technewsmadesimple.com
Where technology meets simplicity

Just the other day, Corey brought us Google’s new internet browser that is considerably faster than anything out there. There is just one caveat… they get full ownership of everything you make, write, download while on Chrome. And that was just within the first day or two. Since then a couple of things have been brought to Google’s attention:

1. The EULA or the End User License Agreement (that you normally accept because you can’t sit there and read about 100 pages of legal jargon about what is and is not allowed) will be rewritten and will hopefully be fixed soon.
2. When will Chrome leave beta and become a full fledged browser? GMail has been out for how many years? And that too is still in beta… Anyways, there are still bugs and since it still is in “beta” it is allowed to have these bugs… although maybe not as big as this…

So until Google comes up with a new EULA, I’ll stick with FireFox and my add-ons which I love dearly!

The office e-mail this morning was electric with talk of Google’s latest creation - an Internet browser. Dubbed Chrome, its announcement came along with a really spiffy, 38-page comic illustrated by the always talented Scott McCloud. Made with TLC from scratch, this browser is open source, making everything that’s wonderful about it available to everyone and anyone to build upon. So what does Chrome have to offer? It’d be easier if I just tried listing what it hasn’t innovated and improved upon! But for a rundown on why this has everyone’s attention, hit the jump and continue reading.

Read More

Barack Obama used it when he announced Joe Biden as his running mate so that you would “be the first to know.” Even the Pope used text messaging! Now, AT&T is joining the political text messaging bandwagon, but for good reasons. Hit the bump for more and a video!

Read More

Sounds ludicrous? That’s because it is! Comcast claims that with a 250GB bandwidth cap, users could:

* Send 50 million emails (at 0.05 KB/email)
* Download 62,500 songs (at 4 MB/song)
* Download 125 standard-definition movies (at 2 GB/movie)
* Upload 25,000 hi-resolution digital photos (at 10 MB/photo)

Users who go over the 250GB/month quota get a “friendly” phone call to warn them. However, after the second overage, your service will be terminated and you are prohibited usage for an entire year!

Read more at c|net

To continue on with my PC maintenance montage (post 1 and post 2), Kurt and I filmed a short, and by short I mean 12 minutes because Kurt can’t stop talking, video on some easy tips to keep your computer running smooth and fast. And by the way, it took me forever to edit this so I really hope you enjoy it!

Let us know what you think of this new theme. If you don’t like it, we’ll go back to the old one. We are testing new ones out to try and find one we like before we make the plunge and build one ourselves.

AT&T has just released new international rates that can be added or removed on top of your current contract with ease. For just a couple more dollars a month, you’ll be able to use your phone minutes at discounted rates in over 85 countries around the world. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.

AT&T’s International Plans Fact Sheet

There are also new rates for using your iPhone in other countries. There are flat rates for data usage in other countries which is again significantly cheaper than not having these additional plans. Click the link for the iPhone details.

AT&T iPhone International Fact Sheet

If you have trouble opening the files, click here for Adobe Acrobat Reader

First it was the ball… then opticals glowing red, now lasers, but the future is blue! At least that is what Microsoft has installed for the future. Blue Track utilizes a blue LED (yes the light) and many optical sensors to give you better mouse movement on all different surfaces including carpet! The translated article from Italian to English is here:

Microsoft is pleased to announce the launch of a new mouse tracking technology is revolutionary than optical that than lasers. Explorer Mini Mouse will change your way of managing the computer. Thanks to technology tracking Microsoft Bluetrack, offers excellent performance and accuracy on most surfaces (raw wood, granite and carpeting included) allowing you to control your computer from anywhere you want. This mouse is ideal for notebooks for its small size. Its elegant design, the blue luminescence and metal finishing side will give an exclusive style. Accurate and fast, is rechargeable through the appropriate base.
Features:
• Microsoft Bluetrack ™ Technology tracking revolutionary: Microsoft Bluetrack ™ : Microsoft BlueTrack ™ is a new technology for tracking revolutionary than optical and laser. The optical sensors Blue Specular, born from a combination of a Blue LED and lens with wide angle, join the power-haul optical precision laser than managing to make more precise and wide the image contrast of the surface. This allows the mouse with technology BlueTrack to function perfectly well on surfaces such as granite, wood raw and the carpet, on which neither mice nor optical lasers can work to the fullest. The radius of tracking mouse BlueTrack capture a larger section of the area being four times larger previous technologies. The mouse BlueTrack are ideal for those who usually gather to manage their PC in the most disparate of the house, train, airport or even on the street, often in places where the areas of support are p

While multiple surfaces and a blue glow are nice features, a multi-touch pad would have been better. Mice are so confined to the area near the computer and surfaces and I’m not sure if this is a step forward or a step horizontally. Either way, it isn’t innovative.

Thanks to Engadget for the story and links

Another busy week here at TNMS. Here are some important stories that you might have missed over the weekend!

• Kevin Rose rumors on new iPods, etc. from Apple - CrunchGear
• XBox360 will get motion controllers like the Wii? - Gizmodo
• Google and Verizon to partner for cell phone searching - Gizmodo
• Virgin Mobile to acquire Helio - Engadget
• Cyborgs by 2050? - Gizmodo
• And finally… Why this Gizmodo writer won’t be switching to Macs anytime soon

Apparently, AT&T has a new home theater tech support center: ConnecTech. Just like Best Buy’s Geek Squad and Circuit City’s FireDog, AT&T will have ConnecTech. CrunchGear has the price breakdown for the available services AT&T has to offer… which is basically the same as BestBuy and CircuitCity. But how well can you trust a “phone company” to handle fixing your home theater system? Your TV or wireless home internet? I’m not to sure, but they do have competitive prices! Only time will tell how well this move by AT&T will pay off.

http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/connectech.jpg

Damn I hope someone out there got the movie reference in the title.  Otherwise, I’m going to feel sad.  Sad and old.  Or, sadder & older than usual.

Anyway, over the past ten days there has been a fairly fascinating debate about Intellectual Property Laws, Computer Fraud, and plain old bored college geniuses.  (Or is it Genii?  Genies?  Can they grant wishes?  I need to figure this out.)

Read More

I may have the opposite of that multiple-Oscar-Winning movie with Russell Crowe, but as reported on Engadget, American Airlines has begun offering In-flight WiFi on it’s Boeing 757-200 airplanes using a system by Aircell LLC.

Read More

For those who remember the days of tuning their television, whitespace refers to the frequencies that weren’t used between channels. That whitespace is still out there today, floating about without a purpose. But for a while now, industry giants like Microsoft and Dell have been lobbying Congress to free up the airwaves for Whitespace Internet: a low-cost, wireless Internet that would allow for broadband Internet to reach out across the nation. Dissatisfied with the lack of progress that’s been made in this effort, Google has decided to enlist the public to support the cause with their campaign, “Free the Airwaves“. People can go to the site and petition for their support of whitespace internet. I strongly encourage all our readers to check out the site and read more about what whitespace internet could mean for our nation’s future in technology.

Where has the weekend gone? Between the Olympics and the Massachusetts tax-free holiday, I’m spent (literally!)! Here is what you’ve missed:

• First Android phone to be shipped in November… without Microsoft Exchange? - Engadget
• Intel to release 160GB solid state hard drives, faster, bigger and use less energy - Tom’s Hardware
• Dell’s Mini Inspiron laptop specifications have leaked out - Gizmodo
• Blizzard will release the opening cinematic movie for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King at Games Convention - Kotaku

OK, so that last story is mainly for us, but I leave you with this tid-bit that I came across today. For those who watch Family Guy, there is a character named Ollie Williams, a meterologist. He apparently has his own site here. Watch this Ollie Williams montauge to fully understand if you don’t already.