| Picasa Granted Nearly Unlimited Storage Thanks to Google+ Posted: 01 Jul 2011 02:32 PM PDT  The changes kicked off by the Google+ launch continue to reverberate through other Google products. Google's photo sharing and storage service, Picasa is getting a change for the better. For users of Google+, any photos uploaded to the social service are stored on Picasa and there is no storage limit. That's right, nearly unlimited storage.
There are a few restrictions on the nature of the content, though. Images are scaled down to no larger than 2048x2048 pixels, but video up to 1080p and less than 15 minutes in length is allowed. Images manually uploaded to Picasa that are larger than allowed will count against the 1GB of free Picasa space. After that, all photos will be resized. Non-Google+ users can still get unlimited space, but their photos will be scaled down to 800x800. The same 1GB limit is in effect for manual uploads to Picasa of larger photos. Users on Android devices that use Google+ can have all their images and video uploaded to Google+ automatically in the background. This new Picasa policy, along with the improved tagging accompanying Google+ should be a real win for users. It also helps Google out by making it easier for users to share content and get invested in Google+. |
| Google+ to Get Developer API Soon Posted: 01 Jul 2011 02:16 PM PDT  One of the things that has made Twitter such a success, even as Facebook continues growing, is its API access. Having an API allows developers to plug into a service to improve the experience and ecosystem. Google+ has only been live for a few days, but Google's Vic Gundotra told Cnet that API access is coming soon.
Gundotra's last post was that of VP of platform evangelism. Most readers will recognise him from his Google I/O talks when he dealt with Android. Frankly, Gundotra knows how to bring developers into the fold. It is unsurprising that Google+ launched without a firm developer API. It is still in closed beta and many features are likely to change. When Google has cleaned up the rough edges, we expect developers to get a crack at it. For the time being, interested developers can contact Google to be notified when the API rolls out. |
| Google in Early Talks to Buy Hulu Posted: 01 Jul 2011 01:58 PM PDT  According to the LA Times, one of the mysterious parties that's been in talks to buy Hulu is none other than Google. Also involved in the preliminary negotiations are Microsoft and Yahoo. Google is reportedly interested in Hulu due to its reach in video advertising, a field Google pioneered with YouTube.
Hulu's rights to stream current season TV are certainly of great interest, as well. Google recently launched a video rental service within YouTube for feature films, and the rights they would acquire from a Hulu buy would flesh out the catalog nicely. One major issue with a Google deal is the possibility that licensing agreements could dry up after a buyout. There are already rumors that Hulu subscribers could eventually be forced to prove they have a cable subscription, and future licensing deals are not guaranteed. Google already has a contentious relationship with Hollywood, and may have trouble renewing the necessary deals. Do you think Google could make Hulu a better service, or is the search giant just bidding up its competition? |
| 13 Stages In The Evolution of the Mouse Posted: 01 Jul 2011 01:30 PM PDT Mice—they're something we PC enthusiasts tend to take for granted. After all, once you've specced out your new rig with a blazing fast processor and a video card the size of a VCR, what's it really matter what we use to move the pointer around? They're easy to forget, because the baseline options we have today are exponentially better than what we had just a decade ago. To refresh your memory, we've put together a list of 13 mice that introduced major new features and blew open new markets. Read on for a lesson in the history of the mouse! |
| Samsung Outs More Series 9 Models, MacBook Air Seen Cowering in a Corner Posted: 01 Jul 2011 12:54 PM PDT  Samsung today added five new models to its Series 9 line of ultra-thin laptops, and no one can accuse the company of bringing a knife to a gun fight. Certainly not Apple, whose MacBook Air is still slinging Intel's Core 2 Duo weaponry, at least until the upcoming refresh. In the meantime, the new Series 9 models roll into the war zone armed with Core i3, i5, and i7 canons, mighty big weapons given their stature.
There are three new 13.3-inch and two new 11.6-inch Series 9 models, the latter of which will begin shipping in August. Available right away are the NP900X3A-B01US (1.6GHz Core i5 2467M, 4GB of RAM, 128GB SSD) for $1,349, NP900X3A-B02US (1.6GHz Core i5 2467M, 4GB of RAM, 256GB SSD) for $1,649, and NP900X3A-A05US (1.6GHz Core i7 2617M, 6GB of RAM, 256GB SSD) for $2,049. The 11.6-inch models will consist of the NP900X1B-A02US (1.3GHz Core i3 2357M, 2GB of RAM, 64GB SSD) for $1,049 and NP900X1B-A01US (1.3GHz Core i3, 4GB of RAM, 128GB SSD) for $1,249. All five models sport an LED-backlit display with a 1366x768 resolution, brushed aluminum chassis, USB 3.0, Windows 7 Home Premium, and FastStart technology. Series 9 Homepage Image Credit: Samsung |
| Cool Site of the Week: MIT OpenCourseWare Program Posted: 01 Jul 2011 12:30 PM PDT  Let's face it, summer is no friend to your brain. When you're not busy killing it with beer, late night campfire parties or Michael Bay movies (seriously, he needs to be stopped), your poor grey matter gets boiled inside your noggin from taking on too much direct sunlight during weekend trips to the beach. To make up for the annual beating visited upon your poor noodle, we recommend treating it to some of the best free education on offer anywhere in the world. Do your brain a solid and direct your browsers to Massachusetts Institute of Technology's OpenCourseWare Program, our Cool Site of the Week.
In operation since 2001, the MIT OpenCourseWare Program website currently plays host to over 2000 individual lectures covering 33 academic disciplines as taught by some of the greatest minds in the world. MIT provides visitors to the site with full course notes, problem sets and solutions, reading lists and in some cases, even videos. The materials are free to use, copy, and redistribute by anyone, anywhere in the world. 
To date, over 71 million individual users from 215 countries have taken advantage of what the MIT OpenCourseWare website has to offer; providing self-learners and educators with access to some of the best educational materials available anywhere in the world. Be sure to check back every Friday for another edition of Cool Site of the Week. |
| GPU-Z Update Improves Startup, Adds Detection for More Sandy Bridge GPUs Posted: 01 Jul 2011 10:40 AM PDT  In the latest issue of Maximum PC (August 2011, or Volume 16 No. 8), we highlight GPU-Z on page 54 as one of "49 Lil' Apps" that can be downloaded for free and are less than 3MB in size. It's our go-to utility for knowing almost everything there is to know about our system's graphics chip, including clockspeeds, die size, and even its release date, and it works with both AMD and Nvidia GPUs. Since going to print, TechPowerUp released a new version -- GPU-Z 0.5.4 -- with a barrel full of new features and fixes.
TechPowerUp promises a "considerably improved startup time on ATI cards," and it's faster on Nvidia as well. In addition to faster loads, the new version adds detection for more Intel Sandy Bridge GPUs, variants of GT 220 and GTS 450 cards, faked cards based on GTS 250, 9600 GT, and NV41M, and a bunch of other GPUs. GPU-Z 0.5.4 also includes improved rendering on high DPI screens, fixed ROP count reading on AMD Radeon HD 6790 cards, fixed OpenCL detection on some Nvidia drivers, and memory size reading support for AMD Fusion GPUs, to name just a few. You can view a full list of changes and download the latest version with or without an Asus ROG skin here. |
| AMD Catalyst Hotfix Available for New Llano Processors Posted: 01 Jul 2011 09:50 AM PDT  AMD's launch of two Llano A-series desktop APUs yesterday comes a little over two weeks after the CPU/GPU maker made available its Catalyst 11.6 driver package. For whatever reason, AMD chose not to bake in support for its then soon-to-be-released A8-3850 and A6-3650 APUs, but don't despair, there's a hotfix available if you plan on running one of these chips.
The AMD Catalyst 11.6a hotfix also adds support for the A8-3800 with Radeon HD 6550D (same as the A8-3850) and A6-3600 with Radeon HD 6530D (same as the A6-3650). Otherwise, there isn't anything new in this hotfix. In case you missed it, the Catalyst 11.6 drivers promise performance gains in a handful of titles, including Crysis, F1 2010, Far Cry 2, HAWX, and the Unigine Open GL tests. It also adds a few new features, such as Steady Video, Image Stabilization brought to you by YouTube, and decode acceleration of MPEG-4 part 2 content in Microsoft video player applications (through MFT support) for all Radeon HD 6000 cards. AMD Catalyst 11.6a Hotfix |
| Facebook, Comcast Among Most Hated Companies in U.S., Newegg Most Loved Posted: 01 Jul 2011 09:25 AM PDT  Does Facebook, as a company, make your blood boil? What about MySpace? And should we even bother asking about Comcast, one of the largest cable companies in the world, and also No. 4 on the list of companies customers hate most, as indicated in the American Customer Satisfaction Index? Those three scored 64, 63, and 59, respectively, on a 0-100 scale intended to represent company-level satisfaction.
Business Insider used the ratings to put together a list of the top 19 most hated companies in America, with Potomac Electric taking the No. 1 spot and Bank of America ranking No. 19. In addition to Facebook (No. 10) and MySpace (No. 9), several tech companies made the list, including Dish Network (No. 18), Cox Communications (No. 17), AT&T Mobility (No. 14), Charter Communications (No. 5), and Time Warner Cable (No. 3). "These are not terribly competitive industries, as the switching barriers for most of them are quite high," ASCI's David VanAmburg told BusinessInsider. "In other industries, like the food or clothing sector, the competition is huge. They bend over backwards to make customers happy, because they have to." On the flip side, a handful of tech companies scored high on the list, including Amazon (87/100), Apple (86/100), Netflix (86/100), Newegg (84/100), Overstock (83/100), and Ebay (81/100). Which companies do you have the biggest beef with? And which are your favorites? |
| Adobe Tries to Poach Apple Users with Discounted Switcher Program Posted: 01 Jul 2011 08:57 AM PDT  It's on like Donkey Kong in the video editing space. In an attempt to entice Apple Final Cut Pro and/or Avid Media Composer customers to make the switch to Adobe software, Adobe today announced an upgrade program that will allow users of any version of the aforementioned Apple products to switch to Creative Suite CS5.5 Production Premium or Premiere Pro CS5.5 at a 50 percent discount.
"We're hearing from video professionals that they want pro level tools that address cutting edge work but also allow them to use legacy footage and workflows," said Jim Guerard, general manager and vice president of professional video and audio, Adobe. "At Adobe we've been in the trenches with video pros for years and with Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 and CS5.5 Production Premium we've delivered professional-grade tools that are already being battle-tested by some of the most innovative filmmakers, broadcasters and video pros." Eligible Adobe suite and point product customers also qualify for the program, but Adobe's Switcher program is really a well-timed and non-coincidental response to video professionals raging over Apple's recent launch of Final Cut Pro X, a rewrite of Apple's top-shelf video editing software with some major omissions, not the least of which is no direct import capability for Final Cut Pro 6/7 projects. The release sparked an online petition with nearly 6,700 signatures demanding that Apple either make some key changes to the software, or auction off the source code to Final Cut Pro 7. Adobe's Switcher program will end September 30, 2011. |
