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Glide Mobile Cloud Extends Apple Safari Browser With Portable OS and 30GBs of Free Storage; Unveils New HTML5 Photo Editor With iPad Support
IDC Pours Cold Water On Reports Of Stellar Apple Growth
iPad Not Hurting Mac Sales
Make Phone Calls From Gmail
RIP, Yahoo Search: Why I'm Not Shedding A Tear
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Hate My Netbook
Firefox 3.6 Likely The End Of The Road For PowerPC Macs
New MacBook Air 2010: Faster CPU or Fewer Heat Issues?
Apple Releases Security Update 2010-005 For Leopard
Steve Jobs Is Watching You: Apple Seeking to Patent "Traitorware"
Ted Landau's MacBook Purchase Dilemma
SeaMonkey 2.1a3 Alpha Suite Browser Released
Stuck-in-the-'60s VW Dealer Gets Groovy
Intel Chief Says Obama Is (Still) Driving US Off A Cliff
Ready To Give Up Your Mac?
Glide Mobile Cloud Extends Apple Safari Browser With Portable OS and 30GBs of Free Storage; Unveils New HTML5 Photo Editor With iPad Support
TransMedia has launched the Glide portable web operating system and application suite for the Apple Safari web browser.
Glide OS 4.0 is a comprehensive Ad-Free cloud computing solution - a free suite of rights-based productivity and collaboration applications with 30GBs of free storage. Turn Off your popup blocker for full access to Glide's features. Glide supports the following browsers: Mozilla Firefox 3.5+, Apple Safari 5+, Microsoft IE 8+, Google Chrome 5+.
You can set up and administer up to six family member accounts including child accounts from your Glide settings panel. Users who want additional storage or would like to add additional users can upgrade to Glide Premium now with 250 GB of storage for $50.00 a year or 20 cents per GB per year. With a Glide Premium account you can also set up and administer up to 25 users. The Glide OS provides automatic file and application compatibility across devices and operating systems. With Glide OS you also get the Glide Sync App which helps you to synchronize your home and work files. You can even use Glide on virtually any mobile phone with a browser. To access Glide on your mobile go to:
http://glidemobile.com
To access Glide on your iPad go to:
http://www.glidelife.com/
The Glide OS and application suite plugin can also be added directly to your Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox browsers. Glide provides cross platform compatibility for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris, Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Palm Pre, Symbian and Windows Mobile users based on automated device identification and file transcoding.
Glide's automated web capture, cross-platform file conversion and synchronization technology transform the web into your personal hard drive and a powerful collaboration platform. Glide provides one search box and a bidirectional synchronized file management system to access and manage your personal files on your local desktop, search results and other online content. This makes it possible to seamlessly access and transfer data between the web and your local desktop(s). You can capture text, images, audio and video content online and automatically transfer web content to your local desktop as well as automatically publish files from your local desktop to the web.
To enhance your search experience, access Bing, Google or Yahoo! through http://www.glidelife.com and select and capture multiple search results. Glide automatically extracts web content into a Microsoft Word 2007, 97, 2003, XP, PDF, RTF, or Glide Write HTML document. Then select or create your target folder(s) and Glide will automatically add web content to a synced personal or rights-based collaboration folder for online and offline access.
"We are excited to launch support for the Apple Safari browser today," says TransMedia Chairman and CEO, Donald Leka. "By adding Glide to the Safari browser, Mac and PC users can conveniently access Glide as they browse the web."
Glide Photo Editor With iPad Support
The new Glide Photo Editor uses a combination of HTML5 and cloud processing power to provide fast, feature rich, online photo editing without taxing your browser delivering a premium photo editing experience on memory and processor limited mobile devices such as the iPad.
For more information, visit Glide OS:
http://www.GlideOS.com
and
http://www.glidelife.com/
IDC Pours Cold Water On Reports Of Stellar Apple Growth
ZDNet UK's Jack Clark reports:
On Monday, Charlie Wolf, an analyst with Needham & Company, issued a note to clients around IDC's figures for the second quarter of the worldwide computer market, zoning in on the apparent major growth by Apple products in the enterprise space.
Data from IDC showed that Mac shipments grew 49.8 percent in business, 31.4 percent in the home and 200 percent in government in the second quarter of 2010, all significantly beating the market growth figures of 15.7, 25.2 and 12.1 percent, respectively.
But the headline figure of 200 percent year-on-year growth within government is not quite so astounding when you look under the bonnet.....
For the full report visit here:
http://snurl.com/10t9vp
iPad Not Hurting Mac Sales
The Street's Trefis reports that as yet, Apple's iPad tablet doesn't appear to be cannibalizing the company's conventional PC sales, with Apple's market share hitting 4.19 percent in Q2 2010, up from 3.49% in Q1 with the number of Macsa shipped 18% greater - despite the April 3 iPad launch and stellar initial sales performance.Trefis observes that in light of Apple's robust PC market performance, it doesn;t appear that many consumers are choosing iPads over Mac notebook or desktop PCs, attributing the ascendency of Mac sales at least partly to the "halo effect" that the iPad's launch created around all Apple products, and also predicts that Mac notebooks will increase their market share from 5.04% in 2009 to 8.74% by the end of the forecast period and Apple's desktop market share to increase from 2.69% in 2009 to 6.49% by 2016.
For the full report visit here:
http://bit.ly/9zu0Xc
Make Phone Calls From Gmail
The Gmail Blog's Robin Schriebman says:
Gmail voice and video chat makes it easy to stay in touch with friends and family using your computer's microphone and speakers. But until now, this required both people to be at their computers, signed into Gmail at the same time. Given that most of us don't spend all day in front of our computers, we thought, "wouldn't it be nice if you could call people directly on their phones?"
Starting today, you can call any phone right from Gmail.
Calls to the U.S. and Canada will be free for at least the rest of the year and calls to other countries will be billed at our very low rates. We worked hard to make these rates really cheap (see comparison table) with calls to the U.K., France, Germany, China, Japan—and many more countries—for as little as $0.02 per minute.
To read more, click here.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/call-phones-from-gmail.html
For more information, visit:
http://gmail.com/call
RIP, Yahoo Search: Why I'm Not Shedding A Tear
PC World's Liane Cassavoy says:
It's official: Yahoo's search results in the U.S. and Canada are now fully powered by Microsoft's Bing. The announcement came on Tuesday, a little more than a year after the two tech powerhouses agreed to combine search forces in order to compete with Google. And while many are lamenting the passing of Yahoo Search, one of the Internet's true originals, I'm not among them. Here are three reasons why I think Yahoo Search had to go....
You can check it out at:
http://bit.ly/cBw878
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Hate My Netbook
Low End Mac's Jason Walsh says:
Readers inclined to trawl back through the Low End Mac archives may know that one of my Macs is, in fact, no such thing. It's actually a Dell Mini 10v netbook. (See Why I Didn't Wait for the Apple Tablet.)
How this machine came to be my primary working computer is a story in its own right, involving arrant stupidity in dealing with software (specifically the erase function), damage to hardware, and a distressing lack of funds. One inopportune data disaster too many and a bank manager with an angry look on his face (or so I assume - it's not as if anyone ever meets the bank manager anymore), and I needed a new Mac immediately. As in, that very day.
I bought the Dell Mini 10v because I knew it could run Mac OS X, because I could afford it at the time, and, most of all, because if I broke it - and I've broken more than a few laptops in my time - my career would not come crashing to a halt.....
I am pleased to say that the little machine that could (run Mac OS X) still works, and I am still using it daily. The honeymoon period, however, is most certainly over.
To read more, click here.
http://lowendmac.com/ed/walsh/10jw/hating-my-netbook.html
Firefox 3.6 Likely The End Of The Road For PowerPC Macs
CNET's Stephen Shankland says that the current version of Firefox likely spells the end of the road for people using PowerPC Macs, with a strong possibility only Intel-based Macs will be able to run the new browser, citing Mozilla's Firefox honcho Mike Beltzner's note Tuesday saying "I am gathering data on the number of PPC users we have, but the likely outcome is that we will not be supporting PPC [PowerPC] for Firefox 4," although he threw out a straw for PPC fans to grasp by hinting that there might be a security-current browser offered to PPC users, but called something other than Firefox.
Mozilla has already cut off Firefox support for Mac OS X 10.4 after version 3.6, and the new SeaMonkey 2.1 Alpha released yesterday (SeaMonkey is base on the Firefox browser engine) also dumped support for OS 10.4.
For the full report visit here:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20014666-264.html?tag=mncol
New MacBook Air 2010: Faster CPU or Fewer Heat Issues?
product-reviews.net's Jamie Pert speculates on a new generation of MacBook Airs potentially being unveiled at Apple's September keynote, observing thatne problem with current MacBook Air models is that they run extremely hot when used for extensive multimedia tasks."
The conundrum posed is which user priority to emphasize, the conflicting desires for faster performance va cooler operation, noting that the Core 2 Duo chips now used seem to suffer cooling problems in the MacBook Air's ultrathin chassis, so consequently a faster chip many Air fans are hoping for could logically cause even worse overheating problems.
product-reviews.net has posted a poll asking which of these priorities Apple should concentrate on with the 2010 MacBook Air.
You can check it out at:
http://bit.ly/90UDMG
Apple Releases Security Update 2010-005 For Leopard
Security Update 2010-005 (Leopard-Client) is recommended for all users and improves the security of Mac OS X. Previous security updates have been incorporated into this security update.
For information on the security content of this update, visit this website:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.
File Size: 211.88 MB
System Requirements
• Mac OS X 10.5.8
For more information, visit:
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1093
Steve Jobs Is Watching You: Apple Seeking to Patent "Traitorware"
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Julie Samuels reports:
It looks like Apple, Inc., is exploring a new business opportunity: spyware and what we're calling "traitorware." While users were celebrating the new jailbreaking and unlocking exemptions, Apple was quietly preparing to apply for a patent on technology that, among other things, would allow Apple to identify and punish users who take advantage of those exemptions or otherwise tinker with their devices. This patent application does nothing short of providing a roadmap for how Apple can - and presumably will - spy on its customers and control the way its customers use Apple products. As Sony-BMG learned, spying on your customers is bad for business. And the kind of spying enabled here is especially creepy - it's not just spyware, it's "traitorware," since it is designed to allow Apple to retaliate against you if you do something Apple doesn't like.
Essentially, Apple's patent provides for a device to investigate a user's identity, ostensibly to determine if and when that user is "unauthorized," or, in other words, stolen. More specifically, the technology would allow Apple to record the voice of the device's user, take a photo of the device's user's current location or even detect and record the heartbeat of the device's user. Once an unauthorized user is identified, Apple could wipe the device and remotely store the user's "sensitive data." Apple's patent application suggests it may use the technology not just to limit "unauthorized" uses of its phones but also shut down the phone if and when it has been stolen.
However, Apple's new technology would do much more. This patented device enables Apple to secretly collect, store and potentially use sensitive biometric information about you. This is dangerous in two ways: First, it is far more than what is needed just to protect you against a lost or stolen phone. It's extremely privacy-invasive and it puts you at great risk if Apple's data on you are compromised. But it's not only the biometric data that are a concern. Second, Apple's technology includes various types of usage monitoring - also very privacy-invasive. This patented process could be used to retaliate against you if you jailbreak or tinker with your device in ways that Apple views as "unauthorized" even if it is perfectly legal under copyright law.
Here's a sample of the kinds of information Apple plans to collect:
• The system can take a picture of the user's face, "without a flash, any noise, or any indication that a picture is being taken to prevent the current user from knowing he is being photographed";
• The system can record the user's voice, whether or not a phone call is even being made;
• The system can determine the user's unique individual heartbeat "signature";
• To determine if the device has been hacked, the device can watch for "a sudden increase in memory usage of the electronic device";
• The user's "Internet activity can be monitored or any communication packets that are served to the electronic device can be recorded"; and
The device can take a photograph of the surrounding location to determine where it is being used.
In other words, Apple will know who you are, where you are, and what you are doing and saying and even how fast your heart is beating. In some embodiments of Apple's "invention," this information "can be gathered every time the electronic device is turned on, unlocked, or used." When an "unauthorized use" is detected, Apple can contact a "responsible party." A "responsible party" may be the device's owner, it may also be "proper authorities or the police."
Apple does not explain what it will do with all of this collected information on its users, how long it will maintain this information, how it will use this information, or if it will share this information with other third parties. We know based on long experience that if Apple collects this information, law enforcement will come for it, and may even order Apple to turn it on for reasons other than simply returning a lost phone to its owner.
This patent is downright creepy and invasive - certainly far more than would be needed to respond to the possible loss of a phone. Spyware, and its new cousin traitorware, will hurt customers and companies alike - Apple should shelve this idea before it backfires on both it and its customers.
For the full report visit here:
http://bit.ly/apPtUJ
Ted Landau's MacBook Purchase Dilemma
The Mac Observer's Ted Landau says he's in the market to replace his three-year-old 15" MacBook Pro, but the purchase remains on hold until he can resolve his dilemma as to what to buy, Should it be a MacBook Pro or a MacBook Air? If the latter, should he wait for the rumored next update to the Air? Or perhaps he should forego any purchase at all, and attempt to make do with just his iPad for road work since his primary production computer is a Mac Pro.
You can read about Ted's deliberations here:
http://bit.ly/bb19es
SeaMonkey 2.1a3 Alpha Suite Browser Released
New in SeaMonkey 2.1 Alpha 3
SeaMonkey 2.1 Alpha 3 contains the following major changes relative to SeaMonkey 2.1 Alpha 2:
• The browser can now be themed with Personas (lightweight themes).
• The bookmarks system has been reworked to use the Places framework shared with Firefox.
• SeaMonkey now defaults to tabbed browsing instead of opening new windows.
• More compatibility with Firefox' tabbrowser API.
• The tab bar received a visual refresh.
• Address book toolbars can now be customized.
• Find in Page now works with a toolbar instead of a modal window.
• Gopher support has been removed.
• Web developers can animate content using CSS Transitions.
• XPCOM registration has been changed.
• The W3C Indexed Database API is now available to websites.
Complete exhaustive list of changes relative to the current stable release, Seamonkey 2.0.6, here:
http://www.seamonkey-project.org/releases/seamonkey2.1a3/changes#new
Users of older Macs also should note that support for OS 10.4 has been dropped from SeaMonkey 2.1a3, which means that it looks like version 2.0.6 is the end of the road for Tiger-users (and indications that all PPC support will be terminated for Mozilla Gecko/Firefox based browsers soon)
System requirements Mac
Operating Systems
• Mac OS X "Leopard" (10.5)
• Mac OS X "Snow Leopard" (10.6)
Minimum Hardware
• Macintosh computer with an Intel x86 or PowerPC G4, or G5 processor
• 200 MB of free hard drive space
For more information, visit:
http://www.seamonkey-project.org/releases/seamonkey2.1a3/
Download:
http://www.seamonkey-project.org/releases/2.1a3
Stuck-in-the-'60s VW Dealer Gets Groovy
spark360 TV shows how "Peace. Love. Happiness. Volkswagen." is working for a Texas VW dealership. Senior Producer Steven Swaim added, "It is so refreshing to see a company that completely embraces the counter culture of their industry. They not only talk about Peace. Love. Happiness. Volkswagen...they live it."
There's enough tie-dye and San Francisco folk-rock in the showroom of Lewisville Volkswagen to stage a Woodstock reunion. But the dealership's theme of "Peace. Love. Happiness. Volkswagen" isn't just a way to link the VW's iconic automotive brand to a specific era in American pop cultural history. spark360's new business profile shows how a unique, laid-back way of selling cars can put customers at ease by avoiding overly-aggressive sales tactics used by downer dealerships who, like, freak out when they don't meet monthly quotas. You dig?
Yet the spark360 story, available now for viewing at http://www.spark360.tv (video link - http://bit.ly/dCahaN ), also shows how the fanciful "Peace/Love" strategy has a serious underlying message; it's a way for the dealership's management and employees to honor the memory of a co-owner who died in a 2009 plane crash. William "Skipper" Beck wanted Lewisville VW to have a different approach to the car sales business. Beck also used his success with Lewisville Volkswagen to lend his support to philanthropic efforts in Africa, and general manager Alan Brown says his business continues that spirit by giving back to the North Texas community.
"He was very, very forward-thinking in making sure that customers had a wonderful facility such as we're sitting in right now," Brown tells spark360 host Renay San Miguel. "That made us different and still makes us different going forward, because we're still carrying that flag."
Actually, it's more of a mural than a flag - a large DayGlo-rich image complete with peace sign, heart and smiley face that greets customers entering the Lewisville Volkswagen showroom. Summer of Love-era music is heard; many employees - from management to sales people to VW service technicians - wear tie-dyed T-shirts, jeans and tennis shoes. Those style touches are designed to not only spark memories in baby boomers, but educate Generation X and Millennials in the car's history. Indeed, the spark360 cameras show off classic VW print ads from the 1960s and '70s decorating the walls of the dealership. And a mint-condition VW Beetle ("Bug" to a certain demographic) is front-and-center on the showroom floor.
"Our clients have some sort of story that they bring with them," Brown said. "Either a vehicle they had going through college or high school, or a vehicle that Mom and Dad had, whether it be a Beetle or a van. That first-time buyer that's coming in here that's 18-19 years old? Grandpa might have had one. There's some sort of connection within their family nucleus that gives them a story, that gives them an idea of that vehicle lasting forever and that vehicle having incredible quality and a lot of miles on it."
"Peace. Love. Happiness" can look great on a mural; can you sell cars with that philosophy? Absolutely, say Brown and sales manager Kevin Bedford. Potential customers are encouraged to visit other auto manufacturers and to take their time. Sales people will not "bug" them for a signature or commitment. "We actually tell clients right up front, 'We encourage you to take two or three visits with us,'" Brown said. "And that immediately sets the tone for them to have the experience that they are looking for, not the experience we're looking for them to have."
A "happiness guarantee" means if a customer is not pleased with their purchase of a new or used Volkswagen, they can bring the car back within 72 hours - no questions asked. "They (customers) want us to provide them with something different that they do not have when they go down the street to the other manufacturers," Bedford said, "and we provide that by being low-pressure."
Does that tactic work? With apologies to Buffalo Springfield, something's happening here: Lewisville VW is the largest volume Volkswagen dealer in Texas and it ranks high in customer satisfaction surveys in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. And the dealership was tops in sales in Texas - and seventh in the U.S. - in July 2010.
Senior Producer Steven Swaim added, "It is so refreshing to see a company that completely embraces the counter culture of their industry. They not only talk about Peace. Love. Happiness. Volkswagen...they live it."
"As someone whose first car was a used 1960's-era VW Bug, this story was definitely a trip in the Wayback Machine for me," San Miguel said. "But it was eye-opening that the VW brand still had such power in the 21st century, and that customers would respond to this unique take on auto sales. The fact that the 'Peace, Love, Happiness' theme was maintained by a man who is no longer with us, but is still in the hearts of his employees, makes this story such a compelling one to tell."
For more information, visit:
http://www.spark360.tv
You can view the video here:
http://bit.ly/dCahaN
Intel Chief Says Obama Is (Still) Driving US Off A Cliff
The Register's Rik Myslewski reports that Intel CEO Paul Otellini believes that the US is heading towards a second-rate status as a technology leader, and lays the blame on the Obama administration.
"The next big thing will not be invented here. Jobs will not be created here," unless government policies are changed, Myslewski cites Otellini telling a Tuesday forum at the Technology Policy Institute Aspen Forum's annual conference, whose theme this year is: "Innovation and Critical Policy Choices: Is the United States Losing its Edge?"
Myslewski notes that Otellini's remarks were a reprise of his nearly identical comments at a roundtable discussion held in the same venue last year, saying of the Democrat-led government in a cited CNET quote: "I think this group does not understand what it takes to create jobs. And I think they're flummoxed by their experiment in Keynesian economics not working," and reiterating that he is not a Keyensian and doesn't think government spending by the government is what will save the economy.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/25/otellini_blames_obama/
Ready To Give Up Your Mac?
More and more of the speculation I've read of late talks about extensive proposed changes to the Mac OS. There is that Apple patent filing that would add a touch interface, activated, evidently, by the direction in which the screen is tilted. So if you hold it flat, as determined by the accelerometer, you will be able to use the display in the same fashion as an iPhone and an iPad.
Here's the URL for today's commentary:
http://www.technightowl.com/2010/08/are-you-ready-to-give-up-your-mac/
Notes: You can also access our new RSS feed, available at:
http://www.technightowl.com/rss
Or our new Atom feed at:
http://www.technightowl.com/atom
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