TechAtoll: Tech Tips Place

Apple Looks to Officially Close Antennagate on September 30

2010-09-21T03:01:00.001+03:00

Apple has announced that it will stop sending out free iPhone 4 bumper cases on September 30, though it’s not stopping the program altogether.

In a message posted to its website on Friday, the company says “We now know that the iPhone 4 antenna attenuation issue is even smaller than we originally thought.”

Those qualifying for the iPhone 4 Case Program can currently use an app [iTunes link] to request a bumper. The iPhone must have been purchased after July 23 to acquire a case through the app. After September 30, it seems that the iPhone 4 Case app will be discontinued for new purchases.
If you plan on purchasing an iPhone 4 after September 30, you can still get a free bumper — you just have to call AppleCare.

Those qualifying for the iPhone 4 Case Program can currently use an app [iTunes link] to request a bumper. The iPhone must have been purchased after July 23 to acquire a case through the app. After September 30, it seems that the iPhone 4 Case app will be discontinued for new purchases.
If you plan on purchasing an iPhone 4 after September 30, you can still get a free bumper — you just have to call AppleCare.
Apple is still conceding that some users experience antenna problems and deserve a free bumper, but they’re no longer handing them out to just anyone. This doesn’t change much, but it is Cupertino’s way of saying that Antennagate is closed.

WordPress Rolls Out Subscriptions, a Simplified RSS Feature

2010-09-21T02:59:00.000+03:00

WordPress has introduces a brand-new subscription feature today.

WordPress Subscriptions appear as a tab in the top menu bar when logged in and browsing around WordPress ().com blogs and as a tab on a user’s WordPress.com homepage. The top menu tab can be used to instantly subscribe to any WordPress.com blog, and when managing your subscriptions, you can also add RSS-enabled blogs from around the web simply by typing the blog or site’s URL in a field. New post notifications are available via e-mail and IM, but they aren’t sent to new subscribers by default.

Billing the tool as a sort of RSS reader for the digitally challenged among us, WordPress Social Engineer Andy Peatling wrote, “You may use RSS feeds to keep track, but those can be tricky to manage for a non-technical person.”
If you’re well-versed in the ways of the web, this might sound like a bit of a head-scratcher at first. After all, who in the world would need a subscription feature simpler than RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication? Are tools such as Google Reader () and FeedDemon truly too difficult for the average Internet () user to understand?
“Yes,” said a reader who responded to an informal Twitter () poll. She noted that most RSS readers are “too easy to load it up, too hard to wade through when I remember to try. Hate RSS.”
WordPress Sucscriptions solve this problem by keeping subscriptions as simple as a Facebook News Feed. See the most recent blog posts first; like or reblog at will. It’s a familiar approach, thanks to Facebook’s () introduction of similar-looking UIs years ago.

If Google Maps Were Real: An Artist’s Vision

2010-09-21T02:58:00.000+03:00

The above image is one of several from Alejo Malia that depict a world in which all the elements of Google Maps () — place markers, public transit symbols and even the yellow street view guy — are completely real and physical objects looming over our buildings, streets and heads.

Malia is a Spanish illustrator and designer who, while relatively unknown, has a very strong social media presence. He’s on Twitter (), Facebook (), YouTube (), Blogspot and Flickr ().
He uploaded this set of images (titled Google’s World) yesterday, but it’s not his first literal imagination of the technological world of the web; he also produced an image that incorporated Facebook’s “Like” button into a real photograph.
Here’s the rest of the Google’s World set. Enjoy, and be sure and tweet your appreciation at Malia if you like his work.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alejomalia/sets/72157624921303688/detail/

15-Year-Old Creates iTunes Instant

2010-09-21T02:52:00.000+03:00

First there was Google Instant, and then the novelty apps Google Maps Instant and YouTube Instant. Now, my friends, we have iTunes Instant. And the creator of said app, Stephen Ou, is younger than various pieces of my wardrobe.

iTunes Instant is basically a search engine for iTunes, which the creator said he made because, “Search within iTunes.app is extremely slow and cluster, I’ve never used it. So I use Apple’s Search API instead, and develop[ed] this app in less than three hours that will make your life better.” A quick test of the app reveals that it does work pretty well — a search for relatively obscure jams returned relatively accurate results in near real time. (However, it doesn’t quite work when searching for both artist and song.)
Ou’s also pretty enterprising. “I use Apple’s Affiliate links,” he explains on the site. “If you click on a link and buy an item in iTunes, I will earn 5% commission. I won’t make loads of money, but it does always help.”
Well, if that 5% doesn’t end up cutting it when it comes to pocket money, maybe iTunes will offer Ou a job like YouTube did Feross Aboukhadijeh.

Visualize Your Gmail Activity With Graph Your Inbox

2010-09-21T02:51:00.000+03:00

Name: Graph Your Inbox
Quick Pitch: Graph Your Inbox is a Google Chrome () extension that allows you to graph Gmail () activity over time.
Genius Idea: Created by Bill Zeller, a Ph.D at Princeton University, Graph Your Inbox is a Google Chrome extension that can search your Gmail account by phrases, keywords, sender, receiver or label. It then presents the data related to those queries as a bar graph that charts the number of messages month-by-month and day-by-day.
Zeller calls this Google Trends for Gmail, and that’s not a bad way to look at it. Why would you want to evaluate this kind of information?

Well, we have tools that analyze our web searches, our social media activity and our website analytics, why not take a deeper look at what is in our inboxes? Furthermore, looking at periods of extreme activity or inactivity around a certain address, phrase or label can be indicative of an overreaching trend in your inbox. Knowing about your inbox trends can help you more efficiently manage and process your e-mail and your time.
For instance, I did two searches on my primary e-mail address, one for “from:facebook” and one for “from:twitter.” Graph Your Inbox queried my Gmail account and came back with some pretty interesting data. For instance, I had no idea I’d received over 30,000 e-mail messages from Twitter () in the last three years.
Looking at the breakdown by month and then by day, I could go back to events that resulted in an increase in followers or direct messages (the types of e-mail communication I get from Twitter.) For me, a peak was in January 2009, when my fiance proposed to me via Twitter. Likewise, I can see a surge in my Facebook () starting at the end of August 2009. That coincides with when I joined Mashable ().
Clicking on a month of a particular term will take you to a listing of all the messages from that month and an additional daily breakdown so that you can look at how many conversations took place each day of the month.

Graph Your Inbox is a free extension, and it doesn’t access any of your private data or “phone home” to Google (). You must be logged into your Gmail account for the plugin to work; after you clear a search query, the results are gone.
It works with Gmail and with Google Apps accounts that have already migrated to the new opt-in infrastructure available to early adopters. For example, my primary e-mail account is a Google Apps account that has migrated to this new type of account, so it worked without issue. Another Google Apps account hasn’t become eligible for the transition process yet; as a result, Graph Your Inbox doesn’t work with it.
The data is pretty interesting, and we love the way it’s displayed. A nice feature is that when you click on a conversation, you are taken directly to that conversation in your inbox. Additional query syntaxes with some wildcards would be cool, as would a way to export some of the data as XML. With a little bit of work, we could see this being a useful tool for businesses that are trying to track e-mail campaigns, product inquiries or support requests.
Give Graph Your Inbox a try, and let us know if you see anything unique or surprising in the comments.

Microsoft Launches Webcam with 1080p HD Sensor

2010-09-21T02:49:00.000+03:00

Microsoft has launched a new webcam dubbed LifeCam Studio with a Full HD (1080p) sensor.
The LifeCam Studio features 360-degree view range, improved auto focus and Microsoft’s TrueColor and ClearFrame technologies, which keep the colors bright and the video smooth even under low-light conditions.

Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger 2011, which is currently available in beta, supports HD video calling in 16:9 format, a feature that should go hand-in-hand with the company’s new webcam.
However, bear in mind that the video software that comes with the camera caps video chatting/recording at 720p.
LifeCam Studio will be available exclusively at Best Buy stores later this month for an estimated price of $99.95. It’s currently available for pre-order on the retailer’s website

Internet Explorer 9 Has Arrived

2010-09-21T02:43:00.000+03:00

Microsoft is pulling out all the stops to mark the launch of the open beta for Internet Explorer 9, a web browser the company promises will “beautify the web.”
The IE9 beta launches today here at the Design Concourse Center in San Francisco with a major gala that includes hundreds of developers, journalists and Microsoft employees, as well as a live band playing on pedestals in the lobby.

“The browser is a stage. It is the backdrop of the web,” said Corporate Vice President of Internet Explorer Dean Hachamovitch.
Microsoft says that IE9 is a reinvention of the browser. It not only includes greater HTML5 and web standard compliance, but also the ability to turn any website into an application on the Windows taskbar. Thee websites are pinned to the taskbar, providing users with a one-click option to a their favorite websites. It also includes Windows 7’s jump lists; any website that supports them will provide a quick menu to its most popular webpages.
The focus of IE9 is on the “regular consumer,” which may irk those of us who generally have more than 10 or 20 tabs open at any given time. Tabs appear on the right side of the address bar, decreasing the amount of real-estate for tabs. To help decrease tab overload, they are grouped based on different websites within the taskbar.
Perhaps IE9’s biggest selling point is hardware acceleration. The company has used four developer previews to show off the speed of IE9 compared to its competitors. IE9 harnesses the PC’s hardware to accelerate graphics, videos and text. The result is that IE9 is able to render heavy graphic interfaces far better than even Chrome or Firefox.
The IE9 beta is available for download today on the Beautify the Web site Microsoft has launched as part of its promotional campaign. We have had access to the IE9 beta for a while now and will be posting our thoughts and reviews soon. In the meantime, let us know whether you believe Microsoft can get back into the browser game with IE9.

iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch to Get Wireless Printing with iOS 4.2

2010-09-21T02:39:00.000+03:00

Apple has announced that the latest beta of its iOS 4.2 software comes with printer support. The AirPrint feature allows users of the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch to print wirelessly over Wi-Fi, without needing to install drivers or software.

Although the software is currently only available through Apple’s iOS developer program, Apple says iOS 4.2 will be ready for the masses in November. The first devices to support AirPrint will be HP’s line of ePrint enabled printers.
AirPrint is said to support a full range of print functions through iOS, including page range selection as well as single-sided and double-sided printing. It will also feature a Print Center that coordinates your print queue, so you can keep track of the progress from across the office if you’re so inclined.

Facebook Job Search App Gets $6M in Funding

2010-09-21T02:37:00.001+03:00

Genius Idea: Facebook isn’t all party pics and FarmVille; some of us do serious career networking on the site.
BranchOut caters to the professionally oriented Facebook user. This relatively new application transforms Facebook into your personal career center. You can search through your friends by company to see which social connections can help you professionally, too.
You can use the app to discover new contacts and business opportunities on Facebook, as well. There’s a friends-of-friends feature that will help you find connections at specific companies you’re interested in, and you can use the app to post and find job openings.
All in all, BranchOut is useful enough that we wonder why Facebook isn’t doing more internally on the career and job-search end. Here’s a brief demo video:

The big question most would ask about this app is obvious: Why would you use a Facebook app when LinkedIn () already exists to cover the same space of social/professional networking? And isn’t it risky to build your business on a pure-play app atop someone else’s platform?
LinkedIn has quite a few challengers these days, but none have the momentum or userbase of Facebook. Yet Facebook itself isn’t a direct competitor. We think building a career networking app on top of Facebook’s social network is actually brilliant because it taps into very real and vibrant connections within a social graph, not just the sometimes stale professional Rolodex stored in a LinkedIn profile.
Facebook is also a network that many users check into every day, so if you’re job-hunting or trying to connect with specific people, your chances might be better than on other career sites, where the folks who check in daily are more likely to be other job seekers than your desired contacts.
As for the pure-play aspect, in most cases, we’d be extremely cautious and not so optimistic. In the event that Facebook decides to devote serious time and effort to career networking and job-search features, BranchOut’s goose may be cooked. But for the time being, there could be some interesting, creative and potentially lucrative things coming out of this startup.
And apparently we’re not the only ones who see promise in the BranchOut model; the startup, which just launched in July, has raised a healthy $6 million dollar Series A from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Accel Partners.
What do you think of BranchOut? Do you or have you ever used Facebook to find a job, help someone else get a job or do general professional networking?

Pocket-Sized Keyboard Lets You Type and Go

2010-09-21T02:35:00.000+03:00

With the release of iOS 4, Apple mobile devices finally support bluetooth keyboards. As such, we knew it was only a matter of time before aftermarket products like the Jorno would begin to appear, providing us with a convenient way to crank out long form content when on the go.
The Jorno mobile keyboard features bluetooth connectivity, making it compatible with the latest Apple iOS mobile devices, among many others. Additionally, its keys are just 15% smaller than those of the standard desktop keyboard. This allows the device to maintain a comfortable typing experience, while significantly reducing space.

The Jorno’s unique design enables it to conveniently fold down to pocket size for easy storage and transfer. And its detachable cradle allows portable displays to be held securely in either portrait or landscape mode.
Given its unique features, the Jorno makes for a compelling alternative to products like Apple’s iPad Keyboard Dock. It will be available later this fall and is currently available at $79 on pre-sale until October 31, when it spikes to $99

Google Brings Two-Step Authentication to Google Apps

2010-09-21T02:33:00.000+03:00

Google has announced that it is rolling out a new two-step verification process to enhance security across Google Apps accounts, especially in business environments.
On its official blog, Google notes that Google Apps Premier, Education and Government Edition administrators can implement a new sign-in process that requires users to use a combination of a password and a one-time verification code delivered through users’ mobile phones.

This is how it works: When Google Apps users sign-in from a certain location, they have to enter in not only their user password, but also a code that is generated either by an SMS message, a voice call or from an app installed on their mobile phone.

According to Google (), the feature will be added to Google Apps Standard Edition as well as individual Google users in the coming months.
The company also mentioned its plans to launch mobile editing in Google Docs for Android and the iPad “soon,” and that 3 million businesses (and 30 million users within those businesses) are now using its messaging and collaboration tools

HP Photosmart eStation Printer

2010-09-21T02:22:00.000+03:00

HP is taking one half-step into tablet computing. Following news that it had axed plans for an Android-based tablet in favor of its newly acquired WebOS, HP announced today the Photosmart eStation, a printer with a very distinct touchscreen.
So distinct, in fact, that little attention will be paid to the fairly robust printer that it sits on. The reason is that this 7-inch touchscreen detaches to become a functional tablet mobile-computing-device-thing. What’s more, is that it runs on the back of Android ().
The printer serves as a base station for the tablet, and as far as all-in-one printers go, it’s well spec’d. The eStation will crank out about 30 pages per minute in black or color, while its flatbed scanner is capable of 1200 x 2400 dpi scans. Of course, the eStation is a wireless animal, with built-in 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and it will soon support AirPrint from iOS 4.2 devices.
For the tablet, HP elected to use a special build of Android geared toward printing. It also partnered with Barnes & Noble to quickly amp up its e-reader capabilities. The device doesn’t carry much raw computing power, but it is capable of effectively browsing the web and other basic tasks.

On the surface, the HP Photosmart eStation is simply an all-in-one with an added bonus, but at its core the eStation marks for HP a leery move into tablet computing. HP maintains one of the largest tech footprints, but its lack of a tablet offering is not insignificant. While this device isn’t running WebOS (which HP recently took ownership of when it acquired Palm), the company is cognisant that this holiday season will be crucial to gaining tablet marketshare.
A combo device like the Photosmart eStation is representative of an opportunistic land grab. While it does include a formidable printer and passable tablet, the real purpose for HP is to snatch a share of the tablet market in front of the launch of its WebOS Slate device — which is scheduled for release next year.
Each unit sold will serve to accelerate the adoption of tablet-like devices and, more importantly, amplify HP brand cache in the tablet space — an important factor to consider when its WebOS Slate hits shelves. At its $399 price point, the cost of entry is just low enough that the eStation could very well find itself popular among those who are just curious enough about the whole tablet/e-reader thing, but not sold on Apple’s iPad.