To 4G Or Not To 4G? Consumers Don?t Give A Hoot.

There's been a lot of hype around 4G of late, with talk about how the new network standard provides increased speeds, better device functionality, and all that jazz. But is 4G a term that actually has real world meaning, or is it just some place-holding buzzword used by marketers to stoke consumer excitement over buying a new phone? Morpace, a market research and consulting company, released an interesting report today designed to provide a bit of insight into questions surrounding 4G, hoping to discover whether or not the improvements of these networks over their 3G predecessors play a significant factor in the purchase decision for a new phone or plan and just what the current perception of the 4G brand in today?s marketplace. Perhaps unsurprisingly, consumers don't seem to care much about 4G -- it's just not worth the price of admission.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/TQfM9r_wu_Y/

Heinrich Peller Viktoria Barz Emma Sauter Rosemarie Ramsauer

Swatch Straps a Third Eye Onto Wrists [Watches]

For their latest range of cheap plastic watches, Swatch enlisted legendary fashion photographer Rankin to snap high-res photos of variously-colored irises, which look almost like the swirling milky-way close-up. On sale now, they cost $61/£38. [Swatch via Sub-Studio] More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/7wTN8MFBkjk/swatch-straps-a-third-eye-onto-wrists

Tobias Leinenbach Olga Kreibich Nathalie Donnerhacke Anna-Lena Baumgärtel

VMware adds Mozy to its cloud and virtualization empire

mozy vmware
Mozy is one of the most popular cloud backup services around, with more than one million users storing around 70 petabytes of data. Its popularity apparently put it on the acquisition radar of VMware -- which has now made Mozy part of its virtualization empire.

VMware's official blog post makes it clear that the company wasn't so much interested in Mozy as a consumer offering. Rather, it's the inner workings of Mozy which piqued VMware's curiosity. CTO Steve Herrod says, "Over the past 5 years, Mozy has built one of the best examples of a globally distributed, large-scale cloud offering." He adds that the move will allow VMware to "further ramp our own cloud-related learning and accelerate new IP, scale, and capabilities" of its existing offerings.

Existing Mozy customers don't need to worry, of course. VMware has pledged to continue running Mozy's service without interruption.

VMware adds Mozy to its cloud and virtualization empire originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/05/vmware-takes-over-operation-of-mozy/

Arne Koller Fiona Brandenburg Franziska Spanier Erna Van den Hout

Scrabble Helper helps you improve your Words With Friends gameplay

scrabblehelper
If you play Scrabble (or a scrabble-like game) from time to time, you may want to check out Scrabble Helper. This simple website is a godsend when you're at a loss for words. Simply enter whatever letters you have, and the word you'd like to connect with. Scrabble helper comes up with a whole bunch of suggestions sorted by score.

The site lets you select one of five dictionaries - Scrabble International/US, Lexulous International/US, and Words With Friends. Some people might say this constitutes cheating -- I think if the other side knows you're doing it, it's definitely not cheating. And it doesn't take the challenge out of the game, because implementing Scrabble Helper's suggestions and deciding which words you'd like to connect with still takes a fair bit of thought.

Very handy, though perhaps not one for the Scrabble puritans in the crowd.

Scrabble Helper helps you improve your Words With Friends gameplay originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/14/scrabble-helper-helps-you-improve-your-words-with-friends-gamepl/

Claus Rehberg Tobias Leinenbach Olga Kreibich Nathalie Donnerhacke

Deal of the Day ? HP ENVY 17 3D 1080p 2nd Generation Quad Core i7 Laptop with 3D Glasses

Today?s LogicBUY deal is for the updated HP ENVY 17 3D 1080p Quad Core i7 (Sandy Bridge) laptop for $1524.99.  This laptop is bundled with 3D Active Shutter glasses and comes with a 2-year warranty.  You may customize the laptop as desired. $1599.99 – $75 coupon code = $1524.99 with free shipping and free glasses [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/06/20/deal-of-the-day-%e2%80%93-hp-envy-17-3d-1080p-2nd-generation-quad-core-i7-laptop-with-3d-glasses/

Siegrid Holstein Michael Vollmar Robin Jones Ingeburg Otte

BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.6 update brings Flash 10.3 and AIR 2.7 to PlayBook

Nah, it ain't the update that'll bring a standalone email client to your BlackBerry PlayBook, but at least it's some positive news in an otherwise gloomy arena surrounding RIM. Version 1.0.6 of the BlackBerry Tablet OS was just cut loose today, bringing support for Adobe's Flash 10.3 and AIR 2.7 software. In other words, users should see improved Flash performance, and they'll also be able to tap into a new array of apps crafted with AIR 2.7. Oh, and for the security mavens? There's a few built-in updates to safeguard you and yours. It's available over-the-air right now, and if you don't see an update just yet, be patient -- it's en route, we swear.

BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.6 update brings Flash 10.3 and AIR 2.7 to PlayBook originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/21/blackberry-tablet-os-v1-0-6-update-brings-flash-10-3-and-air-2-7/

Charlotte Kadelbach Hugo Ruß Edith Hupertz Heinrich Peller

Belkin ScreenCast TV Adapter streaming from a WiDi laptop near you in July

We've already seen Belkin's ScreenCast TV Adapter at its most unflattering, stripped naked for all the FCC to see, so it was a welcome change spotting the streaming media device in a more flattering light on the floor of GDGT's New York meetup. The set top box can stream 1080p video and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound from any WiDi-enabled laptop to your HDTV. It's also got dual-band wireless technology (at 2.4 and 5GHz) and can also handle your Blu-ray collection. The ScreenCast will start hitting living rooms in mid-July for $130, including a bundled HDMI cable. Stream some press releasey goodness after the break.

Continue reading Belkin ScreenCast TV Adapter streaming from a WiDi laptop near you in July

Belkin ScreenCast TV Adapter streaming from a WiDi laptop near you in July originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/21/belkin-screencast-tv-adapter-streaming-from-a-widi-laptop-near-y/

Dieter Schreiter Monika Kley Heidemarie Frick Maike Beetz

Self-published Kindle author breaks one million in sales, legs might have something to do with it

Our big, bad digital era's been caught red-handed overturning media industry business models before, so it comes as no surprise that publishing houses have a new headache on-hand. Straight outta sunny Seattle comes word that Amazon has welcomed its first self-published author to the "Kindle Million Club." John Locke (so this is where he wound up after going to that quasi-'heaven') is the lucky dude who gets to claim the prize, and that's not all -- Mr. independent-author-from-Kentucky now shares bold-face status with the likes of Stieg Larsson and Nora Roberts. By churning out action / adventure novels on the $0.99 cheap and making heavy use of some leggy lady models, Locke easily blew past the one million mark, and even has a book to tell you how he did it. Take that evil publishing overlords. Hit the break for Amazon's official PR spiel.

Continue reading Self-published Kindle author breaks one million in sales, legs might have something to do with it

Self-published Kindle author breaks one million in sales, legs might have something to do with it originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/21/self-published-kindle-author-breaks-one-million-in-sales-legs-m/

Gabriela Prell Sylvia Lösche Steven Walnsch Lennart Tonn

Zoho Docs 2.0 adds iPad support

zoho docs ipad
Zoho has offered an iOS app for a while now -- at least for the iPhone and iPod touch. Those of you who have been wanting to use the Zoho app on your iPad were out of luck, but that's no longer the case.

Zoho Docs 2.0 has landed in the App Store, and the most notable change is that it's now a universal app. Now you're able to take advantage of the app's mobile productivity powers on your larger iOS device. Retina display support has also been added, as have document sharing options -- which you can utilize in both the viewer and collaboration modes.

Just like the basic Zoho service, the app is available totally free of charge. Paid subscriptions get you additional storage space and start at $3 per month for professional use.

Zoho Docs 2.0 adds iPad support originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 22:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/zoho-docs-2-0-app-for-ipad-arrives/

Sabine Kinzler Frieda Falkner Hans-Joachim Kammann Antonio Fellberg

Verizon's tiered data plans won't affect grandfathered customers after all?

Yesterday's revelation that Verizon may soon be enforcing usage-based data plans came as a slap in the face to many, but there may be at least one speck of sunlight shining through the dark clouds above. Screenshots appeared today, purportedly from employee communications, that would go a long way toward assuaging our worst nightmares: Verizon is indeed planning to mirror AT&T's policy of letting current customers hang onto their grandfathered data plans -- even when renewing contracts. It's probably best to keep your fingers crossed, but we understand if your hands are busy clutching those old plans as if your life depended on it.

Verizon's tiered data plans won't affect grandfathered customers after all? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 18:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/21/verizons-tiered-data-plans-wont-affect-grandfathered-customers/

Anna-Lena Baumgärtel Sabine Kinzler Frieda Falkner Hans-Joachim Kammann