Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Best Antivirus Application: AVG [Hive Five Followup]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/p1cPIQP5pdo/best-antivirus-application-avg

Last week we asked you to share your favorite antivirus application and then we rounded up the five most popular candidates for your review and a final vote. We're back with the results, and this was one very close race.

In the end AVG came out on top as the most popular antivirus app with 23 percent of the vote, barely beating out Microsoft Security Essentials (22 percent), which in turn beat out ESET NOD32 (19 percent).

If you're unfamiliar with Microsoft Security Essentials, the newest kid on the antivirus block, check out our feature on Microsoft's security tools for a little more on why we think most users should stop paying for their Windows security applications. For more information on the winner and runners up, check out the full Hive Five.




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Droid Does Higher Res Video Streaming With New Qik App [Droid]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/u5g_XbUj-t8/droid-does-higher-res-video-streaming-with-new-qik-app

Droid records video at an impressive 720x480 resolution—it's certainly more impressive than its photo prowess anyway—and streaming service Qik's the first take advantage of that higher resolution, allowing full res streams later tonight with a beta release. [MobileCrunch]




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Hahahaha! Blockbuster Renting Movies on SD Cards! Hahahahaha! From Kiosks! [Movies]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/4V6rOByaCrY/hahahaha-blockbuster-renting-movies-on-sd-cards-hahahahaha-from-kiosks

Oh, I hope whatever exec came up with this idea scores a huge bonus. Blockbuster is piloting a new program that will load a DRM'd movie rentals onto an SD card from a kiosk. The future!

So say you're at the airport. You want to rent, I dunno, some movie that wasn't good enough to see in the theater. You just format a spare SD card filled with vacation photos you'd forgotten to back up (it doesn't appear they give you a card, but I could be mistaken), pop it in the machine, select a movie, pay $4 or so, and then have the film loaded on your card, a la ticking time bomb, with DRM.

And what can't you do with an SD card? I mean, it plays in my iPhone...wait...I mean my Blackberry...wait...

Mini SD and Micro SD—those are the cards that most of our mobile devices will take (if they take any at all)! In case no one told you, Blockbuster, we can't play this shit back on our digital cameras.

(Granted, netbook owners and some laptop owners will be able to utilize the standard.)

Ah Blockbuster, you've arrived just in time to ignore the growing popularity of iTunes/Zune Marketplace syncing, 3G streaming and in-flight Wi-Fi all while offering your service on a medium less convenient than DVD. But don't worry, I'm not angry. You're just hurting yourself. [Fast Company]




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Google Search Is About to Get a Lot Better [Google]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/_UM1lO7b2l8/google-search-is-about-to-get-a-lot-better

For the last couple of months, Google's been testing a new search architecture called Caffeine—a back-end upgrade, but one that changes the results in virtually any search. Today, Lifehacker gets word that Caffeine is ready to go live in Google proper.

So what does this mean, exactly? Well, if you believe roughly 75% of Lifehacker's polled readers, it means that Google search is about to get more accurate, relevant and useful. Or that we're about to feel like Google search has gotten more accurate, relevant and useful, because we read an article about it somewhere. Win/win! [Lifehacker]




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Droid Eris Review [Review]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/XNWyeUTwZ7M/droid-eris-review

I've reviewed the Droid Eris twice before, when it was called the Hero. The difference is that Verizon's selling it for half the price, making it the cheapest Android phone you can buy—and the best, for the money.

Eris is Verizon's other Droid phone. It really is a remodeled Hero, running Android 1.5 and HTC's vaunted Sense candy coating—documented CSI style here—a $200 phone stuffed inside a thinner $100 body, like a Corvette engine shoved inside a Saturn. It's admittedly less exciting than the titular Droid, an industrial beast running Android 2.0. But I have the feeling Verizon is gonna sell a lot more of these things, because, again, it's $100.

Designing for the Middle of the Road

The Eris is rubbery blob, a narrow oval that's as subdued as a phone could possibly be, but there is admittedly something comforting about the Eris's utter lack of personality—it's completely non-threatening, like a middle manager. It's so generic it's almost artful, actually, a design that is nearly perfect for a cheap phone.

The four main Android buttons are ! touch se nsitive, bleeding into the black bezel, hovering over the dead-center trackball and hard chrome buttons for phone and end. I'd like a dedicated camera button, but a volume rocker is all we get. The camera lens stares out the back, disturbingly more reminiscent of an eye than most cameras sticking out the backs of phones, probably because of how stark the rest of the phone is.

Hardware and Camera

The actual guts and screen are the same as past Hero phones—which is to say, nearly the same as all of HTC's other Android phones so far. The 480x320 screen's still nice, even if it feels dated now that the Droid's massive screen, beckoning the next generation, looms large over it. Oh yeah, HTC? Can you get rid of your stupid, pointlessly different version of the mini USB port? Let's go to micro USB now, yeah?

The still camera's better than the Droid though, and about the same as the Sprint version of the Hero, performing pretty decently in low-light situations. Video, not so much:

Software and the Endgame

I've already covered HTC's Sense UI in depth, and it is the exact same on the Eris. It runs just as fast as the Sprint Hero, if not a teeny bit quicker. I will say that after using Android 2.0, it does feel like a step backward in some ways, mostly because of the single Google account limitation. But HTC's confirmed Androi! d 2.0 is coming, so it won't be an issue for every long.

And really, the fact that Android 2.0—half the reason the Droid is excellent—is coming to the Droid Eris is why, in the end, it's such a steal. It's running on Verizon, it's going to have Android 2.0, and it's $100. It's a great phone now, and will be better still soon, making it kind of a perfect storm for people on Verizon looking to ditch their dumbphones—but not Verizon—for something more capable, but who are put off by the Droid, whether it's the steroids or the higher sticker price.

It's last month's darling. But it'll run this month's software. For cheap. And that's pretty spiffy, actually.

You're getting last month's killer Android phone for half price

We'll say it again: This is the best Android deal around

Android 1.5 feels a little dated

Video recording's not exactly amazing




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