Softpedia News - Global

Chakra GNU/Linux 2012.02 Has KDE SC 4.8

Softpedia News (Marius Nestor) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:07:00 GMT

Anke Boersma proudly announced today, February 12th, the immediate availability for download of the highly anticipated Chakra GNU/Linux 2012.02 operating system.

Dubbed Archimedes, the brand-new Chakra GNU/Linux 2012.02 is now distributed as DVD ISO images containing a nice selection of apps and all locales, and as minimal CD ISO images that allows you to build your desktop, based on Chakra, for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures.

Highlights of Chakra GNU/Linux 2012.02... (read more)

iPad 3 Launch Overhanging as Current WiFi+3G Stock Depletes

Softpedia News (Filip Truta) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:21:04 GMT

In what is probably the best indication that Apple plans to refresh the iPad line soon, people within the company's distribution channels are reporting constraints of the 3G versions of the iPad 2.

Citing a source familiar with Apple’s product distribution channels, 9to5mac informs that the iPad 2 WiFi + 3G is now ... (read more)

Apple Posts New iPad Video Featuring the Theatre Consultants Collaborative

Softpedia News (Filip Truta) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:01:01 GMT

Apple’s iPad in Business page is featuring a piece on the Theatre Consultants Collaborative which uses the magic of Apple’s tablet computer to do theatre design, planning, programming… the works.

Everything from architectural drawings to conference calls is routed through the iPad at TCC. The company uses Audio Tools to analyze sound frequencies for any given performance.

They employ AutoCAD to design spaces, look at drawings, mark them up and make chan... (read more)

SeaMonkey 2.7.1 Has Anti-Aliasing for WebGL

Softpedia News (Silviu Stahie) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:37:00 GMT

SeaMonkey, a web browser, advanced e-mail, newsgroup client, IRC chat client, and HTML editing suite, is now at version 2.7.1.

Only a few changes are present in SeaMonkey 2.7.1, but the developers fixed important issues and there are even a couple of new features implemented.

Highlights of SeaMonkey 2.7.1:

· If the add-ons are declared compatible with Seamonkey 2.1 or better, they become compatible by default;
· Under certain conditions, ent... (read more)

No 15-Inch HP Envy Spectre Ultrabook for Now, Just a Mistake

Softpedia News (Sorin Nita) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:31:01 GMT

Yesterday, many websites reported that HP unveiled a 15-inch version of the Envy Spectre Ultrabook in Taiwan, after citing an article published by DigiTimes.

The news however seems to be wrong as Laptoping has recently uncovered that the notebook everybody thought to be a larger 15-inch Envy Ultrabook was actually the standard Envy 15, which is already available in the US.

Although these two laptops have similar names, they’re entirely different beasts, the Spectre... (read more)

All MacBook Pros Getting Air-Like Design in 2012 - Report

Softpedia News (Filip Truta) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:51:02 GMT

A report citing people familiar with Apple’s roadmap is reiterating an old rumor saying the company will revamp its entire MacBook Pro line, both inside and out, giving the laptops a design akin to that of the popular MacBook Air.

The news is exactly breaking, since there has been a lot of talk about the Air-like design in... (read more)

No More Apple TVs to Order Online, Refresh Likely Imminent

Softpedia News (Filip Truta) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:28:00 GMT

Major US retailers are running dry on Apple TV stock and their internal product ordering systems are unable to yield new units, according to a person within Best Buy. All this while strange code references are emerging in the latest iOS 5.1 beta, hinting at a potential new Apple TV product.

At this point there’s little doubt Ap... (read more)

Sara, a Siri Alternative for All iPhones and iPads

Softpedia News (Filip Truta) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:02:00 GMT

A company called iSoft JSC has released an alternative to Siri, the digital assistant that does things just by asking on your iPhone 4S. Sara works on older-generation devices, starting at iPhone 2G, and allegedly does even more than Apple’s Siri.

The Vietnamese group at iSoft JSC says Sara is actually an advanced alternative to Siri. In addition to offering regular Siri capabilities, Sara accepts custom commands via plug-ins.

Don’t worry about having to code ... (read more)

Intel 2012 Haswell CPUs Will Feature Improved Multi-Core Support

Softpedia News (Sorin Nita) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:11:02 GMT

Intel has recently announced that its next-generation 22nm processors based on the Haswell architecture will support Transactional Synchronization Extensions (TSX), a new instruction set designed to allow cores to work more efficiently together.

These new synchronization extensions (Intel TSX) are useful in shared-memor... (read more)

iPad 3 Developers May Be Required to Own Retina Macs Soon

Softpedia News (Filip Truta) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:37:00 GMT

There’s a pretty good chance Apple will introduce an all-Retina Mac lineup this year, one programmer theorizes. If anything, at least development machines will sport double the pixel count, he suggests.

iOS developer David Smith has created a chart to demonstrate that coders who use Macs to craft the apps for Apple&rsquo... (read more)

“The Tiny Bang Story HD” for iPad Review

Softpedia News (Cosmin Vasile) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:20:00 GMT

“The Tiny Bang Story” indie game was published on Steam last year in April. Although it has received mixed reviews from media and players alike, the game is more than your everyday puzzler.

Colibri Games, the creators of the “The Tiny Bang Story” tried to mix together several game genres, in order to make it attractive... (read more)

Apple Support Temporarily Down

Softpedia News (Filip Truta) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:15:00 GMT

A significant chunk of Apple’s Support site is down today as the company’s technicians are upgrading some of the web-based tools offered through support.apple.com.

Trying to access a knowledge base article through Apple’s Support site currently yields the following message from the Mac makers: “Due to a scheduled upgrade of Apple's support systems, some features of the website are currently unavailable.”

Apple is apologetic about it and offer... (read more)

Parsix GNU/Linux 3.7r2 Is Available for Download

Softpedia News (Marius Nestor) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:38:00 GMT

Alan Baghumian announced last night, February 11th, the immediate availability for download of the Parsix GNU/Linux 3.7r2 operating system.

Parsix GNU/Linux 3.7r2 is the second and most probably the last update for the Parsix GNU/Linux 3.7 9 (Raul) distribution.

This release incorporates all the security and bug fixes, ... (read more)

A Gamer’s Week: February 12

Softpedia News (Andrei Dumitrescu) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:31:02 GMT

This week we have two very different reviews on Softpedia: one for King Arthur II – The Role-playing Wargame, a strategy and text adventure mix from Neocore Games and Paradox Interactive, and another for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, the action and role playing mix published by Electronic Arts and created by 38 Studios and Big Huge Games.

We also h... (read more)

Softpedia Exclusive Interview: Radware Expert on DDOS Attacks

Softpedia News (Eduard Kovacs) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:21:02 GMT

Distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks are a major concern these days for both companies and major websites, especially if they know they may be targeted by hacktivists. Security solutions provider Radware published a great report on the subject of DDOS attacks, busting some interesting myths and clarifying some important issue... (read more)

CrossOver Games 10.3.0 Fixes Skyrim on Linux

Softpedia News (Marius Nestor) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:08:00 GMT

CodeWeavers announced a new versions of the popular CrossOver Games software which enables users to run Windows games on Linux and Macintosh platforms.

Even if it was released a month ago, it is good to know that the CodeWeavers developers patched the World of Warcraft and Skyrim games to work on Linux systems.

On the other hand, it is also good to know that the previous release of CrossOver Games, version 10.2.1, brought fixes for the Team Fortress 2 game to no longer b... (read more)

First Official RUU Based on HTC Endeavor Leaks

Softpedia News (Cosmin Vasile) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:14:00 GMT

Shortly after HTC Endeavor's specs sheet leaked online, along with the approximate release date, one of the test ROMs for the quad-core smartphone appeared in the wild as well.

The folks over at XDA Developers are “guilty” for this new leak, which has yet to be tested and ported to other HTC devices.

Thanks to XDA forum user capychimp who got his hands on this test RUU for the HTC Endeavor and was willing to share it with the community, we will hopefully see ... (read more)

Sony and Sharp 2012 HDTV Prices Leaked

Softpedia News (Sorin Nita) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:01:02 GMT

Sony and Sharp announced quite a large number of HDTVs at this year’s CES, but back at the fair both companies neglected to include one minor detail in their announcement: pricing.

The HD Guru Website however has recently come to our aid, and thanks to its industry sources, it managed to provide us with this last piece of the puzzle.

According to its findings, Sony's prices range from $399 for th... (read more)

Wine 1.4 RC3 Brings More Fixes

Softpedia News (Silviu Stahie) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:44:00 GMT

Wine 1.4 RC3, a new development version of the famous framework used to run Windows applications on Linux, has been announced by Alexandre Julliard, the leader of the Wine project.

This version is the third release candidate for the Wine 1.4 branch and represents an important milestone in the development of Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator). The complete changelog can be found here.

Highlights of Wine 1.4 RC3:

• Skype 3.8 no longer crashes on install;
... (read more)

Whitney Houston Has Died

Softpedia News (Elena Gorgan) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:18:00 GMT

Legendary singer Whitney Houston was found dead in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel just hours ago. Police have launched an investigation into the possible cause of death, but an overdose seems likely.

Whitney was just 48 years old and was one of the greatest voices of our times.

The singer was in town for tonight’s Grammy Awards. Earli... (read more)

Amazon’s Kindle Touch Bound to Hit Japan in April – Report

Softpedia News (Sorin Nita) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:21:02 GMT

Amazon seems to have some serious expansion plans for its Kindle Touch eReader.

After just week it quietly started shipping the device internationally, a recent reports now suggests that the online retailer is planning to launch the Kindle Touch in Japan this April.

According to a popular Japanese newspaper quoted by engadget, the eReader will land for less than 20,000 yen ($260) and will rely on NTT DoCoMo for 3G access to the Kindle online store.

While the Ja... (read more)

T-Mobile USA Discounts Samsung Exhibit II 4G and LG myTouch Phones

Softpedia News (Cosmin Vasile) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:11:02 GMT

T-Mobile USA plans to update pricing options on some of its Android smartphones, such as the Samsung Exhibit II 4G, LG myTouch and myTouch Q.

The folks over at TmoNews got their hands on a T-Mobile USA internal document, which confirms the new changes. Starting February 11 Samsung Exhibit II 4G will receive a $20 price drop on invoice, as well as on a two-year term.

Furthermore, the LG myTouch and myTouch Q will be $30 cheaper with a two-year agreement, but they will get ... (read more)

Shuttle Prepares Trio of Fanless Cedar Trail SFF Desktops

Softpedia News (Sorin Nita) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:01:02 GMT

Small form factor computer maker Shuttle is preparing to launch three new XS-Series nettop PCs based on the desktop version of the Intel Atom Cedar Trail platform.

All three models, dubbed the XS35V3, XS35GT V3, and XS36V, use the same Intel Atom D2700 processor which, thanks to its 2.13GHz operating clocks and dual-core des... (read more)

Nokia Lumia 800 in Green and Red Spotted in New Commercial

Softpedia News (Cosmin Vasile) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:29:00 GMT

Unveiled back in October, Nokia Lumia 800 smartphone is already available on the market. Those who want purchase this Windows Phone device get to choose from three color-schemes:Black, Cyan and Fuchsia (Magenta).

However, it looks like the Finnish handset maker plans to launch two additional color version for the Lumia 800, Green and Red. It is also worth mentioning that Nokia officially announced the white-themed Lumia 800 a few days ago.

The company has just released a ... (read more)

Weekend Reading: Gamers Are Finally Talking with Their Wallets

Softpedia News (Andrei Dobra) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:21:02 GMT

The gaming industry today isn’t in the best of situations, as more and more sequels are being released while publishers are less willing to invest in new games that don’t have any sort of multiplayer or at least an online component.

Lots of gamers have complained about these worrying trends, saying that everyon... (read more)

Jetway JNF9C-2600 Is a Low-Profile Intel Cedar Trail Motherboard

Softpedia News (Sorin Nita) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:11:02 GMT

Intel’s Atom processors definitely aren’t as popular as just a few years back, but this hasn’t stopped Jetway from developing a new mini-ITX thin-profile motherboard based on the chip maker’s latest Atom Cedar Trail platform.

Jetway’s motherboard is called the JNF9C-2600 and just as its n... (read more)

Virgin Mobile Reading New Prepaid Plans for Valentine's Day

Softpedia News (Cosmin Vasile) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:01:02 GMT

Virgin Mobile is about to make an interesting deal to its customers for Valentine's Day. While other US-based carriers plan to increase the cost of some of their services Virgin Mobile plans to offer more for cheaper tariffs.

The folks over at MobileSyrup have just learned that Virgin Mobile will launch new Prepaid plans on ... (read more)

Ubuntu Business Remix 11.10 Screenshot Tour

Softpedia News (Marius Nestor) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:41:02 GMT

Introduced by Mark Shuttleworth and Canonical on February 10th, the new Ubuntu Business Desktop Remix 11.10 operating system aims to be deployed on enterprise environments.

Ubuntu Business Desktop Remix 11.10 is offered as 32-bit ISO image and contains Adobe Flash Plugin, OpenJDK 6 Java run-time environment, and VMware View, all being free and installable from Ubuntu Software Center.

That's not all, as all the games, file sharing, social networking, development, system a... (read more)

Rogers Galaxy Note Now Shipping to Online Reservation System Customers

Softpedia News (Cosmin Vasile) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:31:01 GMT

Rogers customers who wanted to make sure they will be among the first to get the Samsung Galaxy Note and made a pre-order via the carrier's Online Reservation System will be happy to know that they are about to receive their devices.

According to the guys over at MobileSyrup, Rogers sent an update to all those who... (read more)

Weekend Reading: What Video Games Can Teach TV and Music About Piracy

Softpedia News (Andrei Dumitrescu) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:11:02 GMT

On January 18 quite a few websites went black in order to protest two bills before the United States Congress and Senate, the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act, and even the mighty Google delivered a strong message against them.

The main aim of the bills, backed mostly by the movie and music industry, ... (read more)