Archivi giornalieri: 25/04/2012
Instagram Nears 50 Million Users With Android App Adding 10 Million In Just 22 Days
It’s still early days yet to know whether the $1 billion Facebook paid for the Instagram service was either a good or a bad move on behalf of Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg. However users now seem to be flocking to the Instagram photo sharing service, since it was purchased by Facebook and launched its new Android application.
In just 22 days the new Android application has added an additional 10 million users to the Instagram ranks, and is now helping the service near a total of 50 million users worldwide, passing passing the 40 million user mark just 2 weeks ago.
If you haven’t already tried Instagram its available for both iOS devices and Android and allows you to easily share a tweak your photographs directly from your smartphone.
“It’s a fast, beautiful and fun way to share your photos with friends and family. Snap a picture, choose a filter to transform its look and feel, then post to Instagram. Share to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr too – it’s as easy as pie. It’s photo sharing, reinvented. Oh yeah, did we mention it’s free?”
Source: TNW
Apple’s iCloud Hits 125 Million Users
Apple launched their new cloud service back in October of last year at the same time as they launched the new iPhone 4S, and now Apple has revealed how many people are using iCloud.
The last figures we had from Apple were back in February when they announced that iCloud had over 100 million users, and yesterday Apple announced that iCloud now has more that 125 million users.
That is an increase of 25 million users in the last two months, which is a pretty impressive increase, and we suspect that is going to increase quite a bit over the rest of the year.
I have been using iCloud since it was launched last year, and whilst the service is good there are definitely some improvements Apple could make to iCloud, it will be interesting to see how the service is developed over the next year.
Source Slashgear
Sony PlayMemories Online Launching May 25th With 5GB of Cloud Storage (video)
Sony has announced that it will be launching its new Sony PlayMemories photo sharing service next month, providing cloud storage for Sony cameras. The new PlayMemories photo sharing service will offer users with 5GB of free storage space for photographs and video, that can be uploaded to the cloud storage facility from any Sony camera or camcorder.
Media can also be uploaded from Sony smartphones and tablets using the new “PlayMemories Home” software which is available for both Windows and Mac systems. once uploaded the media can then be shared online, or viewed via a Sony Bravia TV or digital photo frame if desired, and sync photos and video with your PSP and PS Vita consoles.
Initially the new PlayMemories photo sharing service will be available in 6 countries, starting with UK, Japan, U.S., Canada, Germany, and France on May 25th.
Nyko PlayStation Vita Speaker Stand
Nyko has today launched their new speaker stand designed for Sony’s PS Vita gaming console. The new stand has been designed to provide you with dynamic sound for music and movies, whilst charging your PS Vita ready for action.
The new Speaker Stand for PS Vita is now available in GameStop stores across the U.S. for around $30. Chris Arbogast, director of marketing at Nyko Technologies explains:
“We’re incredibly excited for the Vita, as it offers console-caliber gameplay on the go,”-”We wanted to create a Vita accessory that adds ease of use while also augmenting its key features, which is what we have done with the Speaker Stand.”
Unfortunately there is still no news or sign of the PS Vita Power Grip, but as always whenever we learn anything new we will keep you updated.
Source: Engadget
Crysis 3 Two Minute Official Gameplay Trailer Released (video)
Following on from the pitifully short 15 second Crysis 3 trailer released by EA last week. A new 2 minute Crysis 3 trailer has been released by the publisher, showing us a little more of the gameplay you can expect in the new Crysis 3 game once it arrives.
“Take on the role of ‘Prophet’ as he returns to New York, only to discover that the city has been encased in a Nanodome created by the corrupt Cell Corporation. Within the Liberty Dome, seven distinct and treacherous environments become known as the Seven Wonders. This dangerous new world demands advanced weapons and tactics. Prophet will utilise a lethal composite bow, an enhanced Nanosuit and devastating alien tech to become the deadliest hunter on the planet”
Crysis 3 is currently under development by Crytek and will be arriving on the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, no official launch date has been announced as yet, but it will be arriving sometime in 2013.
Source: Joystiq
Scalado Album launches for Android, we go hands-on (video)
Scalado just released Album, its first ever Android app to land in Google’s Play store. The company — which is best known for imaging technologies such as zero shutter lag, Rewind and Remove — usually provides software to device manufacturers instead of end users directly. Album is billed as “a simple to use, high performance, photo/video viewer with a clean and smooth user interface” that handles pictures up to 200 (!) megapixels in size. The app costs $0.99 and is available for both smartphones and tablets. It features some interesting touches, like the ability to browse geotagged images using a map view.
We had the opportunity to take Album for a spin before launch and the app offers an intuitive and responsive user experience. Beyond organizing photos into bins like the “camera roll” and the existing folders on your device, the main screen lets you browse content by time (monthly) and location (including nearby). Pictures can be deleted, shared, rotated in place, cropped and turned into wallpaper. Animated thumbnails are used for videos, and multiple items can be selected. Check the gallery below, and hit the break for Scalado’s demo video and PR.
ASUS Zenbook Primes with 1080p IPS panels and (probably) Ivy Bridge are real, coming to Taiwan in June
We’ve already seen spec sheets suggesting that ASUS’s 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch Zenbooks are being fattened up for a major update, but now Engadget Chinese has glimpsed the new devices in their cold aluminum flesh. Tentatively called Zenbook Primes, or the UX21A and UX31A respectively, they both have 1920 x 1080 IPS panels with a matte finish and excellent viewing angles (please, ignore the dumb 1024 x 768 screen-saver in the pic, it doesn’t do it justice). Judging from the fact that ASUS refused to let us go hands-on in case we identify the internals, we can be pretty confident that these beauties are running on next-gen ULV Ivy Bridge processors, which — unlike their more powerful brethren — have yet to be formally announced. We asked if there’d be room for discrete graphics, such as one of NVIDIA’s new Kepler mobile GPUs for Ultrabooks, and were told that “anything is possible.” Responses were equally vague when it came to global availability, because apparently the devices are awaitng clearance from Intel. All we know is that they should be out in Taiwan in June, likely with similar price tags to their predecessors.
Microsoft cuts pre-Mango holdouts, Zune desktop software off from WP7 app purchases
Microsoft’s Windows Phone team is making a few changes to how users are able to acquire apps on their devices but luckily, they probably won’t affect most of you. Starting today, users can no longer get apps from the Zune desktop software (the app store will remain for the Zune HD, as shown above), so they’ll need to browse via the website or directly on their phones, which Microsoft says the majority of users were already doing. The other change is that in the next few weeks, any users who have not upgraded their handsets to Windows Phone 7.5 Mango will no longer be able to download, update or review apps. Since the update is available for all Windows Phones (Android, we’re mostly talking about you) this shouldn’t be too much of a problem, and any laggards will regain their access after upgrading.
On a final note, the developer blog mentions the software needed for hardware partners to create phones for Bahrain, Israel, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, UAE and Vietnam and that there will be more news on these storefronts “in the weeks ahead.” With these moves, the squad has culled any reason to open a heavy memory hungry desktop program just to install some new apps from a PC (iTunes, we’re completely talking about you) and devs can write off supporting users still running on old platforms guilt-free. All that in one day? We bet they didn’t even have to use their AK — those old zune:// links however, will be missed.
iHome intros iDM5 Executive workstation for tablets / smartphones, priced at $130
We’ve seen iHome launch a multitude of sleek and useful peripherals aimed at the army of slabs out there, and its newest creation isn’t an exception. Dubbed the iDM5 Executive, this workstation’s designed to make typing on one of those iPads or Tabs a whole lot easier by giving you access to a full set of physical QWERTY keys. Aside from the keyboard, the iDM5′s also packing Bluetooth capabilities alongside a 3.5mm audio jack, so despite the “i” shining from the outfit’s name, the add-on isn’t exclusive to iOS devices. Furthermore, iHome added two USB ports, allowing you to keep the juice flowing on your smartphone / tablet while getting some “work” done. The iDM5 is priced at a hefty $129.99 and you can snatch it up from the iHome site linked below.
HP announces six Ivy Bridge desktops, available April 29th from $699
We’ve already seen a number of laptops from HP sporting Intel’s 22nm micro architecture, most commonly known as Ivy Bridge, but now the company is giving its desktop lineup a similar refresh with six quad-core models that’ll be available directly from the manufacturer on April 29th. Of the group, three will feature all-in-one form factors, which include the Omni 220qd — a rig with Beats Audio and a cantilever design that’ll start at $999 — along with the Omni 27qd, which features a 27-inch display and a $1,199 price tag. The third model will bring a refresh to the TouchSmart 520xt, which features a touch-enabled 23-inch display that’ll retail for $999.
The remaining updates are stand-alone desktops, which consist of the HPE h8t, available for $699, and the HPE h8xt — a more powerful unit that’ll start at $799. Those looking to delve a bit further into the high-end will find the HPE Phoenix h9t, which will metaphorically rise from the ashes at $1,149. Curiously, the Phoenix is the only unit that’ll simultaneously hit retailers on April 29th — the five other models won’t get their taste of brick and mortar until June 24th.
Google Drive preview: an in-depth look at features and functionality
It’s been a long time in the making, but the once-mythical cloud storage service known to all as Google Drive is real, and it made its official debut today — and even though Goog’s taken plenty of time to make it available to the masses, our impatience certainly got the worst of us, and we immediately started digging through the new service. So what does this online storage option entail? Will it make you delete your Dropbox and SkyDrive accounts and jump for joy? Or has Google simply waited too long to start playing the game? Read on to find out our first impressions.
Google’s Vulnerability Program ups the ante for helpful hackers
This is not your ordinary rewards program, it’s Google’s way of paying it forward… to hackers. After celebrating the one year anniversary of its unique initiative this past November — in which the coding-inclined are compensated for exposing critical flaws across its suite of web services — the folks over at Mountain View have updated the program’s policies with a bigger chunk of cash. Previously, the search giant had set a max payout of $3,133.7 for any discovered vulnerabilities (a bizarre sum, we know), but that cap has now seen an increase up to $20,000 depending on the severity of the reported bug. For a company with billion dollar coffers, the move appears to be none other than a good faith investment in the security research community. But if you lean a bit closer to the paranoiac line, it could also be viewed as a countermeasure to other, higher-paying firms with less than honorable intentions. Whether your rose-colored glasses are on or off, it’s still nice work if you can get paid for it. And who knows? You might even make it to the Security Hall of Fame.
Firefox 12 now available for download, Windows users get silent updates
It doesn’t yet include the opt-in system for plug-ins that Mozilla is working on, but Firefox users can now download an update that adds a few other new features and new tools for developers. If you’ve lost track, that means were now at version 12.0, and the biggest addition this time around is reserved for Windows users — they’ll now get silent updates that bypass the User Account Control prompt. Apart from that, you’ll now get line numbers when you view a page’s source code, along with a number of other more minor fixes and performance improvements. You can find the full release notes at the source link below.
