Internal development of Google’s Chrome OS is expected to finalize late this year, with products launching in early 2011. Chrome OS is a cloud-oriented operating system targeted at heavy internet users. Over the last few years, Google has been launching many different online applications, such as Google Docs, Voice, and (of course) acquiring YouTube. The final intent for these projects is to provide the consumer with desktop-comparable applications that will run with ease on cheap netbook computers. Recently, YouTube has entered an HTML5 beta to test how well videos can be streamed without use of bulky and resource hungry applications such as Adobe Flash. With Chrome browser being HTML5 compatible, it makes a perfect match for netbooks.
Schmidt is expects netbooks running Google’s Chrome OS to sell for around $300 to $400—which isn’t surprising considering most netbooks are priced in that range. Google will be offering Chrome OS free of charge, so the price of a Chrome OS powered netbook is mostly the cost of production. What advantages will Chrome OS have against Windows? It’s hard to say specifically—there has been plenty of speculation, but we won’t know until the final product launches.
"It will be up to the manufacturers who do it, but the price points you should think about are the current netbook pricings which are 300 dollar, 400 dollar price points.”I’m sure that we will be able to see great integration amongst Google products. Such as the Android mobile OS, Google online services, and anything else Google may possibly launch.
UltraVPN is a client/server SSL VPN solution based on OpenVPN. It encrypts and anonymizes your network connection.
UltraVPN is a simple user interface to connect or disconnect to our VPN servers.
To use UltraVPN, you need to right click on a traybar icon (on the bottom right of your screen) that looks like a computer with a red screen. After right clicking on it, choose "connect".
What can you do with UltraVPN?
UltraVPN 1.0
Windows only: If you use Windows Media Center to manage your movies, TV shows, and music, then you need to grab Media Browser, an open-source plug-in that displays your downloaded media and all its associated metadata and artwork in one slick layout.
After installing the free, open-source Media Browser plug-in, it only takes a few minutes to zip through the one-time setup wizard and choose which media you'd like the tool to aggregate for you. Then fire up Windows Media Center, and the Media Browser option will be listed among the Center's native Movie, TV, and Music choices.
Media Browser only works on Windows Vista and Windows 7. What kinds of plug-ins improve your Windows Media Center experience? Kick around your ideas in the comments.
Media Browser
If you're big on BitTorrent, chances are you've heard of the popular BitTorrent clients uTorrent and Vuze (previously Azureus). According to a study highlighted by all-things-BitTorrent blog TorrentFreak, uTorrent download speeds outpace Vuze speeds by up to 30% on some ISPs.
The research revealed a remarkable speed difference with uTorrent users getting 16% higher download speeds than Vuze users. On average uTorrent users reached a 176 Kbps download speed while Vuze users were stuck at 151 Kbps on the same torrents and with the same ISPs.
The reason for the speed disparity: Researchers believe that variations in the way the applications distribute peers, how they handle connections, and how they discover new peers influences the speed. If you aren't already using uTorrent—our readers' favorite BitTorrent client—these results seem to provide compelling reasons to switch. Hit up the full post over at TorrentFreak for more details.
Windows: If you're a devotee of Firefox's add-ons and features but would like just a tad more operation speed, Pale Moon might be perfect, at least for a trial run. The custom and extension-compatible Firefox build seems just a bit snappier.
It's a relative measurement, of course, to note that Pale Moon, built and compiled specifically for Windows operation, tests out 25 percent ahead of Firefox in certain SunSpider rendering and scripting tests. As we've noted in our browser speed tests, browser testing suites can be subjective, and don't always translate to real-world experience. Then again, using Pale Moon for the better part of a morning, I could guess at feeling pages like Gawker.com and Slashdot loading a tad faster than in Firefox, which I kept open for side-by-side testing. Pale Moon should work with most of your extensions, too, and if you install it in a non-portable fashion, it picks up your existing Firefox profile and runs with it.
Pale Moon is a free download for Windows systems only. Tell us how it performs for you in the comments.
(CBS) I didn't get into F.E.A.R. until the sequel, F.E.A.R. 2 (F2), two years back; and aside from being occasionally creped out at times, I enjoyed my experience. Admittedly my initial reactions to the first "Alma" sighting was much like a grade school student seeing their parent naked for the first time unintentionally. Though a bit squeamish at the outset I played through F2 with renewed zeal to conquer my fear of the dark.
In some instances of the game I was reminded of specific scenes from the movie "The Ring". Alma, the ultimate antagonist in this franchise, struck a very striking resemblance to Samara, the little girl who's voice you would he auspiciously hear after watching a tape and would presumably kill you in 7 days time.
F.E.A.R. 2 had a very interesting ending where we know Alma lives since the last image Becket, the protagonist, has is her being pregnant. Those of you have played the game to the end know the scene being referenced so we won’t discuss who the - ahem - father is. That said it was only logical that there be a third iteration. But like many other games that follow this path, will F.E.A.R. 3 pale in comparison to its predecessors?
Based on the press release that Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) sent out today, that might not be the case. The next version of the game will introduce a cooperative (co-op) mode. This could add some interesting play elements but only time will tell. Check out the following press release
As reported before, Adobe’s fifth iteration of their professional (and outrageously priced) Creative Suite product would be released today. And so it has.
The new suite focuses “on interactivity, performance and maximizing the impact of digital content and marketing campaigns”. Plus, there’s the new Adobe Flash Catalyst 11 program added to the suite. The update also includes the new Flash Player 10.1 and Adobe AIR 2 components.
CS5 comes in five flavors: Master Collection, Design Premium, Design Standard, Web Premium, and Production Premium. These flavors will cost you $2599, $1899, $1299, $1799, and $1699, respectively.
You can learn more by reading the full press release here.
