Google Releases Schemer iPhone App

Google has just launched its Schemer social networking app, the service originally launched as an invite-only back in December. Schemers is all about schemes allowing you to post your plans for future activities, meet with friends, and get schemes recommended to you.

As integrated with Google+ account, the app will show you what people in your circles are scheming about.

Schemer uses your Google+ connections to show you what people in your circles are scheming about. Using the “Accomplices” page, you can even select a group of friends and find what schemes you all have in common. Pick a scheme and click “Rally” to mobilize your crew to go do it together!

• Download the Schemer iPhone app from the App Store.

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Apple's iOS 5.1.1 update

Apple just released iOS 5.1.1 for iPad, iPod touch, and iPhone. The update weighs only 54.4 MB which addresses issues with HDR, AirPlay video playback, the ability to switch between 2G and 3G networks and other bug fixes:

• Improves reliability of using HDR option for photos taken using the Lock Screen shortcut.
• Addresses bugs that could prevent the new iPad from switching between 2G and 3G networks.
• Fixes bugs that affected AirPlay video playback in some circumstances.
• Improved reliability for syncing Safari bookmarks and Reading List.
• Fixes an issue where ‘Unable to purchase’ alert could be displayed after successful purchase.

iOS 5.1.1 iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV Direct Download Links Repository

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Download Firefox 12 for Windows, Mac And Linux

Mozilla has now finally outed the next version of their popular internet browser, Firefox 12 has subtle differences from the previous release, some are listed below:

• Windows: Firefox is now easier to update with one less prompt (User Account Control)
• Page Source now has line numbers
• Line breaks are now supported in the title attribute
• Improvements to “Find in Page” to center search result
• URLs pasted into the download manager window are now automatically downloaded
• The column-fill CSS property has been implemented
• Support for the text-align-last CSS property has been added
• Experimental support for ECMAScript 6 Map and Set objects has been implemented
• Fixed where WebGL performance may be degraded on some OS X hardware

Download Firefox 12 for Windows, Mac And Linux links:

• Download Firefox 12 for Windows
• Download Firefox 12 for Mac
• Download Firefox 12 for Linux

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Windows RT for tablets

Microsoft revealed its full suite of editions that will be available for “Windows 8” when it is released to market, that includes Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, and Windows 8 Enterprise. and Windows RT that will run on ARM-based machines, primarily aimed at tablets. According to the verge:

Windows RT will not be sold separately, but only available pre-installed on new machines with ARM processors. That’s a major change in the way Microsoft has traditionally sold Windows, and it underscores a more integrated approach to ARM-powered devices like tablets. Windows RT will also include the Office suite, but no other desktop apps can be installed on ARM machines. Windows RT will also lack the traditional Windows Media Player and most of the enterprise features found in Windows 8 Pro and Enterprise.

Yet to see if Microsoft’s plan is to build Windows RT into something that’s more closely like Windows 8 or something else entirely.

Below chart breaks down key features by each edition:

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Adobe Photoshop CS6 Public Beta Available for Download

Adobe was wrapping up Photoshop CS6 development and a public beta was expected any time soon. Now the embargo has lifted and the beta is out.

Download Links:

• Download Photoshop CS6 beta for Mac (DMG, 984 MB)
• Download Photoshop CS6 beta for Windows (ZIP, 1.7 GB)

Photoshop CS6 Highlights

Press release and features:

Photoshop CS6 Beta Now Available on Adobe Labs
First Major Release Since April 2010 Packed with New Features and Huge Performance Enhancements
SAN JOSE, Calif., – March 22, 2012 – Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Photoshop® CS6 beta, a preview of what’s to come in the next release of the industry standard in digital imaging, is available as a free download from Adobe Labs. Customers can download the beta, try out the experience and provide feedback to the product team. Packed with groundbreaking new innovations, features and incredible performance enhancements, Photoshop CS6 beta is available for the Mac OS and Microsoft® Windows® platforms. The final release is expected in the first half of 2012.

“Photoshop CS6 will be a milestone release that pushes the boundaries of imaging innovation with incredible speed and performance,” said Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. “We couldn’t wait to share this beta of Photoshop CS6 with our customers and are looking forward to hearing from them and seeing the ways they are incorporating the beta into their daily creative workflows.”

New Features in Photoshop CS6 Beta
Photoshop CS6 beta demonstrates Adobe’s focus on huge performance enhancements, imaging magic and creativity tools that offer customers a new experience in digital imaging. Key features include new additions to the Content-Aware tools: Content-Aware Patch allows greater control by letting users select and duplicate an area of an image to fill in or “patch” another. Content-Aware Move lets users select and magically move an object to a new place in the image.

Customers will experience incredible performance, powered by the new Adobe Mercury Graphics Engine*, enabling near-instant results from popular editing tools including Liquify, Puppet Warp, Transform and Lighting Effects; and a refined, modern interface featuring dark UI options to make images pop. New and re-engineered design tools make creating designs faster and more efficient. Vector layers allow users to apply dashed lines and gradient strokes, searchable layers help quickly zero in on any layer you need, and new type styles let designers quickly apply type treatments to their designs.

In addition, the Photoshop CS6 beta offers all the features of Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended, such as new 3D editing features and quantitative imaging analysis capabilities. These features will be included in the shipping version of Photoshop CS6 Extended when it becomes available.

Pricing and Availability
The Photoshop CS6 beta is available immediately as a free download in English and Japanese. At installation, users will be required to provide an Adobe ID to complete a one-time login and online product activation. For information on how to install Photoshop CS6 beta visit . Customers can submit feedback via the Photoshop CS6 beta forum: http://www.adobe.com/go/pscs6_forum. Users can also connect with the Photoshop team via the community-powered site: http://feedback.photoshop.com; on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Photoshop; YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/photoshop; Photoshop.com blog: http://blogs.adobe.com/photoshopdotcom/; or via Twitter: http://twitter.com/photoshop.

Adobe Photoshop Family
Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Extended are at the heart of the Photoshop family, joined by solutions for users at every level who want to bring out the best in their digital images either at home, in the office or on the go. Coupled with Adobe Photoshop, the recently released Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 addresses the workflow needs of amateur and professional photographers, helping them create, manage and showcase images in impactful ways. Adobe Photoshop Elements provides consumers with powerful yet easy-to-use tools that organize, edit, create and share photos memories. For mobile devices, the Adobe Photoshop Touch app transforms images with core Photoshop features custom-built for tablets; and Photoshop Express is a free app for simple photo fixes and enhancements, and sharing to social networks.

New Features

Brushes
- HUD brush resize and hardness can now change opacity
- Increase brush size to 5000px
- Change color dynamics to per stroke instead of per tip (user option for old behavior)
- Brightness/contrast slider for textures when painting
- Brush projection for static tips
- Brush cursor reflects brush dynamics for round and captured tips

Eyedropper
- Show the sample size popup for the various eyedropper tools (black point, white point,
etc.)
- Add ignore adjustment layers options bar item for the eyedropper
- New mode for eyedropper to select layers current and below

File formats
- Read common stereo image pair formats (JPS, PNS) Allow for more bit depths in TIFF files
- Read BIGTIFF format
- Give the user choices regarding how they want transparency treated in OpenEXR on file open

Grammar
- Policed throughout app
- Use consistent grammar style in the title of dialog windows (no commands such as “Choose a color:”)

Layers
- Add a contextual menu item that deletes a layer effect not just disables it
- Add dither options to Layer Styles for Gradient Overlay and Gradient Stroke
- Allow 00 or Shift 00 to work when setting layer/fill opacity (previously no way to get 0%)
- Add bicubic sharper & bicubic smoother options when free transforming layers
- Allow changing of blend modes for multiple layers at once
- Allow locking of multiple layers
- CMD+J to duplicate layers and layer group
- Allow changing color labels to multiple layers at once
- Layer tooltips to include layer name (if defined)
- Opt+click on toggle arrows (groups and effects) in layer panel should close all targets
- Show blend if/Blending Effects badge on layer
- Show correct opacity and blend mode values for hidden layers
- Tab goes to next layer on inline layer rename, SHIFT + TAB goes to previous
- New command to raster layer effect into layer, merging the selected layers into themselves
- Reorder effects in the layers palette to match the Z-­­order style/blend mode (bottom most effects in termsof blending order, drop shadow is below the other effects

Liquify
- Resize Liquify brush with shortcuts
- Increase maximum Liquify brush size Add option to load last mesh

Presets
- Add new document presets for common devices (e.g. iPhone, iPad, etc.)
- Add new Gradient Map presets for toning and split-­­toning
- Sticky reorganization of tool presets (changes persist after re-launch) Add Contact Sheet II as an Automation option

SDK
- Add the ability to return an array of guides in a document from the scripting SDK
- Add ability to access tool name associated with the tool preset name via scripting
Selections
- Make the marquee, lasso, and mask panel feather values support decimal places like the feather dialog
- Remember feather radius when showing dialog for selection from a path

Transform
- Improve dragging of vector curves
- Don’t hide smart object icon when transforming a layer
- Rotate 90 with even x odd pixel dimension to be smooth (bjango.com)
- Undo or disable auto -­­rotate on open

UI
- Remove the app bar and reduce the drag/app bar over 30%
- [Windows] New/open document to context click on a document tab (has always been on Mac, now Windows too)
- Add “Don’t show again” checkbox to Purge warnings

Miscellaneous
- Enable Split Channels for documents with layers
- Select Hex field by default and allow clipboard pastes with # in contents (i.e. #fffffff)
- Increased GPU stability by prequalifying GPUs on the fly before use
- Auto-­­select the best resample method based on the type of resize
- Enable Invert and Threshold adjustments for masks in 32 -­­bit
- Hold SHIFT during startup to disable 3rd party plugins
- Add warning message that 16 -­­bit images cannot display their file size in the Save as JPEG dialog
- Add command to insert “lorem ipsum” for typeRelated articles

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The new Office 15 is being designed for the Desktop, and isn’t a Metro app. But a first look at it reveals that it’s getting a Metro-like makeover, according to Paul Thurrott from Supersite for Windows. That might not be good news for Office users.

Microsoft Office 15 Gets Metro-like Makeover

Office 15 is now only available as a Technical Preview to a select group of beta testers, but Thurrot got his hands on it, and gives it a brief review. He installed it on a tablet running the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. He ran into some trouble upgrading from the existing Office 2010 Professional.

Office 15 clearly is being designed with tablets in mind, the ribbon is present but minimized by default, helping create that clean, Metro-style minimalist look. There is a new tab and the whole experience has got a Metro-style minimalist look.

Check out some screenshots below:

Microsoft Office 15 Gets Metro-like Makeover

Microsoft Office 15 Gets Metro-like Makeover

Microsoft Office 15 Gets Metro-like Makeover

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Mozilla has released Firefox 11 with a plenty of new features.

Firefox 11 Now Available for Download

Firefox now includes new developer tools, Page Inspector 3D View. Nicknamed Tilt, a tool that highlights the structure of a page better than a flat view, so anyone can immediately understand the relationship of the code to the page output.

While developer tools like “view source” have always been useful to learn about how to develop a page, the 3D View more clearly illustrates how the parts of a website are structured. After selecting “3D” View in Page Inspector, just hover your mouse over the elements to get more information about each piece you select.

Another feature is the new Style Editor tool, which allows developers to edit CSS stylesheets like a text editor and see changes instantly. Firefox also introduces Add-on Sync. to let users sync add-ons between computers.

• Download Firefox 11 for Windows
• Download Firefox 11 for Mac
• Download Firefox 11 for Linux

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iOS 5.1 iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV Direct Download Links Repository

iOS 5.1 is out for download now, it brings many features such as Siri in Japanese, nice camera app enhancements and other things. You can update directly over-the-air using your iDevice or you can have the full install files below:

This update contains improvements and bug fixes, including:

• Japanese language support for Siri (availability may be limited during initial rollout)
• Photos can now be deleted from Photo Stream
• Camera shortcut now always visible on Lock Screen for iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch (4th generation)
• Camera face detection now highlights all detected faces
• Redesigned Camera app for iPad
• Genius Mixes and Genius playlists for iTunes Match subscribers
• Audio for TV shows and movies on iPad optimized to sound louder and clearer
• Podcast controls for playback speed and a 30 second rewind for iPad
• Updated AT&T network indicator
• Addresses bugs affecting battery life
• Fixes an issue that occasionally caused audio to drop for outgoing calls

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Windows 8 Consumer Preview

Microsoft has published the highly anticipated Consumer Preview copy of Windows 8. Available as a public download, the Consumer Preview build includes access to Metro style applications and the over 100,000 changes Microsoft has made since the Windows 8 Developer Preview.

The Consumer Preview is available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Microsoft’s minimum requirements for the Consumer Preview are a 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of free storage space, and a DirectX 9-compatible graphics card — the exact same requirements as Windows 7.

Find the links below or you can download it from here.

English

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Apple Announces OS X Mountain Lion

Apple today announced OS X Mountain Lion, the next major update to its desktop operating system. Mountain Lion brings more iOS features to the Mac platform such as Messages, Notification Center, AirPlay Mirroring, Notes, Reminder, Game Center and deep iCloud integration. Here are a rundown of the added features:

iCloud

It just works. In more ways than ever. In OS X Mountain Lion, sign in once with your Apple ID and iCloud is automatically set up across your Mac. iCloud keeps your mail, calendars, contacts, documents, and more up to date on every device you use. So when you add, delete, or edit something on your Mac, it happens on your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. And vice versa.

Messages

Mac keeps the conversation going. Messages does everything iChat does, and so much more. For starters, it comes with iMessage. And just like iMessage in iOS, it lets you send unlimited messages to anyone on a Mac or an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 5. Send photos, videos, documents, and contacts — even send messages to a group. You can see when your message has been delivered and when someone’s typing a reply. Turn on read receipts, and they’ll see when you’ve read a message. With end-to-end encryption, your messages stay safe and private. And you can start a conversation on your Mac and pick it up on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. So nothing is left unsaid.

Reminders

Now nothing slips your mind. When you have so much to do, Reminders helps you get it done. It’s all in a list. More than one, in fact. Make as many lists as you need and easily add to them. Set due dates and you’ll get alerts as deadlines approach. Check items off your lists as you go and keep track of what you’ve completed. And to be sure you don’t forget anything, iCloud keeps your reminders up to date on your Mac, iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.

Notes

A feature for your thoughts. Notes in OS X Mountain Lion is designed for whatever’s on your mind. Think it up. Jot it down. Make it even more noteworthy with photos, images, and attachments. You can add, delete, and flip through your notes or do a quick search. Use the Share button to send your notes to friends or colleagues with Mail or Messages. Pin important notes to your desktop so they’re easy to get to. And take them with you everywhere. Notes works with iCloud, so when you create or edit a note on your Mac, it automatically updates on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Notification Center

See what’s new with you. All in one place. Something new is always popping up somewhere on your Mac — an email, an instant message, a friend request, a calendar alert, and more. Notification Center makes it easy to stay up to speed, because there’s one place to see everything. Notification banners appear on your desktop and disappear quickly so they don’t interrupt what you’re doing. Swipe to the left, and you’ll see all your notifications in a simple, ordered list. So you’ll always know what’s up as soon as it comes up.

Share Sheets

When you see it, share it. You’ll find the Share button in many OS X Mountain Lion apps. It’s the new, easy way to spread the word — links, photos, and videos, too. Send links from Safari. Send your notes via Mail and Messages. Post photos to Flickr. Send videos to Vimeo. And tweet just about anything.

Twitter

Tweet right from your apps. OS X Mountain Lion keeps you on top of all things Twitter. Sign in once and you’re all set to start tweeting — and you don’t have to leave the app you’re in. Tweet links and photos directly from Safari, iPhoto, or Photo Booth with the new Tweet Sheet. Tweet comments and add locations. And when someone mentions you in a tweet or sends you a direct message, you’ll get a Twitter notification right then and there.

Game Center

Mac gets in on the game. The Mac is about to go up against iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch — in a friendly Game Center way.2 Now it’s a bigger playing field with even more competition. Just create a Game Center account with your Apple ID. Then sign in and you’re in. Friends will find you fast, and you’ll track them down easily. Get a multiplayer game started or go up against people you don’t know. Check out leaderboards and see how your high score ranks against opponents’ scores around the world. And discover new games based on the ones you and your friends already play.

AirPlay Mirroring

Your Mac is on TV. This new feature in Mountain Lion is made for an audience. With AirPlay Mirroring, you can stream what’s on your Mac to your HDTV via Apple TV. Show web pages and videos to friends on the couch. Share lessons with a classroom. Present to a conference room. It’s a big deal for your Mac. And for everyone around it.

Gatekeeper

A more secure Mac. Under your control. Gatekeeper in OS X Mountain Lion makes the Mac safer than ever. It helps prevent you from unknowingly downloading and installing malicious software. And it gives you control over which applications to download and run on your Mac. Now you can choose from three security options. You can download and run applications from anywhere, just as in OS X Lion. To be even safer, download and run apps from the Mac App Store and apps with a Developer ID. Or download and run only apps from the Mac App Store — the safest setting of all. Gatekeeper lets you decide which setting is best for you.

Here is the full press release:

Apple Releases OS X Mountain Lion Developer Preview with Over 100 New Features

CUPERTINO, California—February 16, 2012—Apple today released a developer preview of OS X Mountain Lion, the ninth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system, which brings popular apps and features from iPad to the Mac and accelerates the pace of OS X innovation. Mountain Lion introduces Messages, Notes, Reminders and Game Center to the Mac, as well as Notification Center, Share Sheets, Twitter integration and AirPlay Mirroring. Mountain Lion is the first OS X release built with iCloud in mind for easy setup and integration with apps. The developer preview of Mountain Lion also introduces Gatekeeper, a revolutionary security feature that helps keep you safe from malicious software by giving you complete control over what apps are installed on your Mac. The preview release of Mountain Lion is available to Mac Developer Program members starting today. Mac users will be able to upgrade to Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store™ in late summer 2012.

“The Mac is on a roll, growing faster than the PC for 23 straight quarters, and with Mountain Lion things get even better,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The developer preview of Mountain Lion comes just seven months after the incredibly successful release of Lion and sets a rapid pace of development for the world’s most advanced personal computer operating system.”

The developer preview of Mountain Lion features the all new Messages app which replaces iChat and allows you to send unlimited messages, high-quality photos and videos directly from your Mac to another Mac or iOS device. Messages will continue to support AIM, Jabber, Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk. Starting today Lion users can download a beta of Messages from www.apple.com, and the final version will be available with Mountain Lion. Reminders and Notes help you create and track your to-dos across all your devices. Game Center lets you personalize your Mac gaming experience, find new games and challenge friends to play live multiplayer games, whether they’re on a Mac, iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

Mountain Lion presents notifications in an elegant new way, and Notification Center provides easy access to alerts from Mail, Calendar, Messages, Reminders, system updates and third party apps. System-wide Share Sheets make it easy to share links, photos and videos directly from Apple and third party apps. Twitter is integrated throughout Mountain Lion so you can sign on once and tweet directly from Safari, Quick Look, Photo Booth, Preview and third party apps. Mountain Lion also introduces AirPlay Mirroring, an easy way to wirelessly send a secure 720p video stream of what’s on your Mac to an HDTV using Apple TV.

More than 100 million users have iCloud accounts, and Mountain Lion makes it easier than ever to set up iCloud and access documents across your devices. Mountain Lion uses your Apple ID to automatically set up Contacts, Mail, Calendar, Messages, FaceTime and Find My Mac. The new iCloud Documents pushes any changes to all your devices so documents are always up to date, and a new API helps developers make document-based apps work with iCloud.

Gatekeeper is a revolutionary new security feature that gives you control over which apps can be downloaded and installed on your Mac. You can choose to install apps from any source, just as you do on a Mac today, or you can use the safer default setting to install apps from the Mac App Store, along with apps from developers that have a unique Developer ID from Apple. For maximum security, you can set Gatekeeper to only allow apps from the Mac App Store to be downloaded and installed.

Mountain Lion also has features specifically designed to support Chinese users, including significant enhancements to the Chinese input method and the option to select Baidu search in Safari. Mountain Lion makes it easy to set up Contacts, Mail and Calendar with top email service providers QQ, 126 and 163. Chinese users can also upload video via Share Sheets directly to leading video websites Youku and Tudou, and system-wide support for Sina weibo makes microblogging easy.

Hundreds of new APIs give developers access to new core technologies and enhanced features within OS X. The Game Kit APIs tap into the same services as Game Center on iOS, making it possible to create multiplayer games that work across Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. A new graphics infrastructure underpins OpenGL and OpenCL and implements GLKit, first introduced in iOS 5, to make it easier to create OpenGL apps. Using Core Animation in Cocoa apps is easier than ever, and new video APIs deliver modern 64-bit replacements for low-level QuickTime APIs. Enhanced Multi-Touch™ APIs give developers double-tap zoom support and access to the system-wide lookup gesture. Kernel ASLR improves security through enhanced mitigation against buffer overflow attacks.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

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Firefox 10 has been released and is available to download for Mac, Windows, and Linux systems. The new version includes a better extension management, an auto-hiding forward button, improvements to CSS3 capabilities, antialiasing support for WebGL and bug fixes.

Firefox 10 Release Notes:

• The forward button is now hidden until you navigate back
• Anti-Aliasing for WebGL is now implemented (see bug 615976)
• Full Screen APIs allow you to build a web application that runs full screen (see the feature page)
• CSS3 3D-Transforms are now supported (see bug 505115)
• New bdi element for bi-directional text isolation, along with supporting CSS properties (see bugs 613149 and 662288)
• Inspect tool with content highlighting, includes new CSS Style Inspector
• We’ve added IndexedDB APIs to more closely match the specification
• Some users may experience a crash when moving bookmarks (681795)
• Some synaptic touch pads are unable to vertical scroll
• For some users, scrolling in the main GMail window will be slower than usual
• If you try to start Firefox using a locked profile, it will crash
• This version of Firefox will not work on Macintosh hardware with Power PC CPUs
• Under certain conditions, scrolling and text input may be jerky
• Firefox notifications may not work properly with Growl 1.3 or later

Firefox 10 Download Links:

• Mac OS X
• Windows
• Linux

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iTunes U

Update: Apple has posted their Education Media Event stream online. The link below

At its education event in New York, Apple has just announced and released the iTunes U App for iPhone and iPad. The new app that lets teachers manage their iTunes U course and gives students access to all the course materials done by their teachers in a single place. Right in the app, they can play video or audio lectures. Read books and view presentations. See a list of all the assignments for the course and check them off as they’re completed. And when the teacher sends a message or create a new assignment, students receive a push notification with the new information.

iBooks Author

Apple has also announced and released iBooks Author, a new Mac app for authoring books. iBooks Author is an amazing new app that allows anyone to create beautiful Multi-Touch textbooks — and just about any other kind of book — for iPad. With galleries, video, interactive diagrams, 3D objects, and more, these books bring content to life in ways the printed page never could.

Now anyone can create stunning iBooks textbooks, cookbooks, history books, picture books, and more for iPad. All you need is an idea and a Mac. Start with one of the Apple-designed templates that feature a wide variety of page layouts. Add your own text and images with drag-and-drop ease. Use Multi-Touch widgets to include interactive photo galleries, movies, Keynote presentations, 3D objects, and more. Preview your book on your iPad at any time. Then submit your finished work to the iBookstore with a few simple steps. And before you know it, you’re a published author.

iBooks 2

Apple has also announced and released iBooks 2 update . The next evolution of eBooks for the iPad push the limits even further. The app will support textbooks developed by iBooks Author multitouch gestures to move throughout an iBook which can be full of “rich, engaging interactive experiences” — even featuring 3D models so a student can see, for example, inside a cell. In the demo iBook, switching the iPad to portrait re-orientated the content so that the student could focus on reading the text. That way, books can have two completely different experiences, simply by re-orientating the iPad.

Watch Apple Education Media Event stream online

Apple has posted their Education Media Event stream online. Watch the full stream here or get it on iTunes.

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Ahead of an official release tomorrow, Firefox 9 is now available to download from the official Firefox website.

The most significant change this time around is the addition of type inference to the JavaScript engine, which will improve and increase the speed execution up to 30%. Find the direct links below.

Download links:

• Firefox 9.0 For Windows
• Firefox 9.0 For Mac
• Firefox 9.0 For Linux

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Apple has just released iOS 5.0.1. The update brings battery life fixes for all devices running iOS 5, as well as security improvements and multitasking gestures on the original iPad. Battery life issues are said to be fixed as well.

iOS 5.0.1 update

This update contains improvements and other bug fixes including:

- Fixes bugs affecting battery life
- Adds Multitasking Gestures for original iPad
- Resolves bugs with Documents in the Cloud
- Improves voice recognition for Australian users using dictation

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Box.net offers 50GB of free storage to iOS users

Box.net has announced they are offering a promotional free 50GB of storage to iOS users, beginning at 12:01 PM PST Friday, October 14th. up to the next 50 days. Cool ha?!

Follow these steps:

1. Use your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to visit the App Store and download the App.
2. Log in to your account or register for a new one directly from the app.
3. That’s it

On top of 50GB of free storage, accounts will receive an increased file size limit of 100MB instead of 25MB. Box.net has over 7 million users, and the app was recently updated to support iOS 5. That means the app supports AirPlay.

The 50GB of storage is ten times what Apple’s iCloud service offers users for free, and is being offered free with no strings attached. A comparable amount of storage on DropBox would cost $9.99 per month, and a comparable amount of storage through Apple’s iCloud service would cost $100 per year.

Box.net can be used to store photos, documents, videos, music, or other digital files safely on Box.net’s servers.

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5. Apple Signs Deals With Sony, EMI and Warner Group Over Cloud Music

iOS 5 Release log

Apple today released the final consumer version of iOS 5, a major and most ambitious upgrade to its mobile operating system yet. Apple has also released Find My Friends and AirPort Utility apps, enabled iCloud accounts for everyone, flipped the switch on the Newsstand Store and rolled out music re-downloading service dubbed iTunes in the Cloud in the U.K., Canada, Australia and other international markets. The iOS 5 packed with over 200 new features.

You’re advised to perform a full backup of your iOS device in iTunes to restore to in case something goes wrong. Simply connect your device to a computer, launch iTunes 10.5, right click the device in the Devices pane and click the Back Up option.

Alternatively, copy the backup folder to a safe location, such as an external hard drive or a USB thumb drive. iTunes places the backup files in the following places:

Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

Windows XP: \Documents and Settings\(username)\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

Windows Vista and Windows 7: \Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

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iTunes 10.5

Apple today released iTunes 10.5 for all platforms in advance of tomorrow’s release of iOS 5.0. Check out the release notes attached to this release is as follows:

What’s new in iTunes 10.5

• iTunes in the Cloud. iTunes now stores your music and TV purchases in iCloud and makes them available on your devices anywhere, any time, at no additional cost.
  • Automatic Downloads. Purchase music from any device or computer and automatically download a copy to your Mac and iOS devices.
  • Download Previous Purchases. Download your past music, TV, app, and book purchases again, at no additional cost. Previous purchases may be unavailable if they are no longer on the iTunes Store.
• Sync with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 5.
• Wi-Fi Syncing. Automatically sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iTunes any time they’re both on the same Wi-Fi network.

SHA1:
iTunes Windows 32 bit:1205cda4ce9a32db2fe02cf9f2cf2c0bf7d47bdb
iTunes Windows 64 bit :ab400ad27a537613b3b5306ea026763a93d57fdf
iTunes Mac:d6ecdd767b31b6c4661ef97a6a1a1234d2f695d1

For information on the security content of this update, please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

 

• Downloads are currently available at apple.com/itunes/download.

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A new app called “It’s Playing 2.0.” available for iPad can play FLV, AVI, MKV, OGG, WMV and it does AC3 sound and subtitles. A whole range of features including adjustments for colour, contracts, brightness and sound so you can adjust the playback to suite the video file.

Play all video and audio formats commonly available on the web — including AVI, RMVB, MKV and FLV (Flash Video)

— What’s so special about It’s playing —
iPads, iPhones and iPods have great video capabilities. On latest models you can even shoot and encode high resolution video and stereo sound in real time.
The problem with most videos available on the Internet – sent by email, or on web sites – is that they don’t use the formats handled natively by iOS (mpeg4 and h264).

Decoding and playing videos are among the most resource-hungry tasks that computers perform today. When playing high-resolution, high-bit rate movies, devices often lack the necessary resources to decode and show one or more frames on time. These issues can result in noticeable pauses or in desynchronization between sound and image. It really depends on the player you are using.

What differentiates It’s playing, apart from pricing and the quality of the user interface, is the engine that takes advantage of the outstanding hardware and operating system it runs on.
AdditionFlow© is our optimized process for making sure that you get more video frames more synchronized with the audio, ensuring the best viewing experience.

The app costs $1.99/ £1.49 from iTunes

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Skype has finally released their iPad version. The app isn’t a universal update for the iPhone version, meaning you’ll have to download it as a separate app on your iPad. The application brings everything you love from the iPhone version to the iPad’s larger display. This includes instant messaging, audio chatting, and video conferencing. The app can do video and audio calling both on WiFi and 3G. The same Skype for iPad, first “leaked” online back in late June.

A list of features from the iTunes page:

• Talk face-to-face or show what you’re seeing with front and back-facing cameras.
• Use Skype for iPad to call anyone else on Skype – and enjoy near CD quality (SILK) sound.
• Instant message and add emoticons to personalize your messages.
• Make cheap calls to landlines or mobiles from your iPad.
• Get an Online Number from Skype so people can call you on your iPad.
• Pay As You Go with Skype Credit – great for when you’re using Skype every now and again.
• Pay monthly with a subscription – best if you use Skype a lot.

• Download Skype for iPad’ from the iTunes App Store.

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Adobe has released its “HTML5″ web design tool Edge. The tool is currently in beta.

Adobe® Edge is a new web motion and interaction design tool that allows designers to bring animated content to websites, using web standards like HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS3.

This version of Edge focuses primarily on adding rich motion design to new or existing HTML projects, that runs beautifully on devices and desktops.

• Create new compositions with Edge’s drawing and text tools.
• Import popular web graphics such as SVG, PNG, JPG or GIF files.
• Easily choreograph animation with the timeline editor. Animate position, size, color, shape, rotation and more at the property level.
• Energize existing HTML files with motion, while preserving the integrity of CSS-based HTML layouts.
• Copy and paste transitions, invert them, and choose from over 25 built-in easing effects for added creativity.

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After teasing an “awesome” announcement at the company for Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to the chance to announce the launch of in-browser video calling powered by Skype.

See The Friends You Message Most
The new chat design includes a sidebar that lists the people you message most. Now it’s easier to find your friends and start a conversation. The sidebar adjusts with the size of your browser window, and it automatically appears when the window is wide enough.

Create a Group Chat Instantly
We’re also launching multi-person chat, which is one of our most requested features. Now when your friends can’t figure out what movie to see, you can just add them to a chat and decide together. To include more friends in your conversation, simply select Add Friends to Chat and just like your other chats, the history of your conversation is available in messages.

Bring Your Conversations to Life
Video chat has been around for years now, but it’s still not an everyday activity for most people. Sometimes it’s too difficult to set up, or the friends you want to talk to are on different services.

So a few months ago, we started working with Skype to bring video calling to Facebook. We built it right into chat, so all your conversations start from the same place. To call your friend, just click the video call button at the top of your chat window.

Hopefully Facebook plans to bring these new video calling features to its rumored iPad application. You can get video calling enabled by hitting the link below.

Video calling will be available to everyone over the next few weeks, but if you don’t want to wait, you can get it now.

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Apple has seeded Mac OS X 10.7 Lion’s GM build to developers along with Server Edition and iCloud Beta 3. In a previous post we put tons of links to download OS X Lion GM. Now upgrade to Server Version and get iCloud Beta 3 in the below links:

The GM build is generally the build that consumers will end up with and ready for mass production; however, if any major bugs are found, there could always be another seed. Apple has also released a new preview for Xcode. You can download OS X Lion GM below:

Multiupload.com Links:

• Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Server GM | 12.16 MB

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Rapidshare.com Links:

• Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Server GM | 12.16 MB

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Multiupload.com Links:

• iCloud Beta 3 | 25.03 MB

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Rapidshare.com Links:

• iCloud Beta 3 | 25.03 MB

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Apple has seeded Mac OS X 10.7 Lion’s GM (Gold Master) build to developers. This is ahead of the promised July launch, probably this Wednesday, and it looks as if Apple may be targeting an early- to mid- July launch date.

The GM build is generally the build that consumers will end up with and ready for mass production; however, if any major bugs are found, there could always be another seed. Apple has also released iCloud beta 3 for this build, along with a new preview for Xcode. You can download OS X Lion GM below:

filesonic.com Links:

• Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Golden Master GM Build 11A511 | 3.48 GB

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• Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Golden Master GM Build 11A511 | 3.48 GB

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• Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Golden Master GM Build 11A511 | 3.48 GB

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• Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Golden Master GM Build 11A511 | 3.48 GB

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• Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Golden Master GM Build 11A511 | 3.48 GB

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Uploading.com Links:

• Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Golden Master GM Build 11A511 | 3.48 GB

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An engineering intern at Google has created a tool that allows SWF (Flash) files to be converted to HTML5. The project is centered around advertisements, but many different types of SWF content, like some games and animations, are able to be converted. Adobe announced a similar project, named “Wallaby“, a few months ago, but it is designed primarily to publish Flash code to HTML5, not convert existing SWF files.

Today we’re making the first version of Swiffy available on Google Labs. You can upload a SWF file, and Swiffy will produce an HTML5 version which will run in modern browsers with a high level of SVG support such as Chrome and Safari. It’s still an early version, so it won’t convert all Flash content, but it already works well on ads and animations. We have some examples of converted SWF files if you want to see it in action.

Swiffy-converted files will work in Chrome and Safari (both desktop and mobile), so iOS users will benefit from the additional content. Of course, this also means that ads will be easier to display on iDevices. If you have a SWF file that you would like converted, head over to the Google Labs page.

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Apple has released version 10.6.8 update of Mac OS X Snow Leopard ahead of the July launch of OS X Lion. Mac OS 10.6.8 prepares Macs for the Lion upgrade through the Mac App Store.

The 10.6.8 update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes that:

• Enhance the Mac App Store to get your Mac ready to upgrade to Mac OS X Lion
• Resolve an issue that may cause Preview to unexpectedly quit
• Improve support for IPv6
• Improve VPN reliability
• Identify and remove known variants of Mac Defender

Direct Download Links:

Download Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update (474.2 MB)
Download Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo (1.09 GB)

Download Mac OS X Server v10.6.8 Update (542 MB)
Download Mac OS X Server v10.6.8 Update Combo (1.27 GB)

Download Security Update 2011-004 (Leopard) (256.4 MB)
Download Security Update 2011-004 (Leopard Server) (499.8 MB)

Download Server Admin Tools 10.6.8 (255.9 MB)

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Three weeks ago, Mozilla hit the beta of Firefox 5, and managed to release Firefox 5 final on June 21. But today, the final version of firefox is unexpectedly Available for download. You can get your hands on the links below:

What’s New:

• Added support for CSS animations
• The Do-Not-Track header preference has been moved to increase discoverability
• Improved canvas, JavaScript, memory, and networking performance
• Improved standards support for HTML5, XHR, MathML, SMIL, and canvas
• Improved spell checking for some locales
• Improved desktop environment integration for Linux users
• The channel switcher which let users switch to the aurora channel and back to the beta channel has been moved.

Download Link:

• Mac version: here.
• Windows version: here.
• Linux version: here.

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Microsoft offered the first glimpse of Windows 8, a sneak peek that reveals much about both the influences and the strategic goals of the major overhaul of Microsoft’s 25-year-old operating system.

At the heart of the new interface is a new start screen that draws heavily on the tile-based interface that Microsoft has used with Windows Phone 7. All of a user’s programs can be viewed as tiles and clicked on with the touch of a finger.

Windows 8 essentially supports two kinds of applications. One is the classic Windows application, which runs in a desktop very similar to the Windows 7 desktop. The other type of application, which has to be written in HTML5 and Javascript, looks more like a mobile application, filling the full screen. Internet Explorer 10, which is part of Windows 8, has already been configured to run in this mode, as have several widget-like apps for checking stock prices and weather.

Although Windows 8 is clearly influenced by the iPad and other mobile devices, the plan for the new operating system has been in the works since Windows 7 shipped in July 2009–several months before the iPad was first shown. Watch the demo below:

Microsoft has also done work with the classic Windows desktop to make it more touch friendly, including using a new kind of “fuzzy hit targeting” to adjust for the fact that fingers are far less precise than a mouse. The goal, says chief designer Julie Larson-Green, is that classic apps, though designed for a keyboard and mouse, work well with touch. Apps taking advantage of the new programming layer, she said, are designed for touch first, but also work well with a keyboard and mouse.

[via AllThingsD]

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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has promised over 500 new features for the next release of Windows Phone 7 dubbed ‘Mango’ and will get version 7.5.

Speaking at Japanese Microsoft Developer Forum 2011, Ballmer promised the features to be unveiled in the Mango event today. The software giant is also expected to unveil new developer tools for Windows Phone applications. Microsoft is currently hard at work on “Mango”, its next major release of Windows Phone. Nokia is also reportedly waiting for the next release of Windows Phone before it unveils its first Windows Phone device. Watch Ballmer speaking about the 500 new features in the video below:

Neowin is adding additional rumor before today’s Mango activities kick out. Windows Phone 7.5 may be released to Manufacturers today, and will be coming out to all phones in September.

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Sony just announced that over the next several hours it will be flipping the lights back on in its Playstation Network that has been since hackers attacked it nearly a month ago.

The company announced a phased restart to its network starting with the Americas followed by Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East. the company has also pushed out a software update 3.61 that will prompt users to change their password as part of the new security procedures put in place.

Hirai announced advanced security technology, encryption and additional firewalls:

We have greatly updated our data security systems. These changes were the result of an intensive investigation aided by some of the most respected forensic and security experts in the computer industry.

Here is the statement released from Sony today:

Thank you for your patience and encouragement over the last few weeks. As covered in the post from earlier today, you can now update the firmware on your PS3 and change your password. Kazuo Hirai just announced that we have begun the phased restoration by region of some of the services, starting with online multiplayer functionality.

Please note that these services will take a bit of time to be turned on and rolled out to the whole country. The process has begun and some states are being turned on now, so please be patient as we reach your city and state. We’ll be updating the map below as service comes online in individual states. It will take several hours to restore PSN throughout the entire country, so please keep checking back for the latest updates. In the meantime, now’s a great time to get your PS3’s firmware updated, which is required to get online.

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Following our story on How to transform Windows 7 into Mac OS X Lion, here comes a new skin pack been created which contains many of the expected Windows 8 features. It has visual styles liked the leaked screenshots and third party apps that have been developed to provide users with the expected Windows 8 features. So if you would like to get the Windows 8 skin and small number of features today, try out 8 Skin Pack for 7.

Note: Please bear in mind that such transformation packs are difficult to uninstall and often a system restore point will not revert the changes. Before installing 8SkinPackFor7, make sure that you backup your computer to revert the changes (if required). Moreover, make sure that UAC (User Account Control) is disabled.

When installing the transformation pack, you will be presented with the option to install the UXTheme Patch, files and extra items (e.g. wallpaper, visual styles, third party software, etc). You may select all or some of these options to continue. For example, you may not be interested in installing a screensaver, wallpaper, or some third-party software. To uncheck these items, you can expand the options but clicking on the + sign to unselect items from the Files and Extras options. Click on Install to begin the installation process.

This will install the selected components on your Windows 7 operating system. After the installation is complete, reboot your system for the changes to take effect.

• Download 8 Skin Pack for 7

[via: addictivetips]

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