Larry Larsen

Larry Larsen

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Skyfire Mobile Browser Open to Public

Posted By: Larry Larsen | Sep 24th @ 9:03 AM
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Skyfire has opened their beta to the public and released an update. This is the first mobile browser to support full web browsing, supporting AJAX, Flash, Windows Media and Silverlight. You can zoom in and out of webpages with a double tap or by using the 1 and 3 keys on your phone. Now you can watch Channel 10 videos right from your cellphone.

The 0.8 version has better video quality, you can download content (images, etc..), the zooming was improved, and the new version launches faster and auto-reconnects. Skyfire's 'Super Bar' combines URL and search into a single auto-completing text box, and you can send a web page by text message to anyone in your contacts.

The browser will give you a little alert when there is a mobile version of a site available, which is nice for faster loading, but really you don't need it as this browser is the current flagship when it comes to seeing a page on a cellphone as it was meant to be seen on a desktop.[Click to read the full post ]

PC Case Design for Minimalists

Posted By: Larry Larsen | Sep 22nd @ 12:26 PM
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Other than laptops, I've never had an off-the-shelf PC, so I always keep an eye out for a cool PC chasis. The most interesting one I've seen lately is Antec's Skeleton. The Skeleton (which Antec says is 'coming soon') is the first open air PC case (if you don't count every casemod that has been open air).

As much as I do light surgery on my PC's, I have to say I really like the open design. The inside of a computer can be kind of cool looking anyway, and this is a great way to show the components. Of course this type of case comes with a little higher demand on planning. You might want a black motherboard or power supply, you'll want to make sure you use smart cable management for the best look, and you may want to consider quiet components as there will be little between those and your ears. Antec also mentions this case comes with side rails for rack mounting.

The open air design should do wonders for cooling your rig (I've had a few PC's where I just left the lids off because of cooling) but you'll be giving up the ability to route air (i.e. air comes in over the hard drives and leaves over the video card.) Small sacrifice for such a cool new look.[Click to read the full post ]
Tag: DIY

How Avatars Work on Xbox 360

Posted By: Larry Larsen | Sep 19th @ 3:19 PM
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Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb posted a video showing how you'll be able to pick and customize your avatar in the new Xbox 360 Dashboard update. Keep in mind that this is an early build, so some things may change before you see it on your Xbox.  There are plenty of customizations, facial hair, hats, jewelry, shoes. You can make your avatar taller/shorter, skinny/fatter. I like what I've seen so far. What do you think?
Tags: Xbox, xbox 360

MixViews and Genius Lists

Posted By: Larry Larsen | Sep 17th @ 1:04 PM
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No doubt you've heard that both Apple and Zune have come out with some new players and new client software. Both include some interesting features to help you find new music that you'll probably like using various methods of smart logic and social networking.

How do they work? What makes them different? What are the strengths and weaknesses of either? We'll let Katherine Boehret on Uncle Walt's blog give you a third party independent look at the two and what each are capable of.
Tags: music, Zune

Use Your WinMo Phone as a Wifi Router

Posted By: Larry Larsen | Sep 15th @ 2:55 PM
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Solutions for getting your typical non-cellular wifi gadgets online while on the road are scarce and expensive. That's why I'm very happy to announce that version 1.2 of WMWifiRouter is available to the public. WMWifiRouter will turn your Windows Mobile phone into a secure wireless router. This Net umbrella will allow you to connect all your Internet-loving gadgets online from wherever you can get a cell signal.

Version 1.2 also gives users the ability to drop to a lower power solution without dropping the connection, allows multiple devices to connect/reconnect upon loss, and allows normal phone use while other devices are connected. It even allows you to auto shut down when you hit a specific battery level.

WMWifiRouter is $29.99 (check compatibility list here) and requires 15MB of space on your phone.

[Click to read the full post ]
Tag: windows mobile

Kinoma Play for Windows Mobile

Posted By: Larry Larsen | Aug 28th @ 9:35 AM
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Kinoma is an application geared toward an all-inclusive rich media experience on the Windows Mobile platform. What's that mean? Well for starters it means you can watch YouTube videos (the h.264 ones), browse pictures from Flickr, SmugMug, and MobileMe (what's that?) including interactive panoramas, and select from thousands of audio streams without a sync.

Here are a few features that stood out to me as setting Kinoma apart from other apps:

- Guide: Kinoma has an interesting "content discovery system" that lets you search for radio stations, podcasts, music, wecams, and YouTube videos without leaving the application.
- Slideshows: Besides having what looks like a very nice interface for photos on WinMo, Kinoma allows you to create slideshows of your favorite photos along with music (or a voice narrated MP3).
- Integrated Services: Kinoma has built-in support for a number of services, from Live365, SHOUTcast, Audible.com, and Orb. Orb is a server app that runs on your home computer allowing you to connect, browse, and stream your photos, music, and videos on your home computer (or Windows Home Server) right to your phone. And if the video you want to watch isn't the correct format for your phone, it will convert it on the fly for you.
- HQ Audio: Kinoma supports the FLAC audio format, an uncompressed music format for "perfect" audio reproduction. So no more converting your FLAC files to another format for your phone.

Kinoma has a free version called FreePlay, and the feature-complete version is $29.99. Be sure to check the supported devices page before buying.[Click to read the full post ]
Tag: windows mobile

Windows Home Server - First Look at New Reference Hardware

Posted By: Larry Larsen | Aug 27th @ 11:28 AM
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Charles Torre and I paid a visit to the Windows Home Server team to get the latest on what's up with the SDK they released, what it means to consumers, what Add-In's they're playing with now, and what we can expect from the team down the road. (Check out Charles' video on Channel 9 here)

While I was there, they pulled out some new hardware for Windows Home Server. The first (at 11:00 in) is the Epson Endeavor, based on an Atom CPU (low power, very quiet) using 2.5" laptop hard drives. Next is reference hardware from VIA (at 14:30 in the video) called the Artigo, based on a Pico-ITX motherboard. This one is extremely small sizing up smaller than a Western Digital My Book external hard drive. This one is without a doubt going to be my replacement Home Server.

Related links: WeGotServed (Home Server Add-In's), Windows Home Server Team Blog, Home Server Community Forums.[Click to read the full post ]
Tag: Windows Home Server

Diary of a Surface Dev Team

Posted By: Larry Larsen | Aug 25th @ 10:36 AM
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While many of us dream of having a single Surface Computer to play with, Vectorform has 8 of them to play with. Fortunately they're documenting much of it on their blog. Follow along with the unboxing, their first entertainment app, explanation of a "muster", and videos of them playing around with new ideas.

With 8 Surfaces and a team of over 20 people, we can't wait to see what they come up with next.

Recycle Your Old Gadgets & Get Paid

Posted By: Larry Larsen | Aug 25th @ 1:19 AM
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Let me guess, somewhere you have a box of gadgets you consider worthless enough to sit in a box but valuable enough that you can't bare to throw away. eBay is an option but really, do you want to go to the trouble of selling each thing individually and then sending out to different places?

One option is Gazelle.com. Gazelle will make you an offer on your gadgets, depending on condition and what packaging/accessories you have left, and then send you a box to put it all in. Wrap it up and collect your check. They promise to remove personal information from devices, but that's never a job you should put on someone else in my opinion.

They have options to contribute to charities or put a link on your blog, email sig, site, that allows you to get a kickback on the gear your friends recycle. I was surprised to see Gazelle's offer to be within 10-15% of eBay. They say they sell the electronics through "a variety of retail and wholesale outlets." If you know of a retail store that sells used satellite radios or GPS', let me know in the comments, I can't say I've seen that.

I will say I'm a little disappointed Gazelle doesn't just sell the gadgets they collect. Since they silo them into model they should even be able to offer a warranty for a replacement if you get a bad gadget. Either way, better someone benefit from the hardware while they can rather than it sit in a box.[Click to read the full post ]
Tags: Green, recycling

Get it now: Skyfire Mobile Browser + Silverlight

Posted By: Larry Larsen | Aug 20th @ 1:18 AM
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Skyfire delivers, just in time for the Olympics they let fly with Silverlight support on their Windows Mobile browser. If you haven't seen Skyfire, get up to date in this video from co-founder Nitin Bhandari at DEMO 08.

Skyfire gives Windows Mobile users a desktop experience with support for CSS, Ajax, QuickTime, Flash 9, and now Silverlight. The beta is for Windows Mobile 5 and 6 phones, and only for US phones right now.

And unfortunately Skyfire is a closed beta, but if you are one of the first 50 people to go to the sign-up page and enter the code "channel10" (no quotes) into the beta code field, you'll get to see what it's like. 

Let us know what you think.
Tags: silverlight, Skyfire, windows mobile
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