Christian Zibreg, Author at VR World - Page 2 of 13

Cloud Computing

Gmail Goes Offline for Some, Inboxes Vanish

This past weekend, a horror scenario was unfolding as some Google Apps customers first experienced trouble logging in to their Gmail inboxes only to later find their email messages, labels, settings, chat logs, contacts and other content vaporized completely. Google Apps is a suite of familiar Google services – such as Gmail, Docs, Calendar and more – hosted on your own domain. Google on its part claims the issue "affects less than .29 percent of the Google Mail userbase," translating into a whooping 500,000 user accounts. A few hours later they backpedalled with a new estimate of "less than 0.08 percent" of users, or about 150,000

Apple, Companies, Software Programs

Guide to FaceTime HD (Plus Why Video Chatting on Macs is No Longer Free)

Earlier this morning Apple refreshed its MacBook Pro family. Among other things, the new MacBook Pro has brought us faster Sandy Bridge processors, AMD instead of Nvidia graphics, a new high-speed connection called Thunderbolt and an improved webcam with three times higher resolution than the previous generation. More precisely, the new camera has a 1280 by 1024 pixel resolution. We haven’t had a chance to lay our hands on one of the new notebooks, but Apple says they FaceTime in high definition (720p) resolution and a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio. To support this higher fidelity, Apple has updated the FaceTime for Mac software. Even though previous betas

Apple, Companies, Hardware

MacBook Pro Updated: Sandy Bridge, AMD Graphics, Thunderbolt, FaceTime HD

Apple today updated its homepage with the refreshed MacBook Pro lineup that includes the latest Sandy Bridge processors, an upgraded FaceTime camera with three times higher resolution and a brand new Thunderbolt connection developed in partnership with Intel and debuting on the new MacBook Pro. The move to the latest Sandy Bridge processors has yielded a significant performance increase, the Cupertino firm claims. In addition, the Mac maker has switched the notebook family from Nvidia to AMD graphics chips. As BSN explained, high-speed Thunderbolt connection aims to replace the existing plethora of incompatible interfaces like SATA, eSATA, USB, FireWire, PCI Express and others. A new

Apple, Companies

Mark Your Calendar: Apple Officially Launching iPad 2 Next Wednesday

The guessing game is over – Apple has just issued a cool media invitation to select members of the press. The media has been invited to a special event to be held next Wednesday, March 2, in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. This is the same venue Apple used to launch the iPad a year ago, introduce new iPods and make other important announcement in the past. The press conference is scheduled to take time 10:00am. In other words, iPad 2 goes live a week from now. The latest development means there’s no substance to the yesterday’s rumor asserting alleged production difficulties

Apple, Companies, Hardware

White iPhone Coming This June?

You must be sick and tired of all the excuses and broken promises relating to white iPhone 4, but bear with me for a second. The mythical handset makes little sense at this point because iPhone 5 is around the corner. Nevertheless, the California-based gadget maker is apparently adamant to reward fans who have been patiently awaiting for the white iPhone model. Asian trade publication Digitmes is quoting a Chinese-language Economic Daily News report claiming Apple has decided to go with touch panel maker Wintek as the sole supplier for the white iPhone 5 model. Moreover, current supplier TPK Touch Solutions may take a back seat

Apple, Companies, Hardware

Apple Launching iPad 2 at a Media Event Next Wednesday, Says Kara

In the wake of forthcoming Honeycomb tablets, tech media is abuzz with a possible iPad 2 launch date. In an exclusive AllThingsD report by Kara Swisher, that date is apparently eight days from now, which is March 2, or this coming Wednesday. The press conference is to take place in San Francisco, most likely at the beautiful Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Apple chose that building (shown on the right picture) to launch the original iPad. It had also served as a venue for other Apple events in the past. The author is pretty adamant about the date: According to several sources close to

Hardware

Amazon Spoofs iPad With Latest "Book Lives On" Television Commercial

Online retailer Amazon has begun airing a new television commercial that indirectly pokes fun of iPad’s e-reading capabilities. Specialized e-reading devices like the Kindle are far better for enjoying digital publications and electronic books on the go than media tablets like the iPad with their inadequate LCD displays, the advert suggests. This benefit is clearly shown in a scene when a woman inside a bright-lit cafe has trouble reading what’s on her tablet’s screen. The Kindle has no glare, the commercial says, it’s easy to read in bright sunlight and has battery life of up to a month. The $139 e-reading gizmo is thin and

Hardware

Motorola Atrix 4G Now Available, Walmart Undercuts AT&T by $70

The Atrix 4G, a phone-meets-computer type of device from Motorola, went on sale today in the US on the AT&T network. The Android superphone costs the usual $200 with a obligatory two-year service agreement. Would-be buyers can choose from the entry-level Nation 450 voice plan that includes 450 voice minutes for $40 a month all the way up to the $70 a month Nation Unlimited plan that offers unlimited voice calling in the United States. In addition to the voice plan, a data plan is also required. You can pick either a $15 a month DataPlus plan that comes with a 200MB monthly allowance or

Hardware

Official Xoom Pricing: $600 Plus $20 per Month Contract, $800 Unsubsidized, No Flash

Following-up on its amusing Xoom teaser published earlier this morning, Verizon Wireless just announced that it will begin selling this first Honeycomb-driven tablet to its customers beginning this coming Thursday, February 24. The nation’s leading carrier finally went official with the Xoom’s pricing on the official product page. The device will start at $600 with a new two-year 3G data service that begins at $20 a month for 1GB of data. This means the cheapest Xoom model will cost a hundred more than a $599 WiFi iPad model that, of course, comes with 16GB of storage versus 32GB on the Xoom, and last year’s hardware versus the

Apple, Companies, Hardware

Late to the Party: iPhone 5 Slips to September, iPad 2 Delayed Until June?

Considering Apple has a top-notch track record in executing on its product delivery strategies, you should take this one with a pinch of salt. Apparently, Apple is facing manufacturing hiccups that could see them delay both iPhone 5 and iPad 2 until September and June, respectively. At least that’s what we’ve been hearing from a FBR Capital Markets analyst Craig Berger who wrote to clients: For the iPhone 5, we continue to hear that a July launch is unlikely, with various casing suppliers and touch suppliers still ramping up, with some chip vendors not having yet received firm iPhone 5 orders, and with other sockets like the image sensor

Hardware

New-Look VAIO S Due in March with Latest Core i5 CPU, Flashier Graphics

Sony’s stylish VAIO notebooks are the cream of the crop of their computer offering and today the Japanese consumer electronics giant refreshed the S Series with better processor and graphics options and a redesigned "full flat" appearance. The VAIO S notebooks have always been a synonym for portability due to their thinness and lightness. The new VAIO S series features a new look exterior with the casing crafted in magnesium that sports a wide aluminum palmrest and a cleverly concealed hinge mechanism, Sony said. Internal components include an Intel Core i5-2410M processor with 4GB of 1333MHz DDR3 RAM and discreet AMD Radeon HD 6470M graphics with either

Software Programs

Cool PlayBook App Demos Show Why RIM Snapped Up The Astonishing Tribe

When Research In Motion in last December snapped up The Astonishing Tribe for an undisclosed sum, watchers pondered how the acquisition would help the BlackBerry maker revamp its mobile operating system and add polish. After all, the Sweedish design shop is responsible for the original Android user interface and their concepts are being used in literally hundreds of millions of mobile devices. RIM hinted at plans to integrate The Astonishing Tribe with their QNX group responsible for BlackBerry 6 software by saying the designers would be tasked with the creation of "beautiful user interfaces for any screen and any device." At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain,

Apple, Audio/Video, Companies

Official Photo of Steve Jobs Dinning With Obama Raises Suspicion

Although the official photos showing Steve Jobs dinning with President Obama and other Silicon Valley leaders have somewhat soothed the worries about Apple CEO’s health status and helped expose a sensationalist report by the supermarket tabloid The National Enquirer as an attention-seeking maneuver, many bloggers are saying that the White House photos don’t tell the whole truth. Some folks suspect the angle of the White House shot might have been deliberately chosen to conceal Steve’s face. There is no frontal shot and Steve is completely obscured on another photo released by the government. Conspiracy theorists are pointing out that an emaciated Steve on the government

Business, Hardware

Intel Building 14nm Chip Factory in Arizona Worth $5 Billion

Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, announced this past Friday plans to build a new $5 billion-plus factory dubbed Fab 42. Located at its site in Chandler, Arizona and billed as "the most advanced, high-volume semiconductor manufacturing facility in the world," it will create more than four thousand permanent jobs in the country this year and enable the company to explore a process for creating transistors with a minimum feature size of 14 nanometers. This will pave the way for a more powerful and energy efficient chips that will power even thinner mobile devices. Construction is set to begin in the middle of this yea and

Apple, Companies, Hardware

Superfast Light Peak Optical Interface Coming to Apple Gadgets Soon?

Fan sites are awash with rumors that Apple is set to refresh their devices and computers with a high-speed optical cable interface technology from Intel appropriately dubbed Light Peak. Another early adopter could be Sony, according to a CNET report from this past Saturday. The publication speculated that upcoming gadgets and computers from the Californian consumer electronics powerhouse could be fitted with this technology by default: Apple is expected to adopt this technology in the near future–but likely use a name other than Light Peak, a source familiar with this aspect of Apple’s plans said. Intel has said in the past that the first products using

Cloud Computing

Rights Group Applauds Gay-Friendly Relationship Statuses on Facebook

Facebook has updated the official list of relationship statuses with two new choices appealing to its gay and lesbian users in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. Choosing either "In a civil union" or "In a domestic partnership" on their profile, gay or lesbian individuals can now publicly disclose their romantic relationship to their friends. The new choices augment the usual assortment of relationship options that include "Single," "Married," "Engaged," "In a Relationship," "In an Open Relationship," "Divorced," "Separated" and "Widowed," bringing the variety of relationship statuses on Facebook to ten. Interestingly, the announcement first came via a statement from Gay &

Apple, Companies

White House Buries Morbid Paparazzi Photo of Cancer-Stricken Steve Jobs

Apple fans and watchers can sigh a collective breathe of relief – the official White House photo just went live showing Steve Jobs dinning with President Obama and his Silicon Valley perks. Steve looks as healthy and jovial as we last remember him. The National Enquirer, the sleazy supermarket tabloid earning blood money on predicting celebrity deaths, caused quite a turmoil on Wednesday publishing a gruesome account of Apple CEO allegedly visiting the Stanford Cancer Center, presumably to undergo a chemotherapy treatment. Relayed by other like-minded gossip publications, the piece spooked investors and caused a brief scare on Nasdaq, where AAPL trades. The tabloid has managed

Graphics, Hardware, Software Programs

Nvidia CEO: MacBook Air Designs + Nvidia Processors = Future of Computing

Graphics giant Nvidia is on a roll these days as their chief executive Jen-Hsun Huang can be seen and heard promoting Tegra platform left and right. A tipping point was January’s Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas and the just-finished Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. At both shows virtually every major vendor presented gadgets with Tegra 2 chips inside. On the heels of those mobile strides, Huang is suggesting notebooks could be up next for the disruption. Echoing a similar sentiment by Steve Jobs, Huang told CNET future laptops will eventually replicate Apple’s design with the MacBook Air: You’ll have trouble finding one that doesn’t look like the

Apple, Companies, Hardware

NYT Kills Off iPhone nano: Not Smaller, Only Cheaper

Weighing in on swirling iPhone nano rumors, The New York Times reported Thursday that a rumored smallish iPhone mode, won’t be small at all. That’s right, those gorgeous iPhone nano artworks will remain just fan mockups. Instead, the paper wrote quoting unnamed sources involved with Apple’s development cycle, the device will be similar in size to the current iPhone 4 because a smaller form factor would make the phone difficult to navigate and "would not necessarily be much cheaper to manufacture." The report has debunked a previous Wall Street Journal story calling for a smaller iPhone: The person said Apple was not planning to introduce a smaller iPhone

Cloud Computing

Google Social Search Graduates, Tries to Steal Thunder From Facebook Search

Google search is still the go-to place for general stuff but it falls short if you wanna tap the collective knowledge of your friends. That’s because Google often knows little about who your friends are and has a hard time estimating the relevancy of their shared content. In 2008, Google has partially addressed this issue with Social Search, an experiment that added to the bottom of your search results real-time public tweets and blog posts by the folks in your social circle. Today, Google Social Search has graduated and is now an integral part of your search experience. "Sometimes when you’re searching, having information from people