RockMelt browser

We've discoverd a new browser from RockMelt. I haven't tried it yet but plan to download it today. Here's how they describe the product:

RockMelt does more than just navigate Web pages. It makes it easy for you to do the things you do every single day on the Web: share and keep up with your friends, stay up-to-date on news and information, and search. And of course, RockMelt is fast, secure, and stable because it’s built on Chromium, the open source project behind Google’s Chrome browser. It’s your browser – re-imagined and built for how you use the Web.  

If you can stand a few kinks and bugs, sign up for early access, and we’ll get you an invitation as soon as we can. We’d love to know what you think.

Comdex

I received a reminder today from Virtual Comdex and that brought back a wave of memories. Comdex was THE computer show in the '90s and it introduced me to the joys of trade shows. I met many of my past and current columnists thanks to Comdex. I made friendships that have outlasted Comdex itself.

I'll be "attending" the virtual version of Fall Comdex but it won't be the same. My friends won't be at all of the press events we attended together, I'll just be sitting in my office.

Maybe virtual trade shows are the wave of the future but I still like face-to-face meetings!

Let's Talk

The One That Got Away It has happened at more than one so, so none of you vendors out there need to wonder, “Is >my< slip showing?” I’m at a trade show. There are so many companies and goodies that I can barely list them in the time available. But I’m doing my level best to get a balanced picture and an information package from each and every vendor. Things are going fine with my time budget of 3.2679 minutes per company when I come upon someone engaged in earnest conversation with another attendee, or at least Someone Else. OK, that’s fair. Many vendors have learned how to include more than one listener in their spiel and to accommodate late comers to the conversation and then incorporate individual questions. But these two are engaged (married?) in deep and exclusive dialog. I cannot get a word in to just ask for a card or press kit, neither visible at the booth. I go on to the next vendor, then return. Conversation unchanged. After two or three iterations, my path takes me onward. I’m still wondering: were they discussing last night’s game or was the vendor chatting up an angel who will take the company to the next level? There’s another story I didn’t get. Hope it wasn’t yours.

The Outlook Foundation

This sounds like a worth while effort to us. Please check it out and do what you can to help.

Computer Outlook Talk Show  announced today the launch of the Outlook Foundation, a non-profit organization created to refurbish and repurpose computers; providing them to children whose economic background prevents them from having equal educational opportunities, as well as to deployed US service personnel and their stateside families in an effort to help maintain communication with loved ones. Beyond helping children and our service families, Outlook Foundation will also use its resources to reduce the amount of hazardous technology waste in landfills by recycling remaining technology through certified organizations. 

As many as 9.7 million children in the United States do not have access to a computer, leaving them unable to compete academically with their peers who have ready access to the vast information and resources available on the internet.  This ultimately contributes to the ever-growing gap between economically stable families and those families who are considered working poor.  Among the population of deployed service personnel and their stateside families, communication is a priceless commodity.  However, with the high cost of International phone service, many military families cannot communicate with loved ones deployed overseas unless they have access to a computer.

“Every year corporations update and upgrade their computers,” explained John Iasiuolo, Host of Computer Outlook Talk Show and co-founder of Outlook Foundation. “When a computer is replaced, the perfectly good computer is generally thrown away or recycled.  The Outlook Foundation will repurpose these computers to ensure a cast away resource gets into the hands of those who need them most.  This is our active and passionate pursuit, and we already have a corporate commitment for 4,000 laptop computers and 7,200 desktop computers.”

Outdated computers pose a hazardous threat to the environment:  monitors contain lead, central processing units contain mercury and chromium, and the systems themselves contain arsenic and halogenated organic substances.  By collecting obsolete computers, refurbishing and repurposing them to needy children and deployed service personnel and their stateside families Outlook Foundation will reduce technology’s negative impact on the environment.  In the event a computer cannot be refurbished, the foundation is prepared to recycle the technology through certified organizations so they will be kept out of landfills.

Outlook Foundation aspires to further assist these families by providing education vouchers which will allow computer recipients to pursue technology education at no cost to the family.  By walking that extra mile alongside adopted families, the foundation and its partners are providing the chance for better, more financially secure futures.

“Whether a child in an economically struggling family trying to compete academically, or a service family divided by contents trying desperately to stay connected, motivated and encouraged, the Outlook Foundation wants to be a part of the catalyst for change so that both groups recognize their potential and their value,” said Iasiuolo speaking of his dream.

Wirefly free backup service

We recived this information this morning and thought our readers would like to know about the offer:

Wirefly (www.wirefly.com), the Internet’s leading authorized retailer of cell phones and plans, announced today the debut of Wirefly Mobile Backup, a revolutionary mobile service that lets consumers backup and transfer their contacts and more –-regardless of carrier, manufacturer or operating system -- for FREE.

 

Developed with software designer Spare Backup (OTC: SPBU) and available online at Wirefly.com, this innovative backup service eliminates the need to manually transfer contacts, appointments, or other content when changing carriers or switching phones and protects people who suffer from phone loss, damage or theft.

 

Protect Your Phone’s Data

 

Smartphones continue to deliver more and more functionality and are increasingly replacing laptops as the preferred mobile utility and protecting that data is more important than ever.  Wirefly Mobile Backup wirelessly backs up a cell phone’s contacts, pictures, calendar entries, and music remotely using the phone’s mobile data connection or a local Wi-Fi network. All of the data is safely encrypted and can easily be accessed from a web-enabled cell phone or computer, allowing users to quickly restore and transfer everything from contacts to ringtones-without having to manually re-enter the information.  

 

“Everyone has experienced the pain and frustration of losing their phone -- more importantly, losing the data stored on the phone.” said Andy Zeinfeld, CEO of Simplexity, parent company of Wirefly. “Wirefly Mobile Backup protects and preserves content that in the past would have lived and died on the lost phone. With this service, the content is safely stored securely in a virtual ‘cloud’ so customers can quickly restore their information onto their replacement phone. What’s more, when you pair Wirefly Mobile Backup with our Device Protection service, losing a device is far less painful. Not only can you get a replacement device, but you can restore your data once your new device is activated.”

 

Works Across Carriers, Manufacturers, and Operating Systems

 

Wirefly Mobile Backup supports all of the most popular smartphones in the United States, including Android, iPhone, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile, and works across all major U.S. carriers, making it incredibly easy to transfer data to a new device when switching wireless providers. In addition, the Palm, Java, Windows Phone 7 and Symbian operating systems will be supported by the end of the quarter. 

 

Wirefly Mobile Backup can also be used to protect the data from personal computers (PC).   Up to five devices including one PC can be backed up on a single free account making it easy to protect, move and share photos, music and other important information between devices. 

 

Backup Your Phone’s Data for FREE

 

Wirefly Mobile Backup is available as a free download from Wirefly.com, and from the Android Market and iTunes App store. The service is free, and includes up to 2GB data storage –enough space to back up the contacts and calendars for multiple devices. For those looking to back up an entire PC or large quantities of music, photos, and movies, unlimited storage is available, starting as low as $5.99/month. 

 

Wirefly Mobile Backup has no bandwidth or data transfer restrictions, and users may choose to schedule Wirefly Mobile Backup to automatically search for and backup new data found – at no additional cost.

 

“Wirefly Mobile Backup is the most comprehensive wireless backup and transfer service available in the U.S. today,” said Zeinfeld.   “It allows users to automatically synchronize, transfer and share cell phone data, even when switching carriers, operating systems, or devices.”    

 

“People come to Wirefly.com when they are thinking about changing phones or changing carriers,” said Scott Ableman, Chief Marketing Officer for Wirefly.  “By offering this great service for free, Wirefly has eliminated one of the major concerns people face when making this decision.”

 

Wirefly Mobile Backup Key Features

 

·        Backup contacts, calendar items, music, photos, and videos automatically

·        Access stored information from any registered device at anytime from anywhere in the world

·        Transfer data between phones regardless of phone manufacturer, operating system, or carrier

·        Backup and share between PC and phone in one application

·        Free – up to 2GB of storage

 

Cell phone users can sign up for their free Wirefly Mobile Backup account at Wirefly.com/backup or via the Android Market and iTunes App Store.

Changes in Ubuntu

Mark Shuttleworth of Canonical recently announced major changes in the next version of Ubuntu software, version 11.04 the Maverick Meerkat. The most obvious change will be a switch from the Gnome desktop to Unity.

We've had bit of experience with Unity, it's the desktop used in the Kubuntu 10.10 Netbook Remix. It's a totally different look and I'm still not sure whether I like it or not. I guess I'll get used to it in time.

The second change will be dropping OpenOffice.org as the office software suite and using Libre Office instead. This one baffles me. I've used versions of OpenOffice for many years and I feel it's a viable alternative to MSFT Office. If you haven't used, or even heard of Libre Office, you're not alone. I checked it out and it's still in beta! I guess I'll have to do a separate download of OpenOffice.org in order to get the suite.

Free software from Olympus

We were sent this announcement today and thought our readers should know about it:

OLYMPUS eliminates hassles to ORGANIZE, SHARe, PRINT PHOTOS

Free Software Reduces Clicks by up to 96 Percent to Manage, Share, Backup Photos and Create Photobooks

CENTER VALLEY, Pa., November 1, 2010 – Olympus Memory Works America Inc. is proud to announce [ib suite], a new end-to-end photo and video solution that dramatically reduces barriers to enjoying digital photography. Consisting of www.ibonthenet.com and [ib] PC software, [ib suite] creates a seamless experience, moving photos and videos from the camera to the PC, then storing, organizing, editing, printing and sharing them online. The newest version of [ib] software is available for free download at www.ibonthenet.com.

“In just a few clicks, users can download and organize their Thanksgiving, wedding or vacation photos and share them with the entire family,” said Michael Timar, Director of Business Development for Olympus Memory Works America Inc. “The invited members of your secured personal Share Space can easily add their own photos, download the full resolution photos with one click, and use all the images to create a photo book that makes a great gift or keepsake.”

Users are given free online Share Space, and they can purchase additional space for sharing and backup. Additional features of the solution include:

Organizing

The software automatically downloads photos and video, and walks the user through tagging their photos by person (identified by face recognition technology), place, event, date and more in just a few clicks. The user can make collections which automatically update to include images as they are transferred to the computer.

Sharing

Set up an online Share Space where members you invite can view and even add photos. Now, with one click they also can download the full resolution images. New events and collections can easily be added to the Share Space to be enjoyed by your friends and family.

Creating

[ib suite] allows users to easily use photo collections to design custom photo books and order prints, and create multimedia video slideshows (with their own music).

Editing

One click “Instant-Fix” improves photos. Other editing features like Red-Eye and Crop help to achieve just the right look. When used with Olympus cameras, users can enjoy additional features like RAW file development and export, as well as special effects like Beautifier, Sepia, Pop-Art and Panorama. The software also features straightforward video editing with simple upload to YouTube^®.

Backing Up

People want an effective and easy way to protect their photos from common losses like viruses, theft, hard drive failure, and natural disaster. [ib suite] can automatically back up events, collections and other photo and video content including RAW files to the secure online Photo Bank.

Start using [ib suite] today. Visit: www.ibonthenet.com, create a new account, and download the [ib] software.