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Latest Gear Live Videos
Bing Maps Presents The Taxi Fare Calculator
Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Internet, Microsoft, Software,
Tired of hailing down cab drivers who pretend to take you the fastest route, only to bog down your travelling with weird routes that add to the total fare? Bing is, as they’ve now added the ‘Taxi Fare Calculator’. This enables you to keep track of the best routes your taxi driver should be going, as well as an estimate on the total fare. Bing Map’s Taxi Fare Calculator was developed during the ‘King of Bing Maps’ competition, and is being tweaked to include more cities. As of now only a few dozen cities around the world are included. However, when more routes are mapped out and a dedicated mobile version is available, you can expect everyone in the know to use the Taxi Fare Calculator to avoid getting the run around from cabbies in unfamiliar cities. Check out the calculator here
Read More 
| Bing Community
Gallery: Bing Maps Presents The Taxi Fare Calculator
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BlackBerry Torch launches on ATT on August 12 for $199
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Handhelds, Software, Videos,
This morning Research in Motion formally announced the much anticipated BlackBerry Torch (formerly the 9800,) and we must say, we’re kind of excited about it. The Torch has got a bunch of features that make it a formidable competitor in the smartphone space. Things like a full QWERTY keyboard portrait slider, 5 megapixel camera with flash, 3.2-inch touchscreen display (480x360,) 802.11n support, GPS, and much more. It’s got 4GB of internal storage and ships with a 4GB microSD card as well. 512MB RAM and a quad-band 3G radio that’ll let you use it across the world. One of the more interesting features is MEdia Sync, which lets you sync your content to the device right over WI-Fi. Oh, and did we mention that it runs the new BlackBerry 6 operating system? AT&T has got the exclusive on this one, and it launches in nine days on AUgust 12th, available for $199 with a two-year contract.
Wanna see it in action? Hit the break for a couple of BlackBerry Torch introductory videos!
Click to continue reading BlackBerry Torch launches on ATT on August 12 for $199
Read More | AT&T
Gallery: BlackBerry Torch launches on ATT on August 12 for $199
Safari 5.0.1 released, brings Extensions Gallery with it
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Internet, Software,
Apple has released an update to Safari to finally enable the Extension Gallery that they’ve made mention of a few times since Safari 5 was released. Safari 5.0.1 lets you peruse through a bunch of extensions that add to your Safari experience, including stuff from big names like Bing, Amazon, Twitter, eBay, and more. There are bug fixes and secutiry updates as well in this release:
- More accurate Top Hit results in the Address Field
- More accurate timing for CSS animations
- Better stability when using the Safari Reader keyboard shortcut
- Better stability when scrolling through MobileMe Mail
- Fixes display of multipage articles from www.rollingstone.com in Safari Reader
- Fixes an issue that prevented Google Wave and other websites using JavaScript encryption libraries from working correctly on 32-bit systems
- Fixes an issue that prevented Safari from launching on Leopard systems with network home directories
- Fixes an issue that could cause borders on YouTube thumbnails to disappear when hovering over the thumbnail image
- Fixes an issue that could cause Flash content to overlap with other content on www.facebook.com, www.crateandbarrel.com, and other sites when using Flash 10.1
- Fixes an issue that prevented boarding passes from www.aa.com from printing correctly
- Fixes an issue that could cause DNS prefetching requests to overburden certain routers
- Fixes an issue that could cause VoiceOver to misidentify elements of webpages
You can download Safari 5.0.1 now.
Gallery: Safari 5.0.1 released, brings Extensions Gallery with it
iPhone 4 Case Program app gets you your free iPhone 4 case
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Corporate News, Handhelds, Software,
Apple‘s program for getting free iPhone 4 cases has officially started today. Earlier this week, Steve Jobs said you’d be able to sign up on the Apple website for your free case, but they’ve made a change that makes the process much easier for the user and much easier for the company to handle. Since the program only applies to the iPhone 4, Apple has released the iPhone 4 Case Program app, which allows you to verify your iPhone 4 eligibility, looks through all the available cases, check up-close photos of each case, and select the one you’d like to have shipped to you. The app has you log into your iTunes account upon launch, so when you check out, it has your name and address info all pre-filled for you. Couldn’t be easier.
Here’s a list of the cases that are available currently. If you wanted the official Apple Bumper Case, they are only offering the black one. All cases are listed as shipping in 3-5 weeks:
- Apple Bumper Case: Black
- Incase Snap Case: Smoke
- Incase Snap Case: Clear
- Belkin Shield Micra: Clear
- Griffin Motif: Diamonds/Smoke
- Griffin Reveal Etch: Black/Black Graphite
- Speck Fitted Case: Black Tartan
- Speck PixelSkin HD
If you’ve already purchased a Bumper Case from Apple, you are eligible for a refund. That’ll happen automatically if you ordered from the Apple Store Online. If you bought it at a physical Apple Store, just head on in with a receipt to claim your refund.
Read More | iPhone 4 Case Program app
Gallery: iPhone 4 Case Program app gets you your free iPhone 4 case
For all of you who run Windows and Linux virutal machines on your Mac by way of Parallels Desktop 5, you should know that the company has released an update this morning aimed at improving performance and enhancing compatibility. The update is recommended for all users of Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac, and is free. Here’s the list of changes:
- Mac folders shared with Windows now work correctly with MS Outlook, Lotus, Quicken and other Windows applications.
- Support for Autodesk Revit 2011 was fixed.
- MS Office 2010 activation is preserved in Boot Camp virtual machines.
- OpenGL now works correctly in Ubuntu 10.04 virtual machines.
- Virtual machines using Boot Camp partitions on 512 GB solid-state disks (SSDs) now work correctly.
- The problem with invisible virtual machines list on new MacBook Pros (released in early 2010) was fixed.
- A rare problem with Windows virtual machine’s screen turning black after upgrading to Mac OS X v10.6.3 was fixed.
- Problems with Parallels Service stopping to respond when the Parallels Desktop settings file is corrupt were fixed.
- Problems with screen resolution in Mac OS X Server v10.6.3 virtual machines were fixed.
You can get a copy of Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac for $10 off with $175 in free software.
Gallery: Parallels Desktop 5 build 9370 released
Apple just released iTunes 9.2.1, which mostly focuses on improving some incompatibilities and killing some bugs. Here’s the rundown:
- Disables older versions of some incompatible third-party plug-ins
- Addresses minor issues with dragging and dropping items
- Addresses a performance issue when first syncing to some devices with iTunes 9.2
- Addresses an issue upgrading to iOS 4 on an iPhone or iPod touch with encrypted back-ups
- Addresses other issues that improve stability and performance
Fire up Software Update and grab it now!
Gallery: iTunes 9.2.1 now available
iOS 3.2.1 update for iPad now available
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Software, Wireless / WiFi,
In addition to releasing iOS 4.0.1 earlier today, Apple has also given us iOS 3.2.1, the first software update available for the iPad. Some changes and improvements in 3.2.1:
- Improved Wi-Fi connectivity
- Fixed an issue that could prevent copy and paste of single-page PDF attachments in Mail
- Addressed an issue that could cause video playback to freeze
- Improved reliability of video-out when using iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter
- Added Bing as an option for Safari’s search field
Just connect up your iPad and check for the update in iTunes, and you’ll find it ready for you.
Gallery: iOS 3.2.1 update for iPad now available
iOS 4.0.1 now available
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Software,
Apple just released iOS 4.0.1, which they say “improves the formula to determine how many bars of signal strength to display,” and also gives the signal bars a visual facelift as well. You can download it now. Let us know how it goes!
Gallery: iOS 4.0.1 now available
A sneak peek at BlackBerry 6
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Software, Videos,
BlackBerry 6 is on track to launch later this summer, so Research In Motion (RIM) is aiming to get you hyped by releasing bits of information about the major revision to the BlackBerry operating system, slowly but surely. Today, we’ve got a video showing off the fluid BlackBerry 6 interface, giving us a look at some key features that have us pretty excited for what’s ahead. Hit the video above for a look at universal search, Social Feeds, the revamped WebKit-based BlackBerry browser, and more.
Gallery: A sneak peek at BlackBerry 6
Mozilla has finally released the first Firefox 4 beta, and you can download it now. Firefox 4 is a major step up from the previous version, with a redesign of the user interface, greatly improved HTML5 support, hardware-accelerated HD video playback, better add-on support, and a bunch of other new features. Luckily, the Mozilla team has pulled everything together in a blog post to fill you in on all the fun. With Google Chrome gaining on Firefox marketshare, you can bet Mozilla is gonna be pushing the new hotness found in 4.0 hard. You can download Firefox 4 beta 1 now.
