Sunday, October 04, 2009

AT&T Pure now on sale -- with Windows Mobile 6.5

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/04/atandt-pure-now-on-sale-with-windows-mobile-6-5/


Well hey, look at that -- AT&T's riff on the HTC Touch Diamond2, the Pure, has quietly gone on sale, meaning Windows Mobile 6.5 just hit the world a couple days early. The glory won't last long, though: the nicer Imagio is hitting Verizon on the 6th, and the Leo's looming. Still -- WinMo 6.5 is here. Let's get crazy.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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AT&T Pure now on sale -- with Windows Mobile 6.5 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola CLIQ / DEXT exhaustively photographed, previewed

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/04/motorola-cliq-dext-exhaustively-photographed-previewed/


The Motorola CLIQ hasn't gone on sale yet, but that hasn't stopped a few units from leaking out here and there -- Eldar at mobile-review just posted up one of the most thorough photo previews of the chunky slider we've seen yet. Interestingly, the keyboard continues to draw mixed reviews -- while we rather liked it when we tried it out, m-r says it's just "okay" and that the five-way rocker "wasn't very handy." We'll have to use this thing a while for ourselves before we make up our minds, but for now, we'd direct you to the read link for a ton more photos.

[Thanks, MrArgie]

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Motorola CLIQ / DEXT exhaustively photographed, previewed originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Look at Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala Beta [Screenshot Tour]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/2k12TDrb7UY/

The beta release of Karmic Koala, the next version of Ubuntu Linux, just arrived on the net. Wondering what's new inside the open-source operating system? We took a tour and brought back these screenshots.

Update: An earlier version of this post used screenshots from Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 6, which, while feature-complete, did not include the artwork overhaul included in the 9.10 beta. We've re-toured Karmic Koala and replaced the screenshots, as well as added an item to note the changes. Apologies for any confusion—or disappointing design schemes.

In general, Ubuntu 9.10, or Karmic Koala, doesn't have a whole ton of new-new features over what we saw in 9.04. That's because a lot of the focus has been on more nuts-and-bolts areas, like boot-up management, application security, and other deep-down bits.

That said, there is some new stuff worth checking out. Click on the thumbnails below for a bigger picture and description of each feature. Want it all one one page? Here's the non-gallery version. Like what you see? Found something else new in Karmic Koala we didn't see? Tell us in the comments.

Faster, slicker boot-up

As previously noted, Ubuntu 9.10 uses GRUB 2 and its graphical boot loader if you're using more than one OS, boots faster than 9.04 (from casual observation), and doesn't give you an antsy feeling by splashing a lot of ke! rnel tal k on your screen during startup.

New looks

They hadn't shown up for any of the alpha releases, but new icons, themes, wallpapers, and controls are present in 9.10 beta. The art team has promised further refinements, as this was a rush release to meet deadline, but long-time Ubuntu users will be happy to see change, any change, in the looks of their Linux, and generally for the better.

Refined installation

Ubuntu's partition editor better explains what's happening when you're choosing a spot for it. The installation dialog offers smarter picks of auto-login, password protection, or even encrypted home folder protection. While actually copying the files, Ubuntu's installer shows a few of the OS' features—shades of the very familiar Windows XP installation.

New IM client

For whatever reason, both the default GNOME desktop and Ubuntu decided to switch from Pidgin to Empathy for a default instant messaging client. Unfortunate for those who got to know Pidgin so well, but Empathy seems like a pretty remarkable simulation of the look and layout, if without the many, many preferences and menu options.

Ubuntu Software Center

We asked for it, it was already in the works, and now it's here. The looks are a bit, well, My First Software Store, but it's definitely a more simple, streamlined installation tool than the Synaptic or "Add/Remove Software" tool. Each app gets a screenshot and text description, along with a link to its official web site. You can queue up multiple apps for installation, and choosing or adding new software sources still allows you to browse while the repositories are being refreshed.

Ubuntu One

We still think it looks like a less feature-rich Dropbox, but having it installed by default and integrated into the file system might make regular Ubuntu users a little more familiar and trusting of the 2 GB of free space given to every Ubuntu user.

Disk Utility

Now, this—this is neat. A full read-out on all the disks in your system, including USB and CD/DVD, with health and temperature gauges and simple tools to change partitions or format, if you so choose. You might still want to do the heavy lifting in the GParted app, but this is a good tool to have handy.

Disk display in Nautilus

Speaking of! drives, the way they're laid out in the file browser is a bit more convenient for those working with multiple partitions or a lot of drives. The size is listed first, then the section you're accessing. Small, but really helpful tweak.

Unsure if everything's got the right driver and running fine on your system? A system test tool in the System->Administration menu runs step-by-step through audio, video, and other hardware tests, giving you bug report and help look-up options when something's not quite up to snuff. It's not brand new to this version, but more prominently placed.



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TinEye Adds Reverse Image Lookup to Firefox [Downloads]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/_fdUyXCYBRk/tineye-adds-reverse-image-lookup-to-firefox

Last year we introduced you to TinEye, an image-based search engine that helps you find other instances of the image in question across the web. TinEye is now available as a Firefox plugin, making it much easier to use.

For the unfamiliar, TinEye is a search tool that takes an image you give it and searches out other copies of that image online. In our original review of the service we used a picture of our own Gina Trapani for our test search. Check out the original article for a run down on the results.

One of the inconveniences to using TinEye was that you had to grab the URL or a copy of the image you wanted to have TinEye scan for and then go visit the TinEye website. It seems a trivial detail, but in the age of right-click "Search Google for..." convenience, an add-on that places the TinEye search right into the right-click context menu is great for ease of use.

A caveat that remains from our original test of TinEye is that it is surgically precise. The sample photo, seen in the screenshot above, is a picture of Christina Hendricks—from the television show Mad Men—attending the 2008 Emmy Awards. Photos of her from that award ceremony are all over the internet. When searching with TinEye, however, you are given the locations of the exact instances of that image, not images that are almost the same.

The TinEye Firefox extension is free and works wherever Firefox does. If you have your own tips and tricks for image searches, let's hear about them in the comments.



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Top 10 Web Collaboration Tools (That Aren't Google Wave) [Lifehacker Top 10]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/C2DJLBcwkIc/top-10-web-collaboration-tools-that-arent-google-wave

You've probably heard about a hard-to-get, hugely new service called Google Wave. Lest ye forget, there are plenty of web-based collaboration tools that don't require learning a new way of speaking. Here are a few of our (mostly free) favorites.

Photo by woodleywonderworks.

10. Cc:Betty

This email-organizing service is openly pitching itself to those left out of the first round of Wave preview accounts, and not entirely without reason. It doesn't do half the things that Wave claims to do, but it does free your coworkers from having to read through freakishly long "RE: FWD: FWD:" letters just to understand what the original question or discussion was. Add CC:Betty to your cc: list on a topic you want to get started, and the webapp does the work of organizing each person's contributions, different attachment types, chronology, and who's been left out of the chain. Even if everybody doesn't bother to check in at the Betty page for the discussion, the person trying to make sense of it all will be glad they can do so. (Original post)

9. MediaWiki

It is, of ! course, the software that powers Wikipedia, and might seem a bit dated in the light-speed-paced world of webapps. Still, MediaWiki's power lies in how easy it is for multiple people to make and commit changes to a document, link inside and out of other pages, create page structures and hierarchies on the fly, and work from pretty much any browser on Earth. Nobody needs to sign into any account unless mandated by the administrator, and everybody gets the information they need without having to fiddle any knobs. (Original post)

8. TimeBridge

This meeting facilitator aims to eliminate the mess of emails and mass confusion over whether it was meeting room 130 at 2pm, or room 230 at 1pm. Create an account, plug in your coworkers' emails or SMS numbers, plug in a few times that work for you, and TimeBridge takes on the work of contacting them all and asking which of those times work, then presenting the results for your consideration. The webapp also reminds participants of the details by email or SMS, and a just-released iPhone app helps you keep things moving along with an agenda and details view. (Original post)

7. Google Groups

"Isn't that the thing that Google turned Usenet into?" Yes, but Groups lets a, um, group of like-minded folks hash out arguments, answer questions, and point to helpful resources without software or constraints. Users of a group can rate posts for helpfulness, search out answers across their own groups or other similar-themed topic! s, and g et their answers and responses delivered from an easily filtered email source. It's an oft-overlooked tool in an age of fancy-pants social tools, but it gets everyone hooked up and talking pretty quickly. (Original post)

6. TextFlow

It's easy to ask everyone's take on a piece of text, but much harder to actually incorporate their ideas, revisions, and word choices without spending twice as much time as on the original. TextFlow, a free Adobe Air app that runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux, takes in all the documents spawned from an original, analyzes the changes, and presents them to you to show what's different, accept what you want to change, and make it easy to see how far you've moved off the original draft. For a certain kind of work, it's a real time saver, and it makes it easy to respond when your collaborators ask why their masterful lead-in sentence didn't make the cut. (Original post)

5. DimDim

Makers of "webinar" software are feverishly pitching the idea of at-your-desk conferences as a money-saving alternative to travel these days. DimDim, an open-source meeting platform, offers web users a truly money-saving experience, with up to 20 users able to view a presentation, three of them with microphone access, with no software installations required. It's a nice step up if you need something a little more professional than a social video chat room, and is surprisingly responsive on freehand drawing, text, audio, and even screencasting across a variety of connect! ion spee ds. (Original post)

4. MindMeister

How many 10-minute verbal explanations would have worked much better as a one-minute cocktail napkin sketch? Plenty of them, we'd suspect. For ideas and projects where drawing a line through your thoughts helps keep them together, MindMeister is a great helper. Not only does their web-based design tool allow for easy branching, notating, and organization, but if you just want to jam in a few ideas to be molded into shape later, it allows for email additions. You can, of course, share, publish, and collaborate on your mental diagrams, and doing so might just save you a really unnecessary phone call or stop-and-chat. (Original post)

3. present.io

File-sharing service Drop.io is really convenient because it lets you store up to 100 MB of files without a sign-up, password, or software. Present.io, a group-focused tangent, lets you gather a team of chatters around a set of images, text, audio, or even video files and let them tell you what rocks and what stinks about them. Those away from a computer can call in mid-stream and leave MP3 voicemails for all to hear or join in a phone conference call. Meanwhile, the "drop" administrator keeps the show moving by queuing up new files on viewers' screens, and nobody has to log in or be accepted to join in—they just need the right URL. (Original post)

2. Campfire

Not that we aren't at least thinking of holding our Lifehacker chat and brainstorming sessions in Wave, but for the time being, Campfire does a remarkably good job of letting multiple people yak it out and learn from each other. It's searchable, it makes uploading files to everyone easy, it can be a walled garden or open to those you link in, and it sits nicely in a browser tab, changing its page title when new chats arrive. There's a fair number of third-party clients and input tools available for 37Signals' collaborative chat platform, but it works just fine as a quiet spot to talk. (Original post)

1. Zoho

It's hard to jump in and describe the best features about Zoho's vast suite of online editing and group organization tools, because so much changes on a week-to-week basis. That said, if you find Google Docs to be impressive for a single user, but not a great back-and-forth facilitator, Zoho is where you should look next. It's able to handle both the lower-level tasks of group editing, document sharing, and other work, as well as the milestone tracking, group chat, invoice creation, and other tasks needed by teams that aren't sitting right next to each other. It's good stuff, and it's free. (Original post)


Aside from the obvious entry, what did we leave off the list that helps you work with others and not want to strangle both them and your mouse? Tell us what you're using to collaborate in the comments.

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