There’s no official splash page for Firefox 3.5 yet, but it’s on Mozilla’s FTP (Windows, Mac) and other sites. It’s worlds better than 3.0 with powers like geo-location, tab tearing, keyword and AwesomeBar filters, smarter session restore, private browsing mode, one-click bookmarking, full zoom, and serious speed increases.
For a full list of some of the best new features, go here.
So grab it now. [Softpedia via Download Squad]
Jun 30th by Grant
It’s official, your shiny new iPhone 3GS is fully jailbreakable… BUT YOU CAN’T HAVE IT! Well not until Apple releases the iPhone OS 3.0.1 update anyways. Why can’t I have it now? Well according to the iPhone Dev Team blog there’s a very good reason. “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few…” they quote Spock. “We can jailbreak the 3GS right now. But making our jailbreak public at this point in time would benefit relatively few people. It would in fact be detrimental to many more people than it would help. So we feel it’s best to keep our version of the jailbreak out of Apple’s sights for the time being.”
Basically, if they release the jailbreak now it would be handing exploit to Apple on a silver platter allowing them to easily and quickly patch it. This is a big problem because jailbreaking the iPhone 3GS requires some special information (ECID code) you need to extract from your phone. You need this information for all future jailbreaking endeavours. Long story short— if you don’t get this information before Apple patches it, you might be unable to EVER jailbreak your iphone 3GS.
Jun 29th by Grant
It’s only 4 months now until the much hyped and well received Windows 7 OS is launched. Microsoft’s new baby is now available for pre-order; the Home Premium Upgrade and Professional Upgrade packages for $49.99 and $99.99 though July 11th, while supplies last — nothing special there as it’s the standard pricing you’ll find at all your favorite on-line retailers. Amazon does promise, however, that you’ll “receive the product” when released to shops on October 22nd. Note a 3 per customer limit so don’t get greedy, ok? It’s not like Microsoft can just press the OS onto another disc or something.
Sad news for the UK, pre-orders won’t begin until July 15th with prices set at £49 for Windows 7 Home Premium E and £99 for Professional E, both will ship without Internet Explorer. For those wondering about the upgrade prices for Europe… there aren’t any. Microsoft claims that it can’t offer the lower upgrade pricing ($120, $200, or $220 for Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate in the US) in order to comply with European competition regulations, a claim that EU regulators dismiss. As such, going from Vista to Windows 7 will require a clean install in the EU in order to remove Internet Explorer — no in-place upgrades will be possible according to Microsoft.
(Continue Reading)
Jun 29th by Grant
Phoenix is a French alternative rock band started during their childhood by Thomas Mars, Deck D’Arcy, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz in the affluent suburb of Versailles, in the same culture that produced late-’90s bands such as Air and Daft Punk. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is their fourth studio album. I would describe their sound as Gorillaz meets Death Cab for Cutie; a blend of soft rock and electronic.
To be honest I had never heard of Phoenix before I stumbled upon this album, so I can’t really comment on what (if any) kind of evolution this album is from previous works. However, I can say that I really enjoyed this album and it’s great from top to bottom. There’s a sense of purpose about the album’s opening salvo of tracks: Liztomania and 1901, in particular, are so well done, so perfectly constructed as to outflank any reservations you might have about the band’s slightly dry approach.
There’s also a nice range of tempos throughout the album, Fences spikes the electro beat of Daft Punk with an urgent acoustic-guitar breakdown for splendidly danceable melancholy. To the near Brit-rocky rave-ups of Lasso.
Jun 15th by Grant
Have you grown tired of bad TV news? And by bad TV news, I mean bad news about television shows. Bad “TV news” is redundant.
Well, get ready for some good news. No wait, get ready for some great news. No, great doesn’t really describe it. Here is some grantasticularly wondergasmiclicious news! (And my 12th grade English teacher said I’d never amount to anything as a writer.)
Comedy Central has ordered all brand new episodes of Futurama, and the show has officially gone back into production.
An insider told Collider.com that the network has given the series an order for 13 additional episodes to air now that the network has run through all of the series’ original episodes and the four full-length DVD movies. This news has sparked rumors that production has officially started again on the series and casting is underway.
Jun 09th by Grant
As endlessly predicted, Apple’s unveiled a new iPhone today at WWDC, the iPhone 3G S — the “s” stands for speed. It looks identicle to the iPhone 3G, so what’s new? Well for starterts the processor is said to be “on average up to twice as fast”, that means faster overall loading of all programs. Data speeds are upped to 7.2Mbps HSDPA, and the camera is now a 3 megapixel unit with tap-to-autofocus and auto white balance and it now supports 30fps VGA video recording with editing features. You’re also getting a built-in magnetic compass, Nike+ support, and a new battery that offers 5 hours of 3G talk time and 9 hours of WiFi internet use.
Also, a few unexpected features — holding down the home button now enables a new voice control interface that lets you do everything from make calls to control iTunes. Apple is claimng the new finish is alos water- and oil-resistant. This fancy new iPhone will be available June 19th with the 32GB model priced at $299 US, and 16GB model at $199 US.
Jun 08th by Grant
Earlier today at Electronic Entertainment Expo, Microsoft unveiled their rumored motion controller solution to the masses. But unlike the waggling, accelerometer-enabled hardware of most immersive gaming peripherals, Microsoft’s solution uses full body motion as detected by an intelligent motion and audio sensor camera, which they’ve tentatively dubbed Project Natal. We’ve seen camera interactivity in console gaming before with the Xbox Live Vision camera and the PlayStation Eye Toy, but Microsoft promises that Project Natal will go above and beyond any gaming tech we’ve seen before.
Project Natal uses several technologies simultaneously to capture and replicate a player’s motion on-screen and in-game. Natal, which could be readily described as a Wii sensor bar on sterois, uses an RGB camera, intelligent depth sensor, and multiarray microphone to collect voice commands, video, and movement with realtime physics, which is then processed by a brand new processing unit and proprietary software. As you would expect the RGB camera is used for video and picture capture, as well as facial recognition, but the real technological meat and potatoes of the device is it’s depth sensor and processing. Project Natal’s depth sensor detects 3-D space through the use of a monochrome CMOS sensor and an infrared projector. The pairing of these two technologies, Microsoft says, makes Natal capable of detecting movement, orientation, and gestures in any lighting environment. Project Natal’s processing is what brings all of the data together, and can differentiate between players and their environment, as well as detect specific body parts, from arms and legs to even a player’s head.
Jun 02nd by Grant
I’m a huge fan of Crysis, Crysis: Warhead, and Far Cry 2; so it made me excited to read today that Electronic Arts announced Crysis 2 is on the way. The game is the second entry in the planned Crysis trilogy and will be built on Crytek’s new console-ready CryENGINE 3.
An interesting tidbit EA released that is great news for console owners (who missed out on the original Crysis) is that Crysis 2 will be hitting Xbox360 and PS3 as well as the PC.
No further details or a release date yet, but with E3 kicking-off this week you can certainly expect more information to surface soon.
Jun 02nd by Grant
Wow! Who would expect a sequel so soon? Valve and EA have just announced the sequel to last year’s multiplayer zombie-killing smash hit. Left 4 Dead 2 will be released on November 17th, and will feature five new campaigns that follow the story of four new survivors. PC Gamer has the full scoop in an exclusive 8-page feature in their August issue, which hits newsstands this month. Check out the cover below, which features two of the new survivors: Rochelle and Coach (Rochelle is an aspiring cable network news anchor, and Coach is a high school PE coach)
According to a preview in PC Gamer, the five campaigns of the sequel will be set in the American south — in Georgia and Louisiana. The game will feature new playable boss infected characters alongside the Boomers, Smokers, Hunters, and Tanks of the original. Melee weapons will also be introduced, including fire axe, chainsaw, and even frying pan. No word yet on backward compatibility with the original Left 4 Dead, though we would expect that Valve won’t split their community in two. You’ll want to check out the PC Gamer preview (the Official Xbox Magazine has their own exclusive preview and interview for console fans) for more details, including the new levels, environmental effects, and how the sequel’s story ties in with the adventures of Bill, Louis, Zoey, and Francis.
Jun 01st by Grant
Dexter is a television drama series that airs on Showtime. Set in Miami, the series centers on Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a serial killer governed by a strict moral code who works for the Miami Metro Police Department as a blood spatter analyst. It is based on the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay.
It was recently announced that Emmy and Tony award winner John Lithgow is joining the cast of “Dexter.” Lithgow is best known for his starring role as Dr. Dick Solomon on the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. He has also achieved success on stage, film, and radio. Lithgow will play Walter Simmons, an unassuming, mild-mannered suburbanite who has been living a dual life as one of America’s most prolific and deadliest serial killers. Dubbed the “Trinity Killer” because of his proclivity to kill in threes, he relocates to Miami after being tracked by F.B.I.Special Agent Frank Lundy (Keith Carradine). Brought on to assist in the investigation of Miami’s latest serial killer, Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) becomes fascinated with “Trinity’s” unique killing methods and his ability to evade capture for almost three decades.
May 30th by Grant
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