Facebook Messenger for BlackBerry reaches App World, sates compulsive chatters
If you own a BlackBerry, it might not have been immediately apparent that Facebook Messenger has been an option since October; unlike with Android or iOS, you had to track down the download on Facebook's website. We don't know why it's been kept out of a more accessible channel, but that ends today with Facebook's chat-focused app arriving on BlackBerry App World like most any other title. There don't appear to be any new tricks included with the expanded availability, although we'd say that the wider exposure is enough of a highlight for an audience that just needs to get by until BlackBerry 10. Those who don't use BBM for all their instant messaging can find what they need at the source link.
[Source: Engadget]
Mozilla Persona sign-in launches in beta, skips the social networking ball and chain
We all know those web pages where the only alternative to a site-specific login is a social networking account. That's not very reassuring for anyone skittish about linking their commentary to a Facebook account relatives might see, if they're even willing to join a social network in the first place. Mozilla has been aware of that hesitation long enough to have just released its long-in-development Persona sign-in service as a beta. Although it has the same kind of simple approach to a login as a Facebook or Twitter pop-up window, Persona's emphasis is on privacy: it stops paying attention the moment credentials go through, keeping any diatribes or subscription details from landing in social streams or central databases. Users don't have to play a rousing game of guess-the-username, either, as they just need to sign in with one or more familiar e-mail addresses and a single password. Persona faces an uphill battle in getting web developer adoption when the establishment sign-in services are open to hundreds of millions of internet citizens, but it does have The Times' online crossword section, OpenPhoto and Voost as early poster children -- and anything that lets the privacy-minded join the party has our vote.
[Source: Engadget]
Permanent quartz glass data storage announced by Hitachi, could hit market by 2015
Sure, we can store huge quantities of bits in a tiny space, but how long will that data last? Current optical, magnetic and flash storage media have limited shelf lives, so Hitachi has announced a new way of locking up ones and zeros in quartz glass for hundreds of millions of years. The data can be etched with a laser in three layers on the crystals at a density slightly higher than a CD, then read out with an optical microscope, meaning that future generations could restore the info without needing a proprietary drive. The technology could come to market in three years, according to the research lab -- but would likely be targeted at companies first, who would need to send in their data to be encoded. Hitachi said the media withstood two hours of 3500 degree Fahrenheit temperatures in testing without data loss, meaning that archaeologists from the future may one day uncover your questionable taste.
[Source: Engadget]
Google Play hits 25 billion app downloads, holds celebratory yard sale with $0.25 games
Google Play crossed a rather significant milestone this morning: something to the tune of 25 billion app downloads. While the accomplishment is weighty enough on its own -- especially given that the store also offers books, music and movies, which aren't included in this tally -- Google is celebrating in symbolic style with a number of apps and games for sale at just $0.25 over the next five days. Among the mix of discounted titles, you'll find publishers such as Gameloft, Electronic Arts, Rovio, Runtastic and Full Fat. Not to stop there, shoppers will also discover a curated collection of 25 must-own movies, 25 banned books, 25 albums that changed the world and 25 top-selling magazines.
With today's announcement, it was revealed that 675,000 apps and games now live in Google Play -- a healthy increase when compared to 600,000 titles and 20 billion installs just three months ago. As you might expect, Apple still claims the largest selection with 700,000 titles in its App Store, although with such a thin separation between the two, we may see Google Play eclipse its rival in short order.
[Source: Engadget]
Twitter CEO says users will be able to download old tweets by year's end
Twitter's been rolling out a number of changes lately, many resulting in negative reactions, but it looks like one feature long-requested by users is just around the corner: the ability to download all of your past tweets. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo spoke today at a conference for the Online News Association, and was asked when the ability would be coming to Twitter. According to both Alex Howard and First Post, Costolo replied that it would be arriving by the end of the year.Dell releases new S Series monitors with edge-to-edge glass, IPS panels
Dell's built quite a reputation for delivering solid monitors at reasonable prices, and it's now expanded its offerings in a fairly big way with no less than five new S Series models, some of which boast edge-to-edge glass and/or IPS panels. On the top end is the 27-inch S2740L, which has the most connectivity options of the lot (DVI, VGA, HDMI and a pair of USB ports) and, of course, the highest price tag at $400. From there, things drop to $300 with the 24-inch S2440L (the only non-IPS model of the lot), and go all the way down to $200 for the 21.5-inch S2240M -- the three lower-end models ditch the edge-to-edge glass but still retain minimal bezels. Unlike some of the company's higher-end UltraSharp models, though, all five monitors have a 16:9 aspect ratio instead of 16:10, and you'll get a standard 1920 x 1080 resolution regardless of the size you choose. Complete specs for each can be found at the links below.
[Source: Engadget]
W3C says HTML 5 will be finalized in 2014, HTML 5.1 to follow in 2016
HTML 5 has been a buzz word around the interwebs for so long you'd be forgiven if you thought it was awell-established standard looking for a successor. In fact, nothing could be farther from the truth. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which helps establish the primary standards used online, didn't actually intend to complete HTML 5 until 2022. Thankfully, the group has reconsidered that seemingly absurd timeline and now plans to have this whole mess wrapped up by the end of 2014. The revised plan calls for an HTML 5 Candidate Recommendation (sort of like a feature-frozen beta) to be submitted by the end of 2012, before being finalized in 2014. All existing bits of the standard that are unstable or that suffer interoperability problems will be pulled from that candidate and pushed to a draft version of HTML 5.1. While HTML 5 is being completed, its evolutionary successor will begin the process of marching towards standardization, with a target completion date of 2016. For a more detailed exploration of the future of HTML hit up the source link.
[Source: Engadget]
BT to offer free YouView box with one-year broadband contract, £49 for existing customers
If you're not quite comfortable shelling out £299 for BT's YouView box, then you're in luck. Starting October 26th, the hardware will be free for new Infinity broadband subscribers who ink contracts that are one year or longer. Instead of relying on cable, the Humax-built device uses both aerial and internet connections to deliver content from more than 100 digital TV and radio channels including Channels 4 and 5, the BBC and ITV. With the IPTV box, users can sift through content that's aired in the past seven days, watch on-demand programs and record up to 300 hours of standard definition television or 125 hours of high-def video to a built-in 500GB hard drive. Current British Telecom subscribers pining for the subsidized box will be able to get their own for a £49 activation fee and a £6.95 delivery charge. Those eager for the gratis set-top solution will be able to order it online starting October 19th if they register interest with BT's website beforehand. For more details, check out the press release below.
[Source: Engadget]
Samsung starts producing faster 2GB LPDDR3 memory for mobile devices, 128GB flash storage too
While the scales may be steadily tipping towards mobile in the world of DRAM production, there's still plenty of room for technological enhancements. To prove the point, Samsung has just started mass production of what it claims to be the first 2GB LPDDR3 DRAM chip for mobile, which can shuffle information in and out 1,600 Mbps (compared to its 1,066 Mbps LPDDR2 predecessor), with up to 12.8 GB/s of bandwidth. In addition, the manufacturer has also started mass production of a place to hold all of that lovely data, in the form of a 128GB mobile flash storage chip. When will you be able to buy a superphone sporting 2GB of RAM and 128GB of storage? We don't know for sure, but even in the face of adversity all of the components seem to be falling into place.
[Source: Engadget]
MasterCard announces PayPass User Interface SDK, lets devs roll their own NFC payment-enabled apps
MasterCard has been in the cashless payment game for quite a while, and now it's hoping to get more developers on the PayPass bandwagon with its freshly unveiled user interface software development kit. By leveraging the SDK, programmers will be able to bake the firm's NFC payment system, which is compatible with over 70 handsets, into their own Android or BlackBerry OS 7 apps. The kit is free to license and includes API code libraries, documentation, a developer guide, sample code, a white-label reference application and a testing suite. Once apps are created with the SDK, they'll have to go through MasterCard's approval process before they go live. Yearning to code PayPass-enabled smartphone software? Check out the press release below for more details.
[Source: Engadget]
Amazon brings Cloud Player music service to the UK: choice of free or premium tiers from £6 per year
Brits who've been straining for a reason to care about Amazon's budding Cloud Player service can probably relax. It's live in the UK as of now, offering 5GB of online storage and the ability to stream 250 of your tracks (or 256Kbps matched versions) to a range of devices free of charge. Adding extra storage will cost from £6 per year for 20GB, rising to £320 p/a for a full terabyte. If you're a heavy user, though, you may also need to fork out £22 p/a for the right to stream up to 250,000 of your tracks. Paying to play to music you already purchased? Indeed, further exertion may be necessary to figure out if it's all worth it, along with a glance at the detailed press release after the break.
[Source: Engadget]