News

We are now hosted on a cloud instance that can scale with ease. Enjoy the new speed!

The article sites the inspiration from it's tablet email interface, but I notice that it looks a lot like Outlook, Thunderbird, or just about any other desktop email client. I happen to like the feature and have already turned it on.

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Preview Pane, which is now available in Gmail Labs, allows users to simultaneously preview parts of an email while reading or replying to others. Users of Gmail for iPad or Android will instantly recognize the interface — its design is directly inspired by the email service’s mobile web apps.

http://mashable.com/2011/08/04/gmail-preview-pane/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29

Like Netflix and Hulu, we can soon get HBO content streamed to consoles. The ability to stream every HBO show ever at anytime on a console sounds pretty awesome to me. If there's a billing option that circumvents by cable provider, I may be a new customer of theirs....

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No time table has been announced, but we'd be surprised if the service didn't launch on consoles within a year or so. Although there are no price details at this time, given that the service is free to HBO subscribers on other platforms, we expect the same for consoles.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/08/03/hbo-go-heading-to-consoles.aspx

I haven't had a chance to go hands on with a Touchpad, but from the videos they seem like good tablets. If you're lucky enough to have one, you should be able to get the OTA update. It looks like the update provides increased functionality in addition to increased stability. Enjoy...

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Besides performance and reliability enhancements, this new version also brings new features to core webOS apps such as Email, Calendar and Photos.

Among the highlights are improved image rendering and faster scrolling in Email, the ability to set your wallpaper from photos in the Photos app, new layout of the Calendar, reduced audio skipping in Music when using other apps, and improved speed and accuracy of autocorrections when typing.

http://mashable.com/2011/08/02/hp-touchpad-webos-3-0-2/

Happy System Administrator Day (yes it's real) to all of the System Admins out there. We are surely underappreciated...

http://sysadminday.com/

OS X 10.7 Lion is now out. Nothing seems to be really compelling to me, but then again, I'm not an Apple user. It's a $29.99 upgrade for those who want to take the step forward. Here's one review I came accross. It's really in depth if you're interested in reading the whole thing.

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For now, I'll tell you that after spending a lot of time with OS X Lion--the client--there are some issues, as I mentioned. It isn't sterling. The Launchpad implementation feels awkward on OS X. Some of the new features, like full-screen apps, take some getting used to.

For the most part, Mac users are going to embrace Lion. There's a learning curve, but that's to be expected. Apple has always pushed and challenged their users to embrace new technologies, often for the better.

Even with its flaws, I'm still psyched about Lion. It's a nice affordable update packed with more than 250 new features that sells for only $29.99.

http://www.informationweek.com/byte/reviews/personal-tech/desktop-os/231001740

Does this really surprise anyone? More Android phones are activated every day than any other phone. That alone paints a huge bullseye on it for hackers. If you use an Android phone, you really need to be careful as to what applications you're installing...

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In the study, Dasient analyzed the live behavior of Android apps to determine their security posture. Of the 10,000 applications evaluated, more than 800 were found to be leaking personal data to an unauthorized server, Daswani says.

In addition, the researchers found that 11 of the applications were sending potentially unwanted SMS messages out to other smartphones--the mobile version of spam, Daswani says.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/231002162?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_ALL

I haven't had a lot of time to post new news, but there's been some good stuff happening this week. So I figured I'd post a single news article with some interesting things that happened this week.

First, if you're a Netflix subscriber that has a plan using streaming and DVDs, you're probably pissed. Netflix split it's streaming and DVD plans into two separate billable items. Now, you'll have to pay $7.99 for each service totalling $15.98 for both at the base level. That's a significant hike from the $9.99 that was billed before. I'm in this group and I'm not thrilled with it, though I do understand that what Netlix has to pay more and more to license all of the selections. But I think they need a lot more selections to justify an increase this high. Everyone used social media to show just how pissed they were about the change. Hopefully, Netflix will reconsider. In the meantime, here's an article reviewing the alternative options:

http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-20079003-285/nine-netflix-alternatives/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

T-Mobile also launched their new caller ID feature. This would be awesome if it was free, but I don't think it's worth the $3.99/month they're asking for it. I think it's easier and cheaper to just let things to to voicemail and it it's important enough, they'll leave a message...

http://www.tmonews.com/2011/07/t-mobile-introduces-name-id-caller-id-for-everyone/

Google began testing the new Google + social media site. I haven't gotten an invite yet, so I guess I'll have to wait... Apparently, it's mostly dudes right now. That sucks. You'd figure since women are more social creatures by nature, that they would have jumped at the chance to try it. I suppose that if invites were given to a bunch of nerdy dudes, then there weren't going to be too many women that they knew who could get an invite.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20079285-71/google-its-a-man-thing/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

The Demo for "Catherine" became available on Xbox Live. I'm not one for puzzle games, but this was really an interesting game. It's certainly one of the most unique games I've seen in a long time. I'll likely get it when it comes down in price. I don't think I can justify $60 bucks on it.

http://majornelson.com/2011/07/12/demo-catherine/

So, there you have it. A weeks worth of news in one post. Hopefully, I'll get more time to keep up.

Great news came yesterday for Windows Phone owners. Angry Birds is now on Windows Phone! I haven't played it myself, but apparently it's one of the best games ever. Also, they've announced that custom ringtones will be made available in Mango! This is one of the things I've critisized them for in my coming Windows Phone article. I can appreciate that they've taken the time to use the Zune software to keep the ringtones you create out of the music collection in the phone. I've run into that issue with Android in the past.

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Custom ringtones are coming.

If there’s one request we’ve heard over and over since launching Windows Phone last year, it’s this: More ringtones, please! I’m the program manager for the “sound experience” on the phone—everything from ringtones and alarms to alerts and key clicks. Today I wanted to take a minute to tell you about the ringtone-related changes in store for Mango, the next version of Windows Phone arriving this fall.

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2011/06/28/now-in-marketplace-angry-birds.aspx

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2011/06/28/ringing-in-mango.aspx

This is a big win for upholding First Amendment Rights. First Amendment aside, the government shouldn't be deciding what games minors are allowed to play. That's what the parents should be doing. I hate it when politicians try to push their own lifestyle agendas under the guise of "protecting the children". It's so transparent....

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The Supreme Court has finally ruled on the constitutionality of the California law (Brown v. EMA) that would have banned the sale of violent video games to minors.

The court struck down the law 7-2 using the First Amendment as the reasoning. Justice Scalia wrote the majority opinion, with Justices Thomas and Breyer in dissent.

"The act does not comport with the First Amendment," opens the opinion's syllabus. "Video games qualify for First Amendment protection. Like protected books, plays, and movies, they communicate ideas through familiar literary devices and features distinctive to the medium. And 'the basic principles of freedom of speech . . . do not vary' with a new and different communication medium."

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/06/27/supreme-court-decides-video-games-case.aspx

Hulu Plus is now available for six Android devices. Shouldn't applications that work on one Android device, work on another providing they are the same version? This kind of segmentation is one of the big things that suck with Android. This is awesome for Hulu users though. I'd love to have it for Windows phone. This should also add value for those who might be interested in aquiring Hulu.

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Launching in Google's Android Market yesterday, the new Hulu Plus app allows Android users who subscribe to the $7.99-per-month service to stream TV shows and movies directly to their mobile devices.

For now, the app supports just six Android phones--the Nexus One, Nexus S, HTC Inspire 4G, Motorola Droid II, Motorola Droid X, and the Motorola Atrix. But Hulu is promising support for more Android phones as the year progresses.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20073618-251/hulu-plus-app-launches-for-android/#ixzz1Q7Oc2CSy

This is Mozillas first release since they've adopted a six week release cycle. Hopefully, speed doesn't sacrifice quality.

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Mozilla delivered two things today: Firefox 5 for personal computers and Android phones, and the promise to deliver the browser just a few months after its predecessor.

The organization, once the leading challenger to Microsoft's Internet Explorer, faces new challenges--notably Google's Chrome, new versions of which arrive every 6 weeks. Adopting a similar philosophy, Firefox now revs on a three-month cycle, and today Mozilla met its first deadline.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20072903-264/mozilla-releases-firefox-5-first-rapid-release-version/#ixzz1PvRMjUGX

Beware illegal streamers, you've been warned. Evidently sreaming copywrited material to the public with intended financial gain wasn't illegal before. Who knew... I think it's funny that you have to do it 10 times before you can actually be charged.

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The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill yesterday that would make illegal streaming of copyrighted content a felony.

The bill, known as the Commercial Felony Streaming Act, addresses what some lawmakers are calling a loophole in current copyright-infringement laws. It is currently a felony to download or upload copyrighted content, but streaming is not expressly prohibited. This bill would add that streaming copyrighted content would also be a punishable offense.

If the bill is eventually passed by lawmakers, it would allow for infringers streaming content for commercial purposes to be sentenced to up to five years in prison. According to the bill's text, infringers will be charged when "the offense consists of 10 or more public performances by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20071913-17/senate-committee-agrees-illegal-streaming-is-a-felony/#ixzz1PXdywF00

Redbox has rolled out game rentals nationwide this month. Though it appears that none of them are near me. Which sucks, because there's a few games that I'd love to rent for a day or two, but sure as hell wouldn't buy....

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As promised, Redbox has rolled out game rentals nationwide.

In April, Redbox said it would start offering game rentals in 21,000 of its 27,000 kiosks this month. The company is renting out a range of titles for the Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation 3, including the recently launched Duke Nukem Forever and last year's blockbuster hit Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Redbox has launched a full online listing of games available to customers. Those who find something they like can reserve a title from home and pick it up at their chosen Redbox location.

Redbox is charging $2 per day for its game rentals. It currently rents DVDs and Blu-ray discs for as little as $1 per day and $1.50 per day, respectively.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20071891-17/redbox-presses-play-on-game-rentals-nationwide/#ixzz1PXbuyGOn

These things are what's keeping Blackberry alive. I'm still baffled as to why other manufacturer's haven't done anything like this. It seems that no one cares about the enterprise when it somes to mobile phones and the "bring your own" motto is taking over. This is of course pissing off IT departments, but CEOs are loving it.

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Research In Motion on Wednesday announced the availability of BlackBerry Mobile Voice System 5 (MVS 5). The latest update to MVS brings with it compatibility with more enterprise communications systems, including Avaya Aura 6.1, Avaya Communications Manager, Avaya CS1000 Communication Server, Cisco Unified Communications Manager, and Mitel Communications Director.

(Later)BlackBerry MVS 5 ties together enterprise PBX phone systems with BlackBerry smartphones, allowing employees to have a single number that rings both their desk phone and BlackBerry. Employees also can use what would otherwise be PBX-only features, such as extension dialing, hold, transfer, and ad-hoc conferencing.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/telecom/unified_communications/230700064?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_ALL

It looks like some members of "Anonymous" were arrested in Spain. Sucks for them.... According to Sony, the attacks will cost them 14 billion (yep billion) yen. Yikes.... Anyone sell hacker insurance?

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The Spanish police said Friday that they had arrested three suspected computer hackers in connection with recent cyberattacks on Sony’s PlayStation Network as well as corporate and government Web sites around the world.

The arrests have dismantled the local leadership of the shadowy international network of computer hackers known as Anonymous, which has claimed responsibility for a wide variety of attacks, the National Police said in a statement.

(further)Sony has estimated that the hacker attacks will cost it at least 14 billion yen, or $173 million, in damages, including information technology spending, legal costs, lower sales and free offers to lure back customers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/technology/11hack.html?_r=1&smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto

Is Comcast for real? I don't know anyone that has Comcast who likes Comcast. I wouldn't buy another thing from them if I could help it. I guess they're reaching for another source of revenue since they cause their customers to run screaming to someone else.

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The company plans to announce tomorrow that it's expanding its Xfinity Home Security service. Last year the company began testing the service in Houston. Now it's adding six more cities. Additional cities that will get the new service include parts of Philadelphia; Portland, Ore.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Sarasota/Naples, Fla.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Nashville.

The Xfinity Home Security service offers traditional home security features, such as police and fire alarm protection with 24-hour monitoring. It also offers some home automation functions, such as the ability to adjust thermostats and lights remotely. And when people are not home, they can also watch live video streams from wireless cameras that are positioned in and around their home.

The technology behind the system is slightly different from traditional home security systems from companies, such as ADT. The Comcast Xfinity Home Security system works over a broadband connection rather than a phone connection. And as a result it's able to offer the video service and remote management. The company uses cellular networks as a back up to the broadband connectivity to ensure uptime.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20069844-266/comcast-expands-into-home-security-biz/#ixzz1OiOKB2zw

Most Twitter clients have this built in, so I don't see how it will effect anything in the grand scheme of things. I guess if you're actually logging into the Twitter site to do your tweeting, this might be more important to you.

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Twitter has begun automatically shortening URLs pasted into tweets by its users, the microblogging site announced today.

When users compose a tweet and paste a link of any length into the Tweet box, Twitter will automatically abbreviate the link to 19 characters when users hit send. In testing for almost exactly a year, the service--called t.co--is being rolled out incrementally and will wrap and abbreviate all links shared on the site in the same way other URL-shortening services, such as Bitly, do.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20069864-93/twitter-launches-automatic-link-shortening/#ixzz1OiJQTgzi

Microsoft gives Windows Live users 25GB of Skydrive space for free. This data is essentially accessible from a Windows Phone and any computer with a browser. This data can then easily be shared with other users with Live accounts. It looks like SkyDrive is going to be more functional from Windows Phone after the Mango update. Uploading, sharing, and accessing your SkyDrive content is going to continue to get easier.... Check out the link for specific additions.

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icrosoft is committed to offering cloud services that deliver access to your information across devices and platforms. Hotmail provides sync of mail, calendar and contacts across devices, and SkyDrive gives you access to up to 25GB of documents, photos, and videos from anywhere in the world through the web. And of course these services are available today for free across your Windows PC, phone, and web.

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_live/b/windowslive/archive/2011/06/07/don-t-wait-for-your-cloud-use-hotmail-and-skydrive-today-on-your-pc-mac-or-phone.aspx

At E3 Sony announced their anticipated new mobile gaming gizmo called Vita. Here's some specs:

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•Multitouch five-inch OLED display
•Dual analog sticks
•Sixaxis motion detection
•Rear touchpad
•Enough hardware to run the amazing Uncharted software being shown live at the press conference
•3G and WiFi models
•Social tools

I'm not a big mobile gamer and never played with a PSP. I'm sure there were a lot of other folks that were excited. There's two models - one that uses AT&T + Wifi for data at $299 or a Wifi only model for $249.

The Playstation TV sounds interesting, though I really wouldn't want to have to wear glasses to use it. I never thought that TV glasses were a good idea. Here's the bundle pricing:

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Sony is offering a bundle that includes the 24" 3D TV, a pair of 3D glasses, a copy of Resistance 3, and a six foot HDMI cable for $499. Extra pairs of glasses cost $69.99 a pop.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/06/06/playstation-vita-unveiled-detailed-for-real.aspx

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/06/06/playstation-branded-3d-tv-bundle-announced.aspx

Nothing all that great to announce here, but Microsoft is adding some Xbox functionality to Windows Phone. The Beards and Beaks game sounds pretty good though....

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Coming later this year in Mango is more native support of Xbox LIVE features in the Games Hub like:

· See your played games and unlocked/locked Achievements

· Compare Achievements with other Xbox LIVE members

· Search your list of friends to see who is online and what they are doing

· See your Xbox LIVE messages and Send/Accept/Reject friend requests

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2011/06/06/fresh-from-e3-xbox-live-enhancements-and-new-games-for-windows-phone.aspx

Apple fans can rejoice with all of the new features that Apple is bringing to its products. But, what's suprising to me is that it's all new features to existing stuff. iCloud could be argued to be new, but it's really revamped Mobile Me. No new Earth Shattering products this year I guess, but there is a lot of good funtionality that will be added to everything they already make.

What's interesting is that Apple is forcing users who want to upgrade to Lion, to first purchase Snow Leopard. Not a bad idea for revenue, but they're making their customers pay for software updates. I think only Apple is allowed to get away with that....

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20069336-17/apple-unveils-icloud-shows-off-features-of-lion-ios-5/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20069379-37/leopard-users-must-purchase-snow-leopard-before-lion/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

At the Microsoft event at E3, Microsoft unveiled a long list of featured that they intend on bringing to Xbox. I'm excited about a lot of them. It seems that Microsoft is really doing a good job of spanning all of their technologies into each of their products. This also gives similar functionality accross multiple devices to create a fimiliarity and comfort that the consumer will have using everything they make.

http://majornelson.com/2011/06/06/cloud-storage-and-more-coming-to-xbox-live/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MajorNelson+%28Major+Nelson+%28Xbox%29%29

http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/117/1172911p1.html?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4dedb7f26e230eee,0

I'd definately be interested in terminating my cable service and use Microsoft's if it's any good. Even more if it's reasonably priced. Hopefully, for those who have LIVE, it won't be too much more. It's only rumored though.....

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"Rumors abound that another tier of Xbox Live will add subscription TV service.

Winrumors is reporting that an anonymous source has brought them news of some big changes on the way to Xbox Live. Specifically, Microsoft's E3 press conference is said to have an announcement regarding the new Xbox Live Diamond service, which will add IPTV services to Xbox Live users"

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/06/04/report-xbox-live-diamond-on-the-way.aspx

There's no question that everything is moving in the way of touchscreen. Windows 8 is finally going to capitalize on it. Microsoft seems to really want to unify the OS on all devices. Something that Google hasn't done with Android and Apple has somewhat done with iOS. It appears to take a lot from Windows Phone 7.

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"The video does a good job of showing just how different the new system will be. Optimized for touch-screens, but still purported to be friendly to mouse and keyboard users, Windows 8 appears to abandon many of the legacy interface ideas that have been around for years."

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/06/04/see-windows-8-interface-in-action.aspx

Game Informer is allowing anyone to read the June issue in digital format for free until May 30th. It works pretty well with a little bit of lag. I hope they're going to make it available for download so it can be taken on the go without being reliant on an internet connection.

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For over a year now, Game Informer has offered a digital subscription to the magazine that was simple in design. With the most recent June issue we went back to the drawing board and started building digital issues from the ground up, with some added digital bonuses.

From exclusive content to interactive pages, the new Game Informer Digital magazine is all about an easy reading experience as it is created to be native to your computer screen and take advantage of all the things a computer-based digital edition can offer. Like any project however, we managed to make the product before we had all the bells and whistles in place. So if you are interested in getting a Game Informer Digital subscription you will need to visit your local Gamestop until we can make digital subscriptions available online.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/05/26/game-informer-digital-june-edition-goes-free-until-may-30th.aspx

Now that Twitter bought TweetDeck, it can hopefully release a respectable Twitter client. I don't understand how everyone else can develop some great Twitter clients, but Twitter. I've found that Twitter's own client on every platform is always one of the worst. Yikes.....

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Twitter has agreed to acquire TweetDeck, a Twitter desktop client preferred by many of the social-media service's most active users, for $40 million in cash and stock, according to a CNN report.

The deal has not been officially announced yet, but a purchase agreement was signed today, according to the report, which cited sources close to the deal.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20065533-93.html#ixzz1NHubHNSb

I've used Miro a long time ago for viewing free internet TV. It looks like their branching out. You can see the iTunes influence in the new application (a bit too much if you ask me). Evidently, it will sync media with your Android device. Which is one of the few things that Android hasn't accomplished on it's own yet. I used to own a Cliq XT from Motorola. Motorola had it own syncing software similar to this, but it could only be used with Motorola phones. Recently, Google unveiled it own cloud music storage solution which I imagine will sync with Android. It will be interesting to see which way consumers choose to go. Desktop apps or the cloud......

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"We set the bar very high. We want to be the open iTunes," said Nicholas Reville, co-founder and executive director of the Participatory Culture Foundation, which publishes Miro and the Miro Video Converter, a separate program that also comes baked into the standard Miro. "Millions and millions of people use iTunes and they do because they accept the restrictions, like with Internet Explorer. We see ourselves as the new Firefox." He also added that Miro has "around two million" monthly users.

Except for the lack of over-the-air synchronization, the new Miro is basically the old Miro plus DoubleTwist. If you haven't checked out Miro in a while, since Miro 3's redesigned interface the feature-heavy program has gotten much easier to use. It heavily resembles iTunes, with a left nav for navigating between your audio, video, connected devices, Amazon MP3 store, and Android marketplaces. The new right nav links to recently watched videos, recently songs played, and recent downloads, while the center of the program is where your media discovery and playback happen.

http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-20064507-12.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

I just got a Windows phone and I'm seriously looking forward to this. The release is scheduled for fall (pretty vague huh?) and is claiming to include hundreds of updates. Click the link for a full list of features to be included so far.

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Mango, which will be available this fall, includes hundreds of new features and improvements organized around three key themes: easier communications, smarter apps, and the Internet.

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2011/05/24/microsoft-officially-unveils-mango-hundreds-of-improvements-on-the-way.aspx

Twitter now makes it clear what information of yours that 3rd party apps are looking to access. Now there's more information for users to make a clearer decision as to which apps they want to use. Personally, I'm thrilled about it since it's never been clear before. Everyone should know exactly which information of theirs that they're giving up.

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Such third-party apps need your permission to access certain information about your account. But in an effort to be more sensitive to privacy concerns, Twitter is shining more light on exactly what these apps want from you.

Now when you first try to sign into a third-party app using your Twitter credentials, Twitter will display a detailed permissions screen that lists exactly what information the app is requesting.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20064308-93.html#ixzz1MophjiwK