When the Zune HD launched, it swept the gadget world in a flurry of very positive reviews. It's a fantastic device for music, video, and podcasts, but the app selection could be charitably described as "weak." The Zune team said more, and better, apps were coming this fall. Today, hot on the heels of a 4.3 Firmware update that improves browser performance (among other small tweaks), the Zune team has released half a dozen new games.
Foxit's eSlick e-book reader is curiously named because the device is decidedly unslick, with a utilitarian appearance that lacks the elegance of competing e-book readers. Ultimately, though, its looks are less of a concern than its limited functionality.
Microsoft has long said, and we have reminded users, that DirectX 11 is not just a Windows 7 technology. The company promised that DirectX 11 will be available for Vista around the same time as the release of its latest and greatest operating system.
It seems as if we've been writing about USB 3.0 forever, but it has really been only about two years since Intel and other parties formed a promotional group for USB 3.0 in 2007. The spec was completed in November 2008, at which time the standard's backers said that a glut of devices would hit the market late this year. Well, that statement turned out to be almost right: Devices are coming very soon, but the glut won't be until next year.
Palm Pre owners should go update their phone, as webOS 1.2 is now available for download. This comes on the heels of a slew of leaks and, of course, an Tunes update that broke the Pre's ability to sync with Apple's software. The bad news is: webOS 1.2 does not fire a volley back in the neverending tit-and-tat between Palm and Apple regarding iTunes syncing. If you have iTunes 9.01, upgrading to webOS 1.2 will not let you sync with your Pre.
During the second IDF 2009 keynote, by Sean Maloney (Exec. VP and General Manager of Intel Architecture Group), we were briefly treated to the first public demonstration of Intel's upcoming enthusiast GPU code-named Larrabee. Intel has stated in the past that Larrabee based products are expect at the end of 2009 or early 2010, but if its debut is any indication, it looks like they still have some work to do.
If you have a Linksys model WRT160N or Netgear RP614v4 router, it may be time to worry a little. At least according to a report out of Defcon from The Register. The vulnerability is based on CSRF, or cross-site request forgery, an issue with the cPanel web-based control software used to administrate the devices.
At the SIGGRAPH graphics conference in New Orleans this week, the Khronos Group announced the release of OpenGL 3.2. The new revision of the graphics API standard, along with the accompanying OpenGL Shading Language 1.50, adds quite a few new features. The focus is on improving performance, providing options for better visual quality, and making porting from Direct3D easier. Highlights include:
Just days after releasing some proposed interface changes to Firefox 3.7 on its wiki, the Mozilla Foundation has put up a page to explore interface changes in Firefox 4.0.
Remember when Apple updated iTunes to version 8.2.1, breaking syncing with the Palm Pre? Well, that feature is back, along with loads of other stuff.
