbon-Free'

Optimus G

The LG Optimus G may not have received Jelly Bean just yet, but it did get certified as Carbon-Free from the CarbonFund Foundation. Along with other LG products, including refrigerators, washing machines, ovens and vacuum cleaners, the Optimus G was found to be environmentally friendly throughout the entire process of procuring raw materials, production, distribution, use, and disposal. This follows a trend LG started with the equally-green Optimus Elite.

We worry a lot about things like updates and market share, but as temporary users of this planet we should also care about the impact our hobby has on the environment. While any manufacturing process will leave some scars, it's refreshing to see companies try to be as gentle as possible on this blue marble. And don't forget we can do our own part by responsibly disposing of our tech toys when they have outlived their usefulness. Your carrier store or local Best Buy (among other retailers) will be happy to dispose of non-working electronics and send them off for recycling.

Kudos LG.

Source: LG (Korea)



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/7coOxim1CMU/story01.htm

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