Skype 5.3 for Windows released, improves mobile video call quality

Version 5.3 of Skype for Windows has just been released, with the main emphasis of the new release being improved call quality, and the quality of video received by mobile Skype users. Presumably one party of the video call must be using Skype for Windows 5.3, though.

Beyond improved call quality, not much has changed. You can now see your friends' presence icons when contact cards are collapsed, and the topic editing button is now always visible on the conversation header. For a complete list of changes, hit up the Skype Garage blog.

Download Skype 5.3 for Windows

Skype 5.3 for Windows released, improves mobile video call quality originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 12:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/07/skype-5-3-for-windows-released-improves-mobile-video-call-quali/

TRIDENT MICROSYSTEMS TRANSACTION SYSTEMS ARCHITECTS

Danger Den Announces New CPU Block

With the bold proclamation that it is the highest-performing CPU block the company has ever produced, Danger Den announced the availability of the DD-M6 CPU Block. Beginning January 2, customers can get their hands on the new device, which is replacing Danger Den’s MC-TDX block. The DD-M6 is available in brass or nickel-plated finishes...

Source: http://hothardware.com/News/Danger-Den-Announces-New-CPU-Block/

TERADATA TELETECH HOLDINGS

In-app payment support arrives on Android

Right on cue, Google has launched in-app payment support for Android applications. Developer testing began last week, and now many popular apps -- like the ones pictured above -- can begin charging users for add-on functionality, content, or whatever the heck else they feel is worthy of additional bits of your pocket change. If you were wondering, Google will take the same 30% cut that Apple takes from in-app purchases.

At last we can buy individual issues in Comics with minimal fuss!

In-app payment support arrives on Android originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/30/in-app-payment-support-arrives-on-android/

TIBCO SOFTWARE THQ

Windows Home Server 2011 released to manufacturers

Just a little under two months after its release candidate went live, Windows Home Server (WHS) 2011 has been finalized and released into the wild. The new version of Microsoft's slick, do-it-all server OS is a big step forward from its predecessor.

Built on the Windows Server 2008 R2 base, Home Server 2011 features a simpler dashboard, a better backup solution, dead simple remote access to your home computers, and Silverlight-powered remote media streaming. For a more detailed look at what's new in Windows Home Server 2011, you check out Microsoft's official breakdown.

Drive Extender, of course, didn't resurface for the final release of WHS 2011 and that's something a lot of power users are still pretty irked about. Even without Extender, Windows Home Server offers a boatload of useful functionality and might be a good fit for your home network. Manufacturers have already begun building hardware, so you should be able to pick up a device in the very near future.

An evaluation download for Windows Home Server 2011 will be made available in April -- we'll let you know when the links are ready.

Windows Home Server 2011 released to manufacturers originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/30/windows-home-server-2011-released-to-manufacturers/

SYNTAX-BRILLIAN SYNOPSYS

Laptop Reliability and Satisfaction: MacBooks Rule

There's nothing quite like a MacBook, according to PCWorld readers who participated in our survey on their satisfaction with the performance of their laptops.

Source: http://feeds.pcworld.com/click.phdo?i=4d5cb6b4b65cf59828e24465fc69cf0f

SYNOPSYS SYNNEX

How Secure is My Password lets you know just that

We've all heard it before; you need to select a lengthy password, one that's hard to guess. Not a dictionary word. And it has to have some capital letters in it too, and some digits, and a symbol or two won't hurt either.

That's a handy set of rules to keep in mind, but How Secure is My Password helps us understand why they're important.

It's basically like a full-screen version of one of those password-strength meters websites sometimes use. But instead of showing you a bar going from "weak" to "strong", it shows you an estimation of how long your password would take to crack. That's a much more visceral way to understand why your password is strong.

For example, when I entered "rabbit", it came back with "your password is one of the 500 most common passwords. It could be cracked almost instantly". "rabbit5" would take two hours, "$rabbit5" would take 38 days, and "$rabbitZ5" would take 237 years. It's quite enlightening to see what a difference three simple characters can make.

How Secure is My Password lets you know just that originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 05 Mar 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/05/how-secure-is-my-password-lets-you-know-just-that/

TNS TIBCO SOFTWARE

Acer: Ultrabooks Will Be Ultra Cheap in 2013

You can get an Ultrabook on the cheap...in a year or so.

Source: http://feeds.pcworld.com/click.phdo?i=8ccb93ad11c15f745c10ac4c31c2ac84

VISHAY INTERTECHNOLOGY VIRGIN MEDIA

Samsung Galaxy Tab Review

The Samsung Galaxy Tab has become recommended as a genuine competitor for the Apple iPad. The tablet computer is operating the newest edition of the Google Android Operating system, which is continuously increasing in acceptance, and contains most of the advantages in its favor. It’s a substantial improvement on the newest generation of Galaxy tablet computer, but could it truly give the all-pervasive iPad a rival? Samsung Galaxy Tab – Great Points Battery: The publicised battery on this tablet pc [...]

Source: http://tabletbuzzblog.com/samsung-galaxy-tab-review/

TRANSACTION SYSTEMS ARCHITECTS TOTAL SYSTEM SERVICES

First Firefox 6 build next week, Firefox 7 by May, and aurora channel introduced

Mozilla's Engineering Project Manager, Christian Legnitto, has detailed the release schedule for Firefox 5, 6 and 7. If all goes to plan, Firefox 6.0a1 will be released next week, April 12, and Firefox 7.0a1 in the middle of May. The final build of Firefox 5 should be released on June 21, exactly three months after the release of Firefox 4.

Along with the faster 6-week release cadence, Firefox's new Chrome-like release channels have also been given names and anticipated update frequencies. The most notable change is the introduction of a new alpha channel -- which is analogous to Chrome Canary -- that will be called 'aurora' and will update nightly. Aurora will be where fixes and features are tested, and either approved for Beta, or backed out to Central. Aurora will have a new icon, too.

The Nightly (mozilla-central) channel will remain unchanged in name and frequency, but it will gain a new 'nightly icon.' The Beta (mozilla-beta) channel will remain as-is, with new builds rolling out weekly. The Release (mozilla-release) channel will also remain as-is, with security and stability updates coming every 6 to 12 weeks.

It should be noted that the names (including 'aurora') are not necessarily final, but it's unlikely that they'll change. We're also awaiting the arrival of the new 'channel switching' technology, which should arrive in the next few days -- in time for the release of Firefox 6 aurora!

First Firefox 6 build next week, Firefox 7 by May, and aurora channel introduced originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 05:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/07/first-firefox-6-build-next-week-firefox-7-by-may-and-aurora-ch/

TELETECH HOLDINGS TECHNITROL

Dell Pulls Back From Netbook Market

Dell has confirmed that it has ceased production of its Inspiron Mini netbook computer, in effect ending its pursuit of the receding netbook market.

Source: http://feeds.pcworld.com/click.phdo?i=fa4a6db2148b2ed137613d73457f1d72

SYNOPSYS SYNNEX

Featured Advertiser

Source: http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=6b1cfb09d10bb144d1b364385fc54696&p=4

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TERADATA

Altaro Hyper-V Backup beta launched, only 250 places available

This one's for the sysadmins in the audience: Altaro, makers of our favorite "time machine for Windows" back solution, OopsBackup, have just announced a new product entering beta called Hyper-V Backup.

It's a backup solution for virtual machines running on Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualization solution. If that sentence just seemed like a bunch of buzzwords crammed together, Hyper-V backup is not for you. But, if you actually use Hyper-V and are hankering for a good backup solution, Altaro might be worth checking out.

The beta run is limited - Altaro are looking for just 250 testers. All participants will get a free license key to the final, production version. So if you're interested in helping test Hyper-V Backup, get yourself over to Altaro now and join the beta.

Altaro Hyper-V Backup beta launched, only 250 places available originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/02/altaro-hyper-v-backup-beta-launched-only-250-places-available/

SRA INTERNATIONAL SPSS

What it's like to cut the cord and stop paying for TV

This Sunday will be a major television-viewing day for millions of Americans. Most of them will pay to have Fox's broadcast of the Super Bowl beamed into their homes. But I won't.

Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=497206c28c7f32193612bb403eae7f3f

TECHNITROL TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE

Windows 8 App Store images leaked?

Windows 8 images continue to leak onto the Internet, despite Microsoft's wallpaper-based pleas to those with access to the early releases. Today's installment courtesy CNBeta shows the upcoming Windows App Store, which will likely feature prominently in Windows 8.

We've got our doubts about the authenticity of the image. In addition to showing several of the built-in games which already ship with Windows, Opera is listed -- and a competing browser seems like an odd inclusion this early on. Of course, with the browser ballot still in place in the EU for quite some time, Microsoft would probably need to include rivals like Opera and Firefox to stay out of trouble. We're also not sure why Clickgamer is shown beneath Angry Birds instead of Rovio -- the game's actual publisher.

It's still early, of course, so it's entirely possible that the Windows App Store image is genuine but merely using placeholder images and text for now. Anyone else thinking Windows Marketplace might be a more logical name? You know, to keep things consistent with Windows Phone and keep Apple's legal eagles at bay.

Windows 8 App Store images leaked? originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/11/windows-8-app-store-images-leaked/

VERIFONE HOLDINGS VEECO INSTRUMENTS

T-Mobile's G2: A Flawed Beauty

The HTC G2 is the successor to 2008's much ballyhooed HTC G1 (aka the "Google Phone"), the very first Android smartphone released in the United States. It's also the first T-Mobile phone built to take advantage of the carrier's new, faster HSPA+ 3.5G network; it can handle theoretical throughput...

Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=17125d01db8cca8dcf44d175926a1b22

SYNNEX SYMANTEC

OnLive's Android App Updated, Now Friendly With Xperia PLAY

For a phone that's geared for playing, there hasn't been a lot of playful news surrounding it of late. But that's changing today. OnLive has delivered a new app update that brings console-class gaming to Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play smartphone. The company best known for cloud-based gaming announced that its free OnLive app for Android has...

Source: http://hothardware.com/News/OnLives-Android-App-Updated-Now-Friendly-With-Xperia-PLAY/

THQ TEXAS INSTRUMENTS

Evernote Launches Skitch for iPad

Back in August, multi-platform note-taking company Evernote bought out Skitch, a Mac app which lets you snap screenshots, annotate them and share them. Skitch offered little that couldn’t be gotten elswhere, but the level of polish made it a favorite. It then became an Android app and now, today, Skitch is out on the iPad.
Skitch [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/12/evernote-launches-skitch-for-ipad/

TRIQUINT SEMICONDUCTOR TRIMBLE NAVIGATION LIMITED

Personal Tech Live with Rob Pegoraro

Rob Pegoraro answers your questions on recent gadget reviews, technology news and provides personal tech buying and fixing advice.

Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=0f5d492f2cff63c0a39cfe7334ec6494

SPANSION SONUS NETWORKS

Computer Recyler Tackles Digital Divide

PC recycling charity Computer Aid International has launched its Christmas Appeal, seeking donations of cash and computers for developing countries.

Source: http://feeds.pcworld.com/click.phdo?i=32f6fc943382e8004a41fff2cfd9b747

UNITED ONLINE UNISYS