Month: June 2008

Firefox 3 has rightfully dominated the browser headlines over the last few weeks, but that doesn’t mean there are other interesting alternative applications coming on stage.

One of them is Pogo, a 3D web browser developed by AT&T and Vizible. Pogo is based on the Mozilla engine and also uses Vizible’s 3D rendering algorithms to deliver a more visually appealing user experience when browsing the web. According to the developers, “Pogo’s graphical nature evolves the browsing experience from a text-centric interface to one that is highly visual, and therefore more intuitive, in line with the way people think and use the Internet.” Pogo is currently at a closed beta stage but fortunately I managed to get a invite, so I decided to give it a try and see that visual revolution by myself.

To begin with, Pogo’s main interface looks strangely familiar – it’s based on Mozilla, so all toolbars, menus and dialog windows are almost identical to those in Firefox. But that’s pretty much the only thing this browser has in common with others. When you launch it for the first time, Pogo offers to import bookmarks from other web browsers, and also import built-in sets of bookmarks based on your personal interests (sports, technology, news, games, etc.).

The standard tab bar has been moved down to the bottom and turned into a resizable panel that contains the so called “cells” (that is, tabs). Tabs now appear as thumbnails, which may look prettier than just a favicon but are not that useful – they’re so small you can hardly distinguish the website. Continue reading “First look at Pogo, the 3D web browser by AT&T”

As the World’s most successful businessman prepares to stand down, I got to wondering what Bill Gate’s will get up to after he leaves Microsoft. Will he run for president? Move to Space? Throw all his money in the sea? I’m not sure. The one thing I do know is that the planet’s biggest geek will not be throwing away his PC. So I decided to put together a collection of potentially useful software as a leaving present for my favorite tycoon.

• Orbital Trader– He’s already conquered the business world here on Earth, so perhaps Bill is now thinking of branching out it other areas of the Galaxy. This space trading game will give him a chance to see if his corporate nouse extends to interplanetary economics.

• XP Gloss Wallpaper – Here’s a cool download to help Bill celebrate one of his greatest hits. Once he’s installed this funky version of the XP logo as his desktop background he’ll hopefully forget he ever released a follow-up.

• Microsoft Money Deluxe – Not sure if you’ve heard of this one Bill, but it might be a useful app for you to calculate your pension payments. It contains a range of analysis tools that will help you work out if you can still afford that week in Florida this summer.

• Need for Speed Carbon – In his early years at Microsoft in 1997, Gates was arrested for speeding in his Porsche (as you can see from his mugshot it didn’t seem to bother him too much). This classic racing game might help him contain his passion for burning rubber to his PC.

• OpenOffice – Now that his days as a corporation bigwig are numbered, perhaps Bill will turn his back on commercialism and embrace the open source community by using OpenOffice rather than MS Office to publish his memoirs. Somehow I doubt it.

I find it amazing that despite all advances in modern mobile phone technology, we’re yet to see a handset that doesn’t run out of battery. What’s more, in my experience, many models are pretty poor when it comes to letting you know how much charge you have left. Some bleep and flash at you for hours even though there’s plenty of power left, while others give you about 3 seconds warning that they’re about to shut down. If you’re fed up with this too then fear not because there are plenty of ways to improve your battery indicator.

For instance, if you’re rocking a Pocket PC at the moment you may want to install SmartBatt. This handy little app stores itself in your task tray and launches every time you start your device to provide constant battery monitoring. Those of you who are a little more geeky about phone charge will love Batti, because it provides you with a huge array of stats about your battery, including voltage, temperature, chemistry, and backup battery details.

The default battery indicator on Windows Mobile Smartphones isn’t the most advanced I’ve seen, and I find the gauge too small to be precise, plus it only shows up on the home screen. This problem is quickly remedied by SPBattMet, which adds a subtle, thin green bar across the width of the top of the screen, which decreases based on remaining charge. What’s more, this shows up wherever you are inside the OS.

The Symbian battery indicator is more precise than its Windows Mobile counterpart, but its bars format is starting to look a little old hat now.You can freshen things up a bit by installing Lady Flash Lite, a dazzling Flash-based wallpaper that displays a funky pink battery indicator. Those who prefer a ‘classier’ look might plump for iBattery, which mimics the cool battery icon you see on the iPhone.

Apple have succeeded in creating a user interface that is both attractive and intuitive to use. The latest iteration of Mac OS X, Leopard, features even more improvements that really make you wonder what Snow Leopard (MAC OS X 10.6) and later versions can improve on. Just comparing Leopard to Panther, the difference is huge. Mac’s attractive interface has made me ponder how many people still use the Terminal, apart from those with a technical background. When you think about it, a few years back, the Terminal was central to almost anything you wanted to do on your Mac. It still remains highly useful, but only if you know how to use it. The trouble is, most users simply get scared off by the dark screen and lines of text.

If you’re curious as to how it works and want to gain a bit more control on your Mac, it’s well worth getting familiar with it. I found this excellent guide by Chris Stone, which explains in a number of steps how to master it. It’s a pretty big read though, so I’d really only suggest taking a look at it if you’re really excited about the Terminal. Others could turn to another guide I found which lists the basics, shows you how to get detailed information on your Mac and teaches you how to search for files from a command line instead of by using the Finder.