Month: November 2009

PC users often argue that one of the big selling-points of PCs is price and choice. They claim that they have a huge amount of models and price ranges to choose from for computers which offer the same or better specifications than Apple products.

Well Miami based manufacturers Psystar recently decided it was time to change Apple’s monopoly on things.

Back in April 2008, they decided to sell what they called “Open Computers” in the USA which came pre-installed with Mac OS X Leopard. Prices started at just $399. Apple were obviously furious about this and after a lengthy legal battle, US courts ruled today that Psystar had broken copyright infringement and would have to cease trading. The court ruled that Psystar had broken the law on 3 grounds – reproduction, distribution and the creation of derivative works.

Psystar put up no defense to the first charge, but the second and third were more interesting battle grounds as they may well have set the boundaries of what is and is not acceptable for computer manufacturers that try to emulate Apple hardware and software.

ITWire report:

Psystar replaced the OS X bootloader, disabled and removed Apple kernel extensions, and added its own kernel extensions. Psystar acknowledged that it made those modifications. But Psystar claimed that didn’t make its copies of OS X “derivative works,” because it didn’t actually modify Apple’s source code. It merely replaced some of it with its own.

The court decided this argument was “unavailing” but only because Psystar failed to prove any supporting evidence of such a “derivative work”. Whether this is because there aren’t any, I’m not legally qualified enough to say but it may certainly give hope to those manufacturers who can work out a way round this. Continue reading “Apple v Psystar and the Hackintoshes”

It’s taken a while, but mobile operators have finally given up trying to fight against VoIP services. That’s the assessment from Tobias Kemper, Vice President at mobile VoIP heavyweight, Nimbuzz. Speaking to OnSoftware following the launch of the service’s new NimbuzzOut feature he said: “operators have stopped seeing us as enemies, but rather as a value add for their services and networks.”

NimbuzzOut allows users to make dirt cheap international mobile phone calls over the Internet via Nimbuzz. Rates are as low as 0.02 cents for calling the UK and China. Traditionally, these kind of services have struck fear into mobile operators worried about losing call revenue to cheap and free VoIP alternatives.

Several operators, including T-Mobile and AT&T have previously banned VoIP services, such as Nimbuzz, Skype and Google Voice from using the company’s network. Following widespread criticism these bans have since been overturned, and Kemper now believes the future’s looking bright for mobile VoIP and social media messaging.

Operators understand that the future is in VoIP for reasons of quality assurance and scalability. Nimbuzz is a brilliant data magnet that increases loyalty and customer churn for the operator. Operators have been more and more receptive toward us over the recent months and we will have some more interesting announcements coming up, beyond the roll outs with O2 in Germany and Eutelia in Italy. Operators have never been successful in banning third party services and evolution. T-Mobile tried and lost in court. T-Mobile USA has now seen its data traffic increase by factor 10 in the last quarter, only because of social media messaging.

NimbuzzOut has been already been rolled out for iPhone and Symbian devices, with the remaining platforms to be supported in the very near future. Notably, the developer has chosen to retain SkypeOut functionality within Nimbuzz, though it’s clear it will be encouraging users to switch over to NimbuzzOut. “It’s the choice our users. We have a very diplomatic solution and the user decides what’s best for them. NimbuzzOut is a great addition for everyone who is new to the VoIP game or looking for a cheap international calling solution,” said Kemper.

Kemper said that Nimbuzz will now focus its attentions to location-based feature to make the program even more useful. There’s plenty of competition in the mobile VoIP and social media market and Nimbuzz must continue to evolve if it wants to compete with the likes of Skype, Fring and Google Voice. In fact, they go head to head for the Best Social Network App award at the Crunchies in January, which you can vote on here.

Webcams can be fun. They enable you to have video chats with family and friends – no matter how far you are from each other – and also create hilarious image effects with the appropriate software. But they can also be used for more serious purposes, such as monitoring your business or your own home when you’re away. Thanks to tools like Vitamin D, you can set up your own private surveillance system in a couple of minutes and without having to invest a small fortune on it. A webcam equipped computer is enough!

Vitamin D is an easy-to-use webcam utility with motion detection technology. You can use it to monitor any given area in your office or your home, and the camera will record a short video clip every time it detects any kind of movement. We were honestly surprised by the camera’s efficiency – it detected virtually any movement we made in front of it – though not that much by its accuracy in distinguishing people from objects. Continue reading “Turn your webcam into a free surveillance system”

It’s great when developers respond to the genuine needs of users and produce something simple that makes a big difference to your working day. The development of Letterbox is one such application after a request by a user on an Ars Technica forum to create a plugin that allows Mail to take advantage of widescreen displays.

Letterbox makes using Mail a much easier experience. It’s ideal for those using Powerbooks, MacBook Pros and those with cinema displays although it’s appropriate for anyone with a widescreen monitor. Being able to manage your mailbox and organize it in widescreen can also increase your productivity by making everything clearer rather than squeezing it all into a small space.

Note that installation of Letterbox might be a bit tricky for the first time user as you have to do it manually. Firstly, you need to create the folder “~/Library/Mail/Bundles” if you’ve never installed a Mail plugin before. Secondly, you need to open Terminal and type “defaults write com.apple.mail EnableBundles 1”. Finally, copy the “Letterbox.mailbundle” into “~/Library/Mail/Bundles”. You have to quit and restart mail for these settings to take effect.

From here you can use a GUI to customize everything. You can customize Letterbox’s settings in the preference pane by select the menu item “Mail:Preferences”. You can also change the preview pane position which is useful if you regularly switch between a laptop monitor and an external monitor. Just go to “View:Preview Pane menu”. Continue reading “Use Mail in widescreen with Letterbox”

As crazy as it sounds, these days it’s becoming as important to maintain your online image as it is to make yourself look presentable in real life. Choosing a picture to have as your avatar for Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and the like can be a painstaking task. One simple and effective way of presenting yourself on social networks is to use a cartoon character version of you as your avatar. What’s more, you needn’t feel embarrassed about your profile picture because even if you’re really ugly you’re picture will look good. In fact, the uglier you are the more funny your character will be.

Here’s a round-up of some free online avatar creation tools, along with an image of how my ‘likeness’ came out with each of them:

Otaku – The level of customization available in Otaku is probably the most detailed you’ll find anywhere. There are 16 different categories of elements to tweak, including front and back hairstyles, makeup and hands. Each of these categories gives you plenty of choices of attributes, so you can really fine-tune your character with Otaku. In fact, the Japanese-style image that it produces is probably the most lifelike of all the sites I looked at.

DoppelMe – If you need a profile image or an avatar really quickly then pop along to DoppelMe. The level of detail isn’t as exact as Otaku, but the creation process is much faster. There are only 10 categories of elements to choose from, but there’s enough options within each one to allow you to make something that at least looks a little like you. In order to save your DoppelMe once you’ve finished you need to sign up for a free account.

Simpsons Avatar Creator – You’ve no doubt seen ‘Simpsonified’ versions of people of people in your friend’s lists before and have probably wondered how they did it. Well, there’s no great science to it. All you need to do is visit the Simpsons site and select from the various heads, haircuts, eyes, etc. on display in the avatar creator. Fans of the show will love the clothing and accessories, that reference things from the show in their design.

Face Your Manga – Probably my favorite of the five I tested, this one results in probably the most ‘adult’ looking avatar designs, and I reckon they’re perfect for use on personal blogs. There’s a high level of customization available, allowing you to tweak everything right down to the lines on your face. Once you’ve finished, your avatar will be emailed to you ready for use anywhere you like.

MadMenYourself – If you’ve ever watched Mad Men and wondered how you would look if you’d had the life of an ad executive in 50s New York then wonder no more. Simply go to this site and piece your alternate self together using the wonderfully simple step-by-step interface. When you’ve finished making yourself look dapper, the site gives you the option to save just the head, the body, or the whole scene.

Every now and then, you come across a piece of software that genuinely surprises. Normally, the thing that surprises us about such pieces of software is what it does: features and functionalities. QQ Messenger doesn’t really do anything new. It doesn’t contain any particularly ground breaking features. It’s an instant messaging client. What’s surprising about QQ is that its network has over 1 billion registered accounts… and unless you’re in contact with China, you probably never heard of it.

Depending on who you believe, QQ is either the #1 or the #3 most popular instant messaging client on the internet. It’s published by QQ.com, which in turn has an Alexa rank of 11. And yes, the fact that this is such a popular app is what makes it so important.

Apart from the fairly generic functions that you’d expect in any IM client, QQ does pack a few features which you won’t find in either Yahoo’s or Microsoft’s offerings. For example: QQ allows you to resume an interrupted download when you’re sharing files with friends. That may not sound particularly exciting but if you consider the stability of networks in parts of China and plenty of other countries, you’ll see that it’s actually essential. Another cool feature included with QQ is a nifty little screen grab tool which you can use while chatting. It even lets you make small screencasts: great for anyone who’s constantly helping friends out with their PCs.

But does that make QQ an MSN killer? Well the answer is: possibly. QQ is already a better designed and more up-to-date client than MSN. What QQ needs is a way to convince Messenger users to jump ship. One way this could be done would be by interacting with the MSN network: I don’t think that would work. But some promotion on American and European websites could well have a major impact.

You can download QQ Messenger from Softonic here, and don’t forget to check out our QQ review, too!

Well, just a few days after the release of Dragon Age: Origins, fans probably think that things can’t get any better. But they’d be wrong!

It’s not often you get something for nothing, but luckily the world of software is a little different. The lovely people at BioShock have brought out an additional piece of software for new game Dragon Age – Dragon Age: Origins Character Creator. As we’ve seen around the forums, the news has left some gamers cold, but the more creative among us are definitely going to have a lot of fun with the tool, which allows you to create characters to use in the PC game and upload them to Dragon Age’s upcoming social networking site for use as a (really cool) avatar. There’s even mention of an in-game bonus for people who use the tool to create characters that they later use online.

The whole creation process is really simple. You pick gender, race and class, and get creating. The really cool thing is the degree of control you have over facial features. You can tweak just about every aspect, which means that your end character will be unique and easily identifiable in the chaos of the game. When you’ve finished with your character’s appearance, you can chose a voice and a pose for what they call the profile (in reality, a small avatar). Don’t forget that every option has specific subsequent options, so have a good fiddle around with the tool so you don’t miss anything cool. Continue reading “Dragon Age: Origins Character Creator”

In Pierre: Insanity Inspired, you play an artist struggling to find inspiration to finish his magnum opus. This is done by collecting various objects you need over 6 levels. Each level is a rotating disc that you run around, avoiding dangers and finding enough pieces to get your inspiration back. It’s a pretty simple little game, but gets really tricky as it progresses.

What makes Pierre: Insanity Inspired different is how it treats the player. When you make a mistake, it insults you. Developers at MIT’s Singapore GAMBIT game lab are trying to find out whether this motivates players more or less. My experience was that the insults were irritating to begin with – I didn’t like the voice. Next, I got angry with one insult “butterfingers” which didn’t describe my mistake correctly – I can take an insult, but it should at least be accurate!

Finally, I got annoyed with Pierre: Insanity Inspired, but I’m not sure whether it was the irritating voice, the inaccurate insults, or the game, which gets pretty unfair without being very inspiring! Nevertheless, it’s an interesting idea, so check it out! It plays in your browser and requires Flash.

[Via:  Play This Thing]