Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Google Finally Delivers On Promise Of Admin-Free Chrome Frame Installs For IE

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/10/google-chrome-frame-ie-admin/

Today at Google I/O in San Francisco, Google developers Amit Joshi and Alex Russell took the stage at a breakout session to announce an important milestone: a version of Chrome Frame that doesn’t require admin rights to install.

While this might not jump out at you as a huge thing, it’s big news for millions of users stuck working at offices or schools with older machines where admins won’t allow them to upgrade to newer, modern browsers. And some 30 percent of these users were not even able to install plug-ins for IE. Now there’s a way around that with the new dev build of Chrome Frame. You can install this within IE without needing admin access.

Huge.

Google has actually been working on this problem for months. While Chrome Frame was always a great idea for helping the world ween itself off IE6, 7, and 8, the admin issue remained a large one as users couldn’t do much without this access to install the plug-in. Google has finally figured out a way around that.

Russell was quick to note however that they also offer a range of tools for admins to use if they choose to, in order to set boundaries for Chrome Frame. But the admin issue was “a major roadblock” to the quick iterations that the entire Chrome team loves to do.

So how did the team get around this problem? “Let’s talk backstage,” Joshi said with a big smile when asked this question. He said it’s a bit of a technical discussion. Russell said at a high level it was just about getting the technology to work in the browser itself rather than being seen as a traditional plug-in.

When asked what Microsoft thought of this, neither Joshi nor Russell would comment. That probably says all you need to know right there.

Again, this new feature is a part of the new dev build of Chrome Frame right now. It will be tested here and then roll out to the beta channel and then the stable channel eventually.

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Google Chrome

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(Founder Stories) Meebo CEO: âWhat If We Could Completely Change The Game?â

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/10/founder-stories-meebo-change-game/

Should founders innovate based upon customer feedback or is it better to develop from within and let consumer adapt. In this episode of Founder Stories with host Chris Dixon, Meebo’s Seth Sternberg discusses his philosophy: "Users tend to be very good at giving you incremental product suggestions.” But they are not product visionaries. “They may be asking for something that would be revolutionary,” he says, “but they don't realize they are asking for it."

When receiving such incremental suggestions, Sternberg instinctively skips the baby steps and instead asks the question, "what if we could completely change the game?"

Sternberg explains what he means in the video above.

In the below clip, Sternberg and Dixon touch on Meebo's advertising strategy, connecting with consumers and measuring user engagement. Meebo ads have a one percent engagement rate, well above the norm for run-of-the-mill display ads.

Make sure to view prior episodes of Founder Stories by clicking here.

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Seth Sternberg

meebo

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T-Mobile leak divulges return of unlimited WiFi calls, may add Name ID and Voicemail-to-Text

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/10/t-mobile-leak-divulges-return-of-unlimited-wifi-calls-may-add-n/

What's shaping up to be an epic week in tech news may be about to become even more exciting for T-Mobile fans. Internal employee docs are giving out some serious vibes that the company is ready to push out three important features to many of its phones as early as tomorrow. The first one to put a smile on your face is unlimited WiFi calling, which should be available as a free add-on to the Even More, Even More Plus, and 4G Do More plans. We're glad to see the service come back as a freebie, much better than the $9.99 per month asking price when it was hotspot@home. As if that isn't good enough by itself, the other services getting prepped for tomorrow's lineup include Name ID -- a caller ID service that shows the name, number, city, and state of anyone not listed in your contacts -- and Voicemail-to-Text, a new enhancement to the existing Visual Voicemail service that transcribes the full message into text form on select devices. Keep in mind that while these docs certainly do look official, it's all mere speculation until we hear actual word from T-Mobile about these new programs. With that said, we've got screenshots above and below, so feel free to glean as many details as possible from them.

Continue reading T-Mobile leak divulges return of unlimited WiFi calls, may add Name ID and Voicemail-to-Text

T-Mobile leak divulges return of unlimited WiFi calls, may add Name ID and Voicemail-to-Text originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 09:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Atoms rumored to ditch Intel graphics for PowerVR

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/10/atoms-rumored-to-ditch-intel-graphics-for-powervr/

When Intel wanted to take a serious stab at the tablet market it turned to PowerVR, the company already providing the graphical muscle for its embedded chips that power the Logitech Revue and other set top boxes. Now, the folks at VR-Zone claim that Intel will be adopting the company's tech across the Atom line and ditching its own integrated graphics for the upcoming Cedarview platform. Specifically, it's rumored that Chipzilla will stick the SGX545 (an upgraded version of the pixel pusher inside Samsung's Hummingbird platform and Apple's A5) in all Cedar Trail processors. The switch will bring support for DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL 3.2 to the low-power CPUs while improving HD video decoding. Sure, when the next-gen Atoms land the graphics chip it will already be almost two years old, but its low power and robust Android support make it a natural match for Honeycomb -- Intel's best bet for tablet success now that Nokia is distancing itself from Meego.

Atoms rumored to ditch Intel graphics for PowerVR originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 11:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OCZ unveils Agility 3 and Solid 3 SSDs for thrifty speedsters

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/10/ocz-unveils-agility-3-and-solid-3-ssds-for-thrifty-speedsters/

Now that OCZ has shifted its corporate focus away from the DRAM market, the company has begun deepening its lineup of solid state drives with two new additions: the Agility 3 and Solid 3. The pair of 2.5-inch SSDs, announced today, run on the SATA III 6Gbps interface (unlike their SATA II predecessors) and come strapped with a SandForce SF-2200 processor that allows for some pretty speedy performance. The Agility 3 boasts a maximum read rate of 525MBps, a write speed of 500MBps and can crank it up to 60,000 IOPS. The Solid 3 ain't no slouch, either, with a 500MBps read rate, 450MBps writing capabilities and a max IOPS of 20,000. Granted, they won't deliver quite the same punch as the Vertex 3 Pro, but they also won't cost you quite as much. On the high end of the price spectrum is the 240GB Agility 3, at $480, with the 60GB and 120GB versions priced at $135 and $240, respectively. The Solid 3, meanwhile, is available in both 60GB ($130) and 120GB ($230). Not exactly chump change, but still cheaper than OCZ's heavier hitters. Hit the source links for more details.

OCZ unveils Agility 3 and Solid 3 SSDs for thrifty speedsters originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 11:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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