Amazon Cloud Player review: functional, not mind blowing, and still US-only

Amazon Android Cloud Player appIt's hard to believe: our world-spanning network, our Internet, which is the cornerstone of free speech and free society -- which, on a good day, is capable of causing populist revolutions -- is still crippled by banal geolocation restrictions. We are, of course, talking about Amazon's two latest offerings, both of which are only available in the United States. Last week it was the excellent Android Appstore for Android, and today it's the Amazon Cloud Player for Web and Android.

Along with Cloud Player, Amazon also launched Cloud Drive, which is basically just like any other cloud storage digital locker. It's not particularly feature rich, and there's no real reason to use it over something like SugarSync or SkyDrive -- it does work outside the US, however.

Its primary purpose, as far as we're concerned, is that it stores your your Cloud Player music in a subdirectory. You get 5GB of Cloud Drive storage for free, and then it's $1 per gigabyte per year if you need more space.

The Amazon Cloud Player itself will not, to put it bluntly, blow your mind. It works, but it's very much an early, and possibly rushed, release. Let's dive in to the Web and Android players for a closer look.

Continue reading Amazon Cloud Player review: functional, not mind blowing, and still US-only

Amazon Cloud Player review: functional, not mind blowing, and still US-only originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/29/amazon-cloud-player-hands-on-review-functional-not-mind-blowin/

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

The T-Mobile Amaze 4G Review: A Nice Camera In A Big Phone

scaledwm.IMG_3412Short Version: Shutterbugs will love this well-built and powerful Android phone, but folks looking for thin and light may want to look elsewhere. The phone boasts some serious specs and HTC's slick Sense skin, and runs on T-Mobile's "4G" network, though the speeds are very temperamental. It's impressive, but bulky and heavy. The camera is the biggest selling point, and if you keep it to favorable lighting conditions, it really does excel.

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

Robin Jones Ingeburg Otte Moritz Beller Gabriela Prell

Yahoo! Messenger now censors the links you share

Yahoo Messenger Big Brother censorshipWe've all thought it, but never dared think it could be true: what if Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL actively monitor our instant messenger chats? What if mentions of 'bomb' and 'underage' are tracked and sent to law enforcement agencies? What if chat providers don't agree with the things we say, or the links we share, and filter or censor the content of our transmitted messages?

Well, it looks like our fears may actually have some basis in reality: Yahoo Messenger strips FilesTube links from instant messages. It doesn't tell either party that a URL has been removed from chat -- it just deletes it. Poof. FilesTube, in case you were wondering, is one of the largest file hosting meta search engines on the Web -- it indexes RapidShare, Megaupload, Mediafire, and many other 'cyberlocker' services.

It's fairly obvious why FilesTube links are being removed -- the Censor General at Yahoo is probably one of those perplexed primates who think all uses of BitTorrent are illegal -- but this situation poses a far more important question: is Yahoo censoring messages on the client side, or the server side. Does the messenger client itself maintain a list of 'blacklisted' words -- and if so, why are we not told that FilesTube links are banned? What other words and terms does Yahoo protect us from?

Continue reading Yahoo! Messenger now censors the links you share

Yahoo! Messenger now censors the links you share originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/30/yahoo-messenger-now-censors-links-raises-serious-privacy-issue/

Lutz Yalcin Birte Höß Kerstin Klos Dieter Schreiter

Keen On? How Yahoo Screwed Up And Lessons For Other Silicon Valley Giants (TCTV)

salim-ismail-keenSalim Ismail has one of the liveliest minds and most eclectic resumes in the Valley. The founding Executive Director of Singularity University and the founder of a number of interesting start-ups including Angstro and PubSub Concepts, he was also a VP at Yahoo! where he launched and ran Brickhouse, their internal incubator. So, borrowing a familiar work from ex Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, I asked Ismail if Yahoo! was now fucked. Yes, he confirmed, it was. And so, he added, was AOL and most other companies struggling to reinvent themselves in today?s increasingly brutal competitive landscape.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/BhG4u_ofGKM/

Hartmut Theobald Nicholas Graul Malin Hock Helmut Hölzer

$50 Roku LT, Now With HBO GO

If you still have space on your TV for yet another set-top box, Roku would like you to consider its new Roku LT, a little purple video and audio streamer which will sell for just $50. The LT has everything you’d expect from a modern-day box: Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon and Pandora streaming are joined by [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/10/50-roku-lt-now-with-hbo-go/

Emma Knebel Jason Randow Benjamin Schötz Johannes Liebl

Hands-on with the AT&T Impulse 4G


Youtube link for mobile viewing

And her we have the AT&T Impulse 4G from Huawei. It's a nice little entry-level phone, with a 3.8-inch display running Android 2.2. Not a whole lot to say -- it's snappy enough and has a 5MP processor. And while being a little portly, it still feels pretty good in the hand. It also feels good in the wallet -- it's just $29 on contract.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/eP84lACGrRs/hands-att-impulse-4g

Rita Imhof Angelika Frey Mika Bernhardt Ingeburg Liebermann

Pantech Breeze III and Pursuit II (AT&T) Review

The Pantech Breeze III and Persuit II phones are two low-end GSM phones available on the AT&T network for under $100 (currently and often just under $50 with rebate) for new customers with a 2 year term. While both offer decent (and different)  functionality, they have significant limitations when compared to current and last generation [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/10/10/pantech-breeze-iii-and-pursuit-ii-att-review/

Ingrid Schur Emily Trautmann Charlotte Kadelbach Hugo Ruß

Windows 8 wallpaper available to download, Jupiter and Twin UI spotted

windows 8 wallpaper
With Windows 8 milestone 3 now up for grabs for select Microsoft Connect partners, it's inevitable that leaked bits and pieces will start popping up around the Web. In fact, the first "official" wallpaper image from the still-brewing OS is already making the rounds.

As you can see, it's got a similar feel to the good ol' Windows 7 default background, but features a more subdued smattering of cerulean hues. Those of you who want to use the Windows 8 wallpaper on your current desktop can download it from our file dump.

A few other details have been revealed, too. According to ZDNet's source, the Windows 8 Jupiter libraries and Twin UI are starting to take shape -- though all that's been located thus far are "[various files] scattered throughout the OS" and the aptly-named twinui.dll.

Windows 8 wallpaper available to download, Jupiter and Twin UI spotted originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/31/download-windows-8-wallpaper/

Charlotte Kadelbach Hugo Ruß Edith Hupertz Heinrich Peller

Facebook launches unified mobile site, announces 250 million mobile users

Facebook has announced that its two mobile sites -- m.facebook.com and touch.facebook.com -- have been unified, bringing a simpler mobile experience to Facebook users. And there are a lot of those -- a quarter billion, according to Facebook.

Smartphone users won't be losing any functionality because of the consolidation. If your phone supported the enhacned features offered by touch.facebook.com, the new site will automatically flip the switch when you visit.

Rolling the sites together helps simplify things for Facebook's developer team. Now changes can be pushed to a single site instead of two separate sites, which makes it easier to ensure that all mobile users receive a nearly identical experience regardless of the device they're using.

The new Facebook mobile can also check to see if your phone supports geolocation. If it doesn't, you won't be seeing much of Facebook Places -- which obviously relies heavily on geolocation. Images can also be optimized on the fly to keep page performance from suffering on less powerful devices. You can see the three different versions of the share button below, courtesy our friends at TechCrunch.

Facebook launches unified mobile site, announces 250 million mobile users originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/facebook-launches-unified-mobile-site-announces-250-million-mob/

Mika Bernhardt Ingeburg Liebermann Elsa Alexander Furtmann Siegrid Holstein

Selecting the ideal student tablet PC

The modern era of tablet Pcs has arrived: these portable tablets are ideal for professionals and students alike! Trying to chosoe the best student tablet PC for you or your child? Here are a few things to consider. What advantages does a student tablet Pc have over a laptop or desktop? Maybe you’re still not convinced about buying a tablet. Maybe you need to find out more about the benefits of a tablet PC versus a traditional desktop or laptop [...]

Source: http://tabletbuzzblog.com/selecting-the-ideal-student-tablet-pc/

Kristin Gehrmann Annette Lechner Margarethe Lachner Lutz Yalcin