Google defends its dropping of H.264, announces WebM plug-ins for IE and Safari

After Google's announcement last week that it would be dropping H.264 HTML5 video support, the tech world exploded. As the dust settled -- as the fragments of brainless bile drifted slowly back to the tech blog morass -- it became clear that there were two evenly-split sides. Half of the tech world, spearheaded by TechCrunch's slavering Siegler, felt that Google had figuratively defecated on its own so-called open "standards". The other half, led by a vanguard of slightly more intelligent and beardy bloggers, fully supported Google's decision.

Anyway, that aside, if you were worried about not being able to watch YouTube in your IE or Safari browsers, don't worry: Google will release WebM plug-ins for browsers that don't natively support it. The same blog post goes into more detail about why Google decided to drop H.264 support, and how this isn't a power-grabbing move by the big G.

The truth is Google is only ever going to look out for Google; it's utter lunacy that Google would ever do something that scuppered its own chances of survival. Google needs an open Web to thrive, and that's exactly what WebM provides over H.264. Imagine standing in Google's shoes for a moment: you run YouTube, the third biggest site on the Internet. One day, out of the blue, the H.264 consortium decides to increase its licensing fees, instantly making the operation of YouTube untenable. What do you do now? Switching to an open and free codec simply makes sense.

Google's entire lifeblood is indexing content created by you and me -- and while open standards empower the end-user to produce almost limitless amounts of delicious content, closed, proprietary standards put power in the hands of publishers. Don't ever forget that the democratization of information brought to us by the Web has only been possible due to the open standards like TCP/IP and HTML.

At the end of the day, you have to choose whether you want Google to index your entire life story, or whether you want to be spoon fed vertically-integrated media from just a handful of multinational mega publishers. On the one hand, you retain a few important freedoms -- like the ability to speak your mind on an open forum -- and on the other, corporations decide everything for you. It's not a tough choice.

Google defends its dropping of H.264, announces WebM plug-ins for IE and Safari originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 17 Jan 2011 06:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/01/17/google-defends-its-dropping-of-h-264-announces-webm-plug-ins-for-ie-safari/

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Next PS3 update rumored to add 'Online Saving' for PlayStation Plus users

Say it with us, finally a PS3 firmware update that actually does something useful! We've grown so accustomed to Sony refreshing the software on its console just to spite jailbreakers that we almost started to believe that's all the word "update" entailed. But, here comes Kotaku with word that v3.6 of the PS3's firmware will come with a neat little addition: saving games to the cloud. This seems a very logical step toward delivering Sony's overall goal of giving users a holistic, integrated experience. Indeed, during the NGP presentation, guest speaker Hideo Kojima specifically referred to saving your PS3 game on the console and resuming it on the Next Generation Portable. "Online Saving," as Sony's reputed to be calling it, would be the conduit through which that can be realized, though it doesn't appear like it'll come for free. Kotaku's sources indicate it'll be part of the PlayStation Plus subscription, at least initially. Still, we like cloud storage, and if it means never having to see another hard drive again, we're all for it.

Next PS3 update rumored to add 'Online Saving' for PlayStation Plus users originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 13:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/29/next-ps3-update-rumored-to-add-online-saving-for-playstation-p/

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Google adds 35 more Web fonts to Blogger

Web fonts have been available to Blogger users since late last year, when Google introduced 32 ready-to-use typefaces to spice up your blog's design. Now, Google has more than doubled that number -- bringing the total to a whopping 77 fonts, all of which render nicely in just about any Web browser. No, they don't work in IE6.

You'll find the new fonts in the Blogger Template Designer behind the advanced tab. Choose a font, and Blogger will give you a preview to help you decide whether or not you want to make the switch. The full list of available fonts is posted here, and you can also browse them in the Google Font Directory.

Google adds 35 more Web fonts to Blogger originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 21 Jan 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/01/21/google-adds-35-more-web-fonts-to-blogger/

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Protect your iPhone and iPad from crazy button pressing infants

I don’t have kids, but apparently toddlers absolutely love to play with iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices. And the one thing that they love to do is press the Home button. Unfortunately, doing so will pop them right out of the application and back to the icon view. In order to avoid frustrated babies, [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/01/30/protect-your-iphone-and-ipad-from-crazy-button-pressing-infants/

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No hay más Led Zeppelin

A pesar de lo dicho ayer, Peter Mensch, manager del guitarrista Jimmy Page, se retractó totalmente en eso que la banda buscaría un reemplazo al ultragenial Robert Plant para seguir rockeando y toureándola por el mundo tras su show de 2007 en el O2 Arena de Londres por el poder de la música más sexual de la historia. No habrá más Led Zeppelin, no hay planes de que lo haya.

Mensch comentó: "Led Zeppelin se acabó. Si no los vieron en el 2007, se los perdieron. Probaron reemplazantes a Robert Plant, pero nada funcionó. Se acabó. No hay planes para continuar. Francamente, ojalá todos dejaran de hablar al respecto."

Los fans no están nada contentos, especialmente los británicos, considerando los precios delirantes de las entradas del show reunión.

¿Y a ti? ¿Qué te parece todo esto?

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1602369/.jhtml

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Microsoft testing new "Be what's next" Metro- and IE9-inspired homepage

Microsoft new home page
It's been a long time coming, but Microsoft is finally testing a new Be what's next homepage. To enable the new look, you need to visit http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/preview/default.aspx.

The layout is strongly reminiscent of Windows Phone 7's Metro UI, with not a single rounded corner to be found. There are also some design elements from Internet Explorer 9, such as the 'cut off' back and forward buttons -- and indeed, a link to the IE9 beta is front and center on the new layout. Most notably, however, the homepage features two completely different panels for both Work and Home solutions. If you click the Work tab on the right, the entire page slides over, with bars and text that reform in what can only be described as elastic beauty.

So far it seems to only be the homepage that has received the Metro treatment, but presumably, if this new layout is well received, the rest of Microsoft's Web properties will receive a similar overhaul.

Microsoft testing new "Be what's next" Metro- and IE9-inspired homepage originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 05:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/01/19/microsoft-testing-new-be-whats-next-metro-and-ie9-inspired-h/

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What's the Difference Between the Human Eye and a Camera? [Cameras]

Pixiq has a great write up on the similarities and differences between the human eye and a camera. Apparently, we're the same in image focusing and light adjustment but different in lens focus and sensitivity to light. What else? More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/FrFgXUMThpM/whats-the-difference-between-the-human-eye-and-a-camera

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Facebook Once Again Hangs Up on Phone Rumors

Facebook is not -- repeat NOT -- developing a mobile phone, a company representative told TechNewsWorld Wednesday, trying to waylay the latest rumor that the social media giant might be looking to add a new identity -- "Phonebook," perhaps? -- to its mega-popular worldwide brand. The latest gossip -- that HTC will launch two such phones at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona -- was reported by City A.M. Wednesday.

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/71733.html

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Run Android 2.3 Gingerbread on your x86 computer

Sure, Android is designed to run on ARM devices, but that doesn't mean it can't run on an x86 system. Older versions of Android were ported, so it's no surprise to see that an enterprising developer has managed to put together a working version of Gingerbread which you can install on your desktop or laptop.

You'll need a 64-bit build environment and the Java 1.6 to get the ball rolling, and you shouldn't expect all your hardware to work. At the moment, only wireless and audio are working -- but that's certainly enough to let you play around with Gingerbread and enjoy the experience a little. Head on over to developer cwhuang's site [machine translated] for more details, as well as the Git repo link you'll need to pull down his Gingerbread x86 code.

Run Android 2.3 Gingerbread on your x86 computer originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/01/27/run-android-2-3-gingerbread-on-your-x86-computer/

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BBM 6 to add social gaming, SDK access coming

BlackBerry Messenger is one of the cornerstones of RIM's mobile platform, and it may be getting a major overhaul in version 6. According to leaked information, BBM6 will feature social gaming integration -- including achievements and in-game chat. It sounds a bit like Xbox LIVE-meets-Blackberry, with your BBM name appearing as your 'GamerTag'. A BBM SDK is apparently also in the works. While we hope that might enable someone to finally build BBM capabilities into a desktop app, we're not going to hold our breath.

BBM 6 will likely only be available to devices running OS 5 or newer, at least in the beginning -- we'll have to wait and see if RIM releases a version for older BlackBerry models.

BBM 6 to add social gaming, SDK access coming originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/01/27/bbm-6-to-add-social-gaming-sdk-access-coming/

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