Windows 8 images continue to leak onto the Internet, despite Microsoft's wallpaper-based pleas to those with access to the early releases. Today's installment courtesy CNBeta shows the upcoming Windows App Store, which will likely feature prominently in Windows 8. We've got our doubts about the authenticity of the image. In addition to showing several of the built-in games which already ship with Windows, Opera is listed -- and a competing browser seems like an odd inclusion this early on. Of course, with the browser ballot still in place in the EU for quite some time, Microsoft would probably need to include rivals like Opera and Firefox to stay out of trouble. We're also not sure why Clickgamer is shown beneath Angry Birds instead of Rovio -- the game's actual publisher. It's still early, of course, so it's entirely possible that the Windows App Store image is genuine but merely using placeholder images and text for now. Anyone else thinking Windows Marketplace might be a more logical name? You know, to keep things consistent with Windows Phone and keep Apple's legal eagles at bay.
Those benevolent armchair philanthropist Redditors are at it again! Four days ago a 'self' post extolling the potential virtues of a Backup Day exploded with 2500 upvotes and 1000 comments -- and now World Backup Day 2011 is actually happening. On March 31, as part of the global data-saving initiative, you are encouraged to back up all of your cherished photos and videos, and important documents. If you've ever had a hard disk fail, and not had a backup to fall back on, you'll know that it's a bit like losing a sizable fragment of your soul. If you've never backed up your important files -- or if you only back up sporadically -- do it on World Backup Day! It's not hard to back up your data, either. A 2TB drive costs only a fistful of dollars, and it takes just a few minutes to set SyncToy for Windows, or Time Machine for Mac, to mirror your data every night. If you prefer a cloud-based solution, there's always SugarSync and Dropbox. Finally, don't forget that Bundlelytic has a charity giveaway for three excellent data-backup-and-recovery tools -- $160 of software for only $25, and 100% of the proceeds to go the Japanese Red Cross. For even more backup options, for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, check our list of 13 great backup programs.
Samsung thinks its Galaxy S III smartphone is vastly superior to the iPhone 5, and it’s going to make sure the public knows it.
The company’s newest idiots-in-line-at-an-Apple-Store ad pits its flagship smartphone against the iPhone 5. Guess which one comes out on top? The commercial, embedded below, portrays Apple fans waiting in line, excited but ignorant. “I hear the new connector is all digital,” one woman excitedly says. “What does that even mean?!”
“This year, we’re finally getting everything we didn’t get last year,” another person says, mentioning features like a larger screen and 4G LTE (features that Samsung’s phones have had for a while). Passersby toting the Galaxy S III then amaze the iPhone fans with the larger display and NFC-based tap-to-share features of Samsung’s phones.
Over the weekend, Samsung took out a full-page ad supposedly comparing a short list of iPhone 5 specs with a veritable scroll of Galaxy S III features, concluding at the bottom of the ad, “The Next Big Thing Is Already Here.”
It seems Samsung’s taking courtroom-side mudslinging into the public with such ads. Although business partners, Samsung and Apple have been embroiled in an epic intellectual property brawl in courts across the globe, most recently in San Jose, California with the Apple v. Samsung jury trial. For more background on this case, click here.
Moments ago, Mozilla stripped the release candidate moniker from Firefox 4 Mobile and pronounced it fit for public release. If you have a Nokia N900 phone, or a fairly-modern Android 2.0-or-later device, go ahead and install it from the Market, by using scanning the QR code after the break, or by visiting Firefox.com/m. Accompanying the release is the launch of Spark, a cute social game that's designed to fuel the adoption of Firefox 4 Mobile, much like last week's use of Glow and Twitter Party during Firefox 4 PC's release. While the browser still feels a little rough around the edges, it's definitely worth trying out if you're still using Android's stock browser. Its JavaScript performance is significantly better than any other Android browser, and if you use Firefox on your PC, its built-in Sync functionality is awesome. Over the next few days we'll have plenty of tips and tricks for Firefox 4 Mobile, and a list of the best add-ons available for the new browser.
Soon after it's unveiling, the Intel-based RAZR i showed up in Clove's listings with a SIM-free price of £342, and now it looks as if a few more outlets are pushing pricing details to the world. Expected to storm the UK in October, the phone should ship to Virgin Media customers for around £23 per month on its Premiere Tariff, while T-Mobilers will be able to score one for £0 to £31 per month depending on the contract. All told, not too shabby for the world's first 2GHz Atom-backed Android phone, and if you're eager to push all of this iPhone 5 stuff aside, at least you know precisely how many quid to save up between now and next month.
Looking at Roberta Rampazzo's Illusion Side Table, you can't help but fall into a vortex of heavy thoughts. Are the legs crossing? Are they bent? Are there three legs? Four legs? Five legs? Does this still adhere to the platonic ideal of what a table is? Will I be a better person for having one? Would my parents approve? Is it more valuable than significant others in my life? Can I take it with me into the afterlife? More »
Welcome to future Los Angeles. All of our homes will be built into the side of a hill. They will all be gigantic, geometric forms, with stark, hypermodern interiors. Colors are forbidden. Black, white and shades of grey only. (Exceptions can be made if you intend to hang a Warhol.) While residing in the MUL:7691 house, your bathtub will alone stand as a piece of moderncontemporary art. And your house may or may not be equipped with the ability to launch into the cosmos. More »
If you're lucky enough to own an Xperia Play -- Sony Ericsson's new Gingerbread-powered smartphone-cum-gamepad -- you can now buy PlayStation (PSX) titles from the Android Market. There are five titles currently available, all priced at £3.99: Syphon Filter, MediEvil, Cool Boarders 2, Destruction Derby, and Jumping Flash. They don't have an American price yet, but that will surely change once the Xperia Play launches in the States. Two important questions remain unanswered: How big are these games? The Market descriptions say the games are only 5MB, but that sounds incredibly unlikely -- and more importantly, will it be possible to 'spoof' the Xperia Play and download PSX games onto other Gingerbread-powered phones, like the Nexus S? In other news, the PlayStation emulator PSX4droid was recently removed from the Android Market. This obviously has nothing to do with today's release of first-party PlayStation games.
Developed by researchers at Gifu University in Japan, this new medical teaching tool projects a virtual anatomical model onto a featureless mannequin letting students study the brain and nervous system. And while it's less creepy than cutting open an actual body, it's certain to fuel a few terrible nightmares. More »
When Firefox 4's tab grouping tool, Panorama, had its keyboard shortcut changed to the finger-breaking combo of Ctrl+Shift+E, we thought Panorama would get dropped before FF4's final release -- but, thankfully, it made the cut! If you've used Firefox 4 and Panorama, you might have noticed that Mozilla's new browser doesn't always save your tab groupings when you close the browser -- a bit of a pain, if you spend a long time setting up the perfect groups! This is tied into the removal of the 'Save and Quit' dialog box -- and enabling Panorama tab group saving is just a matter of re-enabling the Save and Quit dialog. Open a new tab and head to about:config. Click through the warning and type 'quit' into the filter box. Double click browser.showQuitWarning to change its value to true (see image after the break). That's it -- now you'll have the option of saving your tabs, and thus tab groups, when you close Firefox. For more tech tips, visit our tips index.