Home
Downloads
RSS
AMD is preparing to launch its new Radeon HD 2950PRO (RV670) chip on November 19, according to sources at graphics card makers. The company recently notified graphics card makers that design verification test (DVT) samples will be sent out at the beginning of this month and AMD will start producing a batch of 1.5 million chips in the first week of November.
The Radeon HD 2950PRO will continue to adopt the R600 chip structure. It will support DirectX 10.1, Shader Model 4.0, PCI Express 2.0, UVD and CrossFire technology. The chip also features built-in HDMI, HDCP and 320 stream processors per GPU.
Source : DigiTimes
| Continue Reading..
AMD to launch RV670 on November 19
Online Videos May Be Conduits for Viruses
Online videos aren't just for bloopers and rants - some might also be conduits for malicious code that can infect your computer. As anti-spam technology improves, hackers are finding new vehicles to deliver their malicious code. And some could be embedded in online video players, according to a report on Internet threats released Tuesday by the Georgia Tech Information Security Center as it holds its annual summit.
The summit is gathering more than 300 scholars and security experts to discuss emerging threats for 2008 - and their countermeasures. Among their biggest foes are the ever-changing vehicles that hackers use to deliver "malware," which can silently install viruses, probe for confidential info or even hijack a computer.
"Just as we see an evolution in messaging, we also see an evolution in threats," said Chris Rouland, the chief technology officer for IBM Corp.'s Internet Security Systems unit and a member of the group that helped draft the report. "As companies have gotten better blocking e-mails, we see people move to more creative techniques."
With computer users getting wiser to e-mail scams, malicious hackers are looking for sneakier ways to spread the codes. Over the past few years, hackers have moved from sending their spam in text-based messages to more devious means, embedding them in images or disguised as Portable Document Format, or PDF, files.
Source : News source
| Continue Reading..
Apple Sued Over iPhone Price Cuts
An owner of Apple's iPhone filed a federal lawsuit against the digital media giant, claiming that the price reduction injured early adopters, like herself, because they cannot resell the product for the same profit as those who bought the cell phone following the price cut. Dongmei Li of Queens, N.Y., claimed the company violated price discrimination laws when it slashed the price of the 8-gigabyte iPhone by a third, from 36;599 to 36;399, within two months of the gadget's June debut.
Apple lowered the iPhone's price on Sept. 5 and also said it would stop selling the 36;499 4-gigabyte model. Hundreds of early customers who paid full price didn't expect a reduction so soon and complained. Apple issued an apology the next day. Under its return policy, Apple refunded the 36;200 difference for those who bought the phone within 14 days of the reduction. And in a move to make peace with those who purchased the higher-priced phone before that period, the company offered a 36;100 credit at Apple stores.
Li purchased a 4GB iPhone for 36;499 and alleged that owners of the 4GB model were given less favorable terms than those who bought the 8GB model at the premium price, according to the lawsuit. Apple spokeswoman Susan Lundgren declined to comment, citing the company's policy to not discuss pending litigation.
Source: Yahoo! News
| Continue Reading..
Internet Explorer 8? 2008? 2009?
Internet Explorer 8 followed by a question mark and an interrogatory tone is about all that can be said about the successor of Internet Explorer 7 at this point in time. IE7 for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 went live in October 2006, then the browser was also integrated in Vista, and it shipped as a default installation of the operating system in November 2006 and January 2007. But after IE7, Microsoft has gone completely mute on what comes next. Sure Chris Wilson, IE Platform Manager, did provide some details related to Internet Explorer 8.0 at MIX07 in Las Vegas, and the most important was that IE8 would drop two years after IE7.
This means either that Internet Explorer 8 could be made available by the end of 2008, or even in the beginning of 2009. But, the IE team is now closing in to a whole year of unnatural silence.
"IE7 was done, really done, by the end of the Summer in 2006. Heck, it was done except for bug fixes when I left in May, 2006. It is now, officially, the Fall of 2007. It has been more than a year since work finished on IE7. More than 200 people work on Internet Explorer (heck, if you count "contingent staff" as well as employees, there were more than 120 QA people on IE in mid-2006 and I bet over 100 developers). They’ve all been working on something for a year now. You wouldn’t know it by any public announcements, demonstrations, or [blog] posts," revealed Al Billings, a former member of the IE team.
The first beta of Internet Explorer 7 was delivered at the end of July 2005. The first release candidate for IE7 became available in August 2007, almost a year after. The current version of IE spent a total of 20 months in development, including the planning stage. At this time, Microsoft is dogfooding Internet Explorer 8, but the browser is available exclusively in house. There are absolutely no signs indicating that IE8 has evolved past the alpha phase. But one thing is for sure, Microsoft started building IE8 in January 2007, and taking into consideration the timeframe it took to get IE7 to users, IE8 appears to be heading for 2009. Meanwhile, Mozilla is getting closer and closer to the first beta for Gran Paradiso (Firefox 3.0) and Apple will release the final version of Safari 3 this month. Microsoft must realize that muting all details on IE8 is detrimental to both users and developers.
"I do agree though that the IE team needs to start talking to the developer community on a much more consistent basis. After the release of IE7 all online chats stopped. The online chats had been taking place every month since well before IE7 was under development. After the release of IE7 the bug reporting system was withdrawn. There have been vague promises that it was only temporary but it has now been almost a year and no replacement is in sight. The IE team does not have to give exact details of IE8 but their complete silence shows a complete lack of respect for the developer community," opined Dave Massy, a former Senior Program Manager on the IE team.
source: news.softpedia.com
| Continue Reading..
SmartCam turns Symbian Mobile Phone Camera To Webcam
Nowadays mobile phones with integrated cameras are very common. It has become the trend of having multiple functions such as camera, PDA (personal digital device) and cellular phone in the same gadget. Some may wonder that if the mobile phone camera can be extended to be used as PC webcam which doesn’t need a very high resolution but yet can be brought conveniently in the pocket. Now there is a solution for you. SmartCam is the right software to turn the built-in camera module in your Symbian-based mobile phones to the digital webcam when there is needed.
Being developed on SourceForge.net, the world’s biggest open source software community, SmartCam helps to transform your existing mobile phone’s camera to the digital webcam that can be paired with your PC for live chatting and video capturing. It was tested and worked with Nokia Symbian phone S60 series and should be compatible with most of the Symbian phones in the market. It supports famous Windows OS such as XP and Vista. The user just needs to install the program (downloaded free from sourceforge.net website) and they are ready to work with some basic instruction.
There is only one minor limitation, that’s the synchronization can only be accomplished via Bluetooth at this moment. Most of the user may not bother, since Bluetooth or wireless is preferred and convenience method over synchronous cable. This is useful especially for those that don’t have a webcam at home or when there is a need to use the webcam to have a live chat with family members when traveling overseas.
Source : mydigitallife.info
| Continue Reading..
News from Microsoft Land: 24th – 28th September 2007
Everybody admits that Windows is the most popular operating system in the world because it is installed on millions of computers from every corner of the planet. However, the customers adopted different flavors of Windows as Microsoft designed multiple versions in order match everybody’s needs. In the recent period, the software giant promoted Windows Server 2008 a lot and it seems that, after Windows Vista, it is the most important product signed by Microsoft. On Monday, the Redmond-based firm officially launched Windows Server 2008 Release Candidate 0, a testing version of the operating system which is supposed to come with most of the features requested by the consumers.
The application can be freely downloaded from the official website of the company, being addressed to IT professionals and developers, as the Redmond giant sustains.
"Our operations at Windrush [Frozen Foods] are up and running 24 hours a day, so it is critical for us to have a stable technology infrastructure," says Robbie Roberts, IT manager at Windrush Frozen Foods, a UK-based purveyor of frozen, chilled and ambient foods. "With Windows Server 2008 we are looking forward to taking advantage of clustering and data recovery features to help us provide consistent, uninterrupted services to our customers."
If you want to find additional information about Windows Server 2008, you can visit this official page provided by Microsoft.
"Today, Microsoft Corp. released its latest version of MSN Video, offering consumers and advertisers an enhanced experience by improving the ability to find and discover premium and user-generated video content from the expansive MSN Video library, adding new community sharing features, and introducing a new time-based advertising delivery model." This is how the Redmond software giant started a statement published on Tuesday which introduces the latest version of MSN Video.
There is not much to say about the new version of MSN Video, except that it now includes user-generated content published on Soapbox, another video sharing service powered by Microsoft. Also, it now provides improved search capabilities which make it easier for the fans of the product to find and organize their favorite videos.
"This latest release of MSN Video will make discovering, watching and sharing video easier and more entertaining than ever before," said Rob Bennett, general manager, entertainment, video and sports for MSN. "By increasing the discoverability of our deep catalog, making it easier to share videos with friends, and improving the advertising model, we are continuing in our mission to make video an integral part of the MSN experience."
source: news.softpedia.com
| Continue Reading..
20 Hidden Windows Vista Tools
The default installation of Windows Vista weighs in at approximately 8 GB. In fact, Microsoft's latest operating system won't even install with less than 15 GB of space available on the hard drive. This is valid for both the low-end and the high-end editions of the platform. A full Vista installation will take up no less than 40 times more hard disk space compared to Windows 95's 200 MB and five times more than Windows XP's 1.5 GB. Part of the reason why Vista hugs so much hard disk real estate space is the fact that the operating system brings to the table a plethora of built-in administrative tools that ship by default with the platform.
In this context, the term hidden, is not entirely accurate. Advanced users and system administrators have no problems tracking down and using the administrative tools in Vista. But at the same time, an average user could pass right by them, just because of their low footprint in the operating system's fabric, as they simply have a way to go by virtually undocumented and unnoticed. But this does not mean that the tools are not there, it just requires a bit of digging under the surface. And you will be surprised of how many long-time Windows users have failed to take a deeper look under the hood of the operating system, even if it would make their life so much easier.
You'll be surprised of what is lying beneath. But at the same time you have to understand that a large part of these utilities are not new to Vista, although they all suffered enhancements. Some of them are obviously survivors from older editions of Windows. But this is besides the point. You should at least be aware of the luxuriant resources within your grasp, provided of course that you are running Windows Vista. Also, while the tools exemplified in this article are to a certain degree common to all SKUs of Vista, you would do better to focus on the high-end editions of the operating system, such as Business, Enterprise and Ultimate, and less on Home Basic and Home Premium, as some items might be missing or limited in functionality on the latter two examples of the platform.
1. Task Manager
Right, I thought I would debut with something as common as the Start Menu. The Windows Task Manager can be launched via Ctrl + Shift + Esc, or by Alt + Ctrl + Delete, as well as by right clicking the Taskbar and choosing Task Manager from the options in the contextual menu that pops up. The Windows Task Manager in Vista is designed to run with standard user privileges, and as such, will not deliver a User Account Prompt. The tool will permit you to manage Applications, Processes, Services, and to monitor Performance, Networking and the active Users through the corresponding tabs. If you are looking to kill a program that is not responding, identify the process associated with a certain program or simply check the CPU cycles or the amount of system memory cached, then Task Manager is the simplest and most accessible tool.
2. Network and Sharing Center
"The Network and Sharing Center puts you in control of your network connectivity. It's a place where you can check your connection status, view your network visually, and troubleshoot connection problems. The Network and Sharing Center informs you about your network and verifies whether your PC can successfully access the Internet—then summarizes this info in the form of a Network Map," reads a fragment of Microsoft's description of the resource.
3. Backup, Shadow Copies, System Restore
There is an intimate connection between backup, shadow copies, system restore and restore points in Windows Vista. And there are two locations that will permit you to both have a general perspective of the status of the capabilities mentioned and to configure them, the Backup Status and Configuration and the Backup and Restore Center. Both can be launched by entering "Backup" in the search box under the Start Menu.
4. Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption
Available exclusively in Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate, Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption is designed to help ensure the privacy of sensitive data by encryption. Although the default configuration of BitLocker requires a Trust Platform Module, the fact of the matter is that TPMs are rare in use outside of corporate environments, but users will be able to use the tool nonetheless, although without some functionality. With Windows Vista SP1, the Redmond company will also allow users to encrypt additional volumes on top of the operating system drive, protected by default.
5. Program Compatibility Wizard
The Program Compatibility Wizard under Control Panel and Programs will permit you to use an older program with Windows Vista. The tool is designed to help users that are experiencing functionality issues with an application in Vista, although the problems were not there with a prior version of Windows. The wizard will detect all the programs installed, and also permit the selection and testing of compatibility settings. Everything from display settings, to desktop composition and to administrative privileges can be set through the wizard.
6. Microsoft Management Console 3.0
"Microsoft Management Console (MMC) hosts administrative tools that you can use to administer networks, computers, services, and other system components," reads an excerpt of the Redmond company's description of the resource. The Microsoft Management Console 3.0, also known as Console Root or Console 1, has been around since Windows 2000. You can open it by typing "mmc" in the Search box under the Start menu, in a Run dialog box or in a command prompt window. MMC is essentially not an administrative tool, as it does not perform any such tasks, but it does provide hosting for various components including: Local security Policy, Computer Management, Event Viewer, and the Reliability and Performance Monitor as snap-ins which can be added for local or remote computers on the network.
7. Computer Management
Computer Management is a collection of administrative components. Accessible by entering "Computer Management" in the Search box under Start Menu, you can find items placed in three categories: System Tools, Storage and Services and Applications. Computer Management comes with the Task Scheduler, Event Viewer, Shared Folders, Local Users and Groups, the Reliability and Performance Monitor, Device Manager, Disk Management, as well as Services and WMI Control.
8. WMI - Windows Management Instrumentation
"Effective management of PC and server systems in an enterprise network benefits from well-instrumented computer software and hardware, which allow system components to be monitored and controlled, both locally and remotely. Microsoft is committed to simplifying instrumentation of hardware and software under Microsoft Windows operating systems. Microsoft is also committed to providing consistent access to this instrumentation for both Windows-based management systems and legacy management systems that are hosted in other environments. The foundations for manageability in Windows operating systems are Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI; formerly known as WBEM) and WMI extensions for Windows Driver Model," reveals the company's introduction on WMI.
9. Services
Typing "Services" in the Search box under the Start Menu will open the tool with exactly this name. Essentially, the utility will provide an exhaustive list of all the processes in Windows Vista complete with name, description, status and startup type. The console will allow you to stop, restart or start various services across the operating system, as well as getting an insight into all the properties of the services enumerated by the tool.
10. Disk Management
Disk Management in Windows Vista is under Control Panel, System and Maintenance, Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Storage. A breeze to navigate if you were to ask me. The system utility will help you manage partitions and hard disks. Disk initialization, creating volumes, and formatting with the FAT, FAT32, or NTFS file systems are all tasks offered by Disk Management.
11. Device Manager
"Device Manager provides you with a graphical view of the hardware that is installed on your computer. All devices communicate with Windows through a piece of software called a device driver. You can use Device Manager to install and update the drivers for your hardware devices, modify hardware settings for those devices, and troubleshoot problems", is the overview Microsoft provides of the tool. Device Manager permits users to modify hardware configuration settings, get a complete overview of all devices, perform device drivers installation and uninstallation actions, as well as enable and disable certain items.
12. Windows Reliability and Performance Monitor
Under Control Panel, System and Maintenance, Administrative Tools, the Windows Reliability and Performance Monitor is the big brother of the monitoring features provided by the Task Manager. The tool will offer a closer view at the CPU, the hard disk, Network activity and System Memory. Users can both monitor the system's performance in real time or choose to create logs of data collected and stored for further analysis.
13. Local Users and Groups
This is the perfect location to manage accounts in Windows Vista. You will be able to create and handle user accounts and the details related to them such as Groups and privileges. The Local Users and Groups console offers a location to activate the two built-in accounts that ship with Vista: Guest and Administrator. While Guest can be all but ignored, I am sure that the account for the Absolute Administrator of Vista is the kind of freedom some users will want.
14. Event Viewer
"The Event Viewer is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that enables you to browse and manage event logs. It is an indispensable tool for monitoring the health of systems and troubleshooting issues when they arise. Event Viewer enables you to perform the following tasks: view events from multiple event logs; save useful event filters as custom views that can be reused; schedule a task to run in response to an event and create and manage event subscriptions", reads the tool's overview.
15. Task Scheduler
The Task Scheduler is also hosted under Control Panel, System and Maintenance, Administrative Tools and the name is pretty much explanatory. You can use the tool to schedule automated tasks in concordance with a specific time or a certain event. The utility will also offer a complete library of scheduled tasks allowing you to delete unnecessary items, in addition to options such as run, disable and modify.
16. Memory Diagnostics Tool
Normally, you will access the Memory Diagnostics Tool via the Windows Vista installation disk. But there is also another way. The utility can be found under Control Panel, System and Maintenance, Administrative Tools and, when launched, it will offer to restart immediately and check for RAM problems, or analyze the system memory the next time the computer is started. This is a very useful tool that will identify and diagnose memory problems.
17. System Configuration
System Configuration can be launched by entering "msconfig" in the Search box under the Start menu. It will offer users five tabs and with them the possibility to manage the startup process, boot options, the services across Vista, a reduced list of start-up items as well as providing shortcuts to a range of tools in the operating system. Under the Tools tab, you will be able to find some more hidden Vista goodies such as Internet Protocol Configuration, UAC and easy access to the registry.
18. System Information
"System Information (also known as msinfo32.exe) shows details about your computer's hardware configuration, computer components, and software, including drivers," reads the general description of the tool. System Information offers users a view over System Summary, the Hardware Resources and the Software Environment. The tool will display information about the operating system and its general settings, hardware and programs. Just type "msinfo32.exe" in the Search box under the Start Menu in order to launch it.
19. Windows Firewall with Advanced Security
Windows Firewall with Advanced Security is a bit of a hidden gem in Windows Vista. Located under Control Panel, Administrative Tools the tool is a bundle between a host firewall and Ipsec. If you want control over packets for IPv4 and IPv6 traffic, then this utility is the right answer for you, no doubt about it. You will be able to configure rules that will then apply to all incoming and outgoing traffic.
20. Local Security Policy
Also placed under Control Panel, Administrative Tools, the Local Security Policy will allow you to configure policies for the Vista Accounts, Local Policies, Public Key Policies, Software Restrictions Policies, IP Security Policies on Local Computer and the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security.
source: news.softpedia.com
| Continue Reading..
