Stories by Ian Paul

  • Android OS developers to revamp app marketplace

    By Ian Paul | 05 September, 2009 00:33

    In a bid to compete more squarely with Apple's App Store the developers of the Android mobile OS are improving the way people browse for applications on Google phones through what is known as Android Market. As part of a software upgrade (Android 1.6, aka Donut) Android handset owners will be able to browse more easily third-party apps by previewing screen shots of apps and sort apps by criteria such as most popular and newest. There is no official date set for the release of Donut.

  • 9 Web-based office productivity suites

    Both Google and Microsoft are making big promises about browser-based environments that allow you to access documents, spreadsheets, calendars, contacts, and more, all in one place online.

  • Apple event: September 9?

    Apple's expected fall event, unveiling a revamped iPod line and other product news, may take place on Wednesday, September 9. The oft-rumored Apple tablet may not make an appearance, but other likely highlights are te debut of new social feature for iTunes 9, and an appearance by Steve Jobs (or not), according to All Things D.

  • Netscape founder backs next-gen browser

    The browser wars have gotten livelier with new entries and updates, with Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Opera, and Apple's Safari all scrambling for attention. But a warrior from the first browser war is apparently gearing up for battle once more. Netscape founder-turned-investor Marc Andreessen is backing a new company, Rockmelt, that is developing a next-generation Web browser, according to the New York Times.

  • Will future iPhones rat you out?

    Remember that old saying the customer is always right? Well, in the future that saying might be "the customer is always right, unless their iPhone says otherwise." A patent filed by Apple has been uncovered for a "customer abuse detection system" that would allow technicians to tell if you've been too hard on Apple devices like your iPhone or iPod.

  • Murdoch to charge for all newspaper sites

    Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has had a tough time making money this year, but Murdoch has a solution for the company's woes: online content protection and paywalls, which allow only paid subscribers to access certain content on a Web site.

  • The $US99 Palm Pre is back

    The Palm Pre is going for less than a hundred bucks again, and this time you only have to rush over to your closest Web browser to get it. The online cellular retailer LetsTalk.com is offering the Palm Pre for $99.99, after a combination of mail-in and instant rebates. That means you'll pay $199.99 at the checkout, but once (or should I say if) you send in Palm's mail-in rebate you'll have bragging rights to the $99 Pre.

  • Second RIAA piracy trial starts

    The Recording Industry Association of America may have decided not to pursue further file-sharing trials as a policy, but one last case is set to get underway today and promises to bring a dash of the theatrical into the courtroom.

  • Best Buy briefly sells Palm Pre for $US99 - oops!

    There were some happy shoppers coming out of Best Buy over the weekend after the big box retailer slashed the price of the Palm Pre by fifty percent. The only problem was it may have been a mistake, as other Palm Pre retail outlets including the Sprint Store did not drop their prices.

  • Dear Vista: it's time to part ways

    Vista, I have to tell you something, and I thought it would be easier to say in a letter. Microsoft's newest operating system is on its way; Windows 7 will be here on October 22. So, I know this is kind of awkward, Vista, but I'm going to have to ask you to get your things ready and start packing up.

  • Microsoft tweaks ad after Apple complains

    Remember last week when Microsoft was so ecstatic about Apple's complaints over the laptop hunter ads? Well, the software maker may have been overjoyed that it finally agitated its rival, but Redmond has quietly complied with Apple's complaints.

  • Could you be hacked like Twitter?

    The French hacker who broke into Twitter's Google Apps and stole more than 300 private company documents has revealed in detail how he did it.

  • Mobile apps: What's in your future?

    More predictions about the future of mobile devices are coming out of the MobileBeat Conference in San Francisco. Ilja Laurs, the head of GetJar -- a mobile device app store that boasts 14 million downloads monthly -- recently said that mobile phone applications "will be as big if not bigger than the Internet," according to the BBC. That statement is in direct contrast to last week's declaration by Google's vice president of engineering, Vic Gundotra, who said it's not the apps, but the browser that will be the future application platform for the mobile device.