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Youtube Pulls the Plug on Set-top Streamers

Bart Salisbury — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:11:40 -0600

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye: to YouTube’s API access. From now on, it’s through the front door or you’re not getting inside.

The word comes from Syabas, the maker of the Popcorn Hour set-top box. They, along with pretty much every set-top box maker, used YouTube’s API access to video’s which provides a neater integration to video than the regular Flash-based web interface. Besides better video, advertisements were also avoided. Good deal all around.

But no more. Google has changed the agreement for using API access--which it has a right to do. Google has decided to cut off access, except perhaps to a few of the powerful set-top makers, like Sony or Nintendo. Could be Google has figured out a new way to generate revenue, which certainly wasn’t coming from those who skipped the ads.

Final farewells take place on December 2.

Image Credit: wu.peng/Flickr

OCZ Releases 1TB Colossus 3.5" SSD, Makes Your Puny SSD Cry

Paul Lilly — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:00:12 -0600

There's no way around it - if SSDs are to eventually replace mechanical hard drives, manufacturers have to find a way to increase capacity at a reasonable cost. So far, every SSD vendor has failed on both accounts, which is why we're excited to see OCZ release a 1TB SSD.

Also available in the more traditional 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB capacities, the new Colossus 3.5-inch SSD series brings no-holds barred performance to the scene, at least on paper. According to OCZ, each drive is capable of up to 260MB/s reads and writes, up to 220MB/s sustained writes, and up to 14,000 IOPS. That puts the Colossus right up there with the fastest spec'd drives on the market.

"The new Colossus Series is designed to boost desktop and workstation performance and is for high power users tht put a premium on speed, reliability, and maximum storage capacity," said Eugene Chang, VP of Product Management at OCZ. "The Colossus core-architecture is also available to enterprise clients with locked BOMs (build of materials) and customized firmware to match their unique applications."

A 1TB drive certainly makes headway on the capacity front, but the question is, how much will it cost? OCZ didn't say, though previous reports had the then-upcoming drive pegged at $2,500. Ouch.

Image Credit: OCZ

Freeware Files: Five Mozilla Jetpack Add-ons to Fuel Your Firefox

David Murphy — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:30:00 -0600

What, you ask, is Jetpack?

Right now, it's just an add-on for Mozilla Firefox. But it could also represent the future of browser-based extensions as we know it, depending on how much developers can twist and craft this new open framework to their advantage. Unlike normal Firefox add-ons, which require a decently skilled knowledge of Javascript and XUL, Jetpack add-ons use a combination of HTML, CSS, and Javascript to deliver new features and functionality directly through the browser. According to Mozilla, one could theoretically write an easy-to-use Jetpack add-on in "under a dozen lines of code." And the benefit for the casual Web browser? Jetpack add-ons promise universal compatibility with different versions of Firefox and, the kicker, require no browser restart to function.

Mozilla just launched the official gallery for this new framework last week. As you might expect, there aren't a ton of browser add-ons to play with. However, I'm going to take a look at five of the more innovative, interesting, and downright install-worthy of the Jetpack add-ons that are currently available in this week's freeware roundup. And remember--you can install and uninstall these add-ons without mucking up your browser session whatsoever, so feel free to be a Firefox Rocketeer and grab as many as you want to try out!

Thumbtabs

One of the fussier points of Firefox is that you can't natively get a thumbnail view of a site when you hover your mouse over its tab in your browser. Thumbtabs adds this functionality into your Web surfing experience by building a little, clickable arrow on the left-hand side of your tab toolbar. When you jam it with your mouse, a sidebar pops open to show you exactly what the pages represented by your various tabs look like. It's not quite as slick as, say, a mouseover window popping up, but Thumbtabs certainly gets the job done.

Download it here!

JetWave

If you're one of the many who use some variant of the Firefox Gmail Manager add-on to show you when you have new messages in your Inbox, you'll love JetWave. In short, it borrows the same functionality from Gmail Manager and pops a little Google Wave icon in the lower-right corner of your browser. When someone adds a message to one of your Google Waves, a little window pops up and lets you know. Clicking on the icon itself will take you right to the Google Wave home page, giving you a quick, easy way to add a reply. You can also access individual waves via a handy little sidebar on the left side of your screen.

Download it here!

Jetstatus

That didn't take long. Of course, Jetstatus is the Twitter tie-in of Jetpack add-ons. Just like JetWave, little pop-up windows appear in the lower-right hand corner of your browser whenever one of your Twitter followers posts a link. If you're popular like Associate Editor Nathan Edwards, then your browser should be a flurry of activity each time you open the window. Although you can't reply or otherwise engage your "Tweeps" via these Jetstatus pop-ups, you can at least use the add-on's built-in sidebar window to jump to the homepage of any of your followers, as well as any links they've posted in their Tweets.

Download it here!

ClicktoFlash

Are you ever bothered by Web sites that just bombard you with Flash content when all you really want to do is navigate a page? Yeah. ClicktoFlash is perhaps the world's easiest method for turning Flash on and off at your leisure. When you toggle the little button on the lower-right corner of your Firefox window to "off," or the big "F" with a circle and a line through it, then no Flash content will load on any page you surf to. If you change your mind and really want to see what a site looks like with the Flash content going crazy, then just click on the "Flash" button that now appears where Flash content used to be. Presto--up it loads!

Download it here!

Image Editor

This add-on is, in a word, crazy. All it really does is add a little menu option, "Edit Image," to the right-click context menu whenever you click an image on a Web page. From there, Image Editor loads said picture into a Lightbox of Pixlr. It's no Adobe Photoshop, but Pixlr is nevertheless a great way to accomplish a number of editing tasks--from drawing, to resizing, to screwing-up-with-lots-of-filters--straight out of your browser window. When you're done playing around, you can save the image directly out of Pixlr to your desktop just as if you were doing it in a standard, installed program. Awesome.

Download it here!

David Murphy (@ Acererak) is a technology journalist and former Maximum PC editor. He writes weekly columns about the wide world of open-source as well as weekly roundups of awesome, freebie software. Befriend him on Twitter, especially if you have an awesome app or game you're dying to recommend!

G.Skill Unveils Falcon II Series SSDs

Paul Lilly — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:13:31 -0600

After a flurry of activity earlier this year, which seemingly saw a new SSD being released every week, we're beginning to see the SSD market cool down a little. But rest assured, manufacturers are still devoting R&D to the flash-based storage segment, as evidenced by G.Skill's new Falcon II 2.5-inch SSDs.

G.Skill says the Falcon II series comes equipped with the new Indilinx ECO controller. Seeing the ECO tag, the first thing that came to mind was what effect will that have on performance, and G.Skill rates its new SSDs at up to 220MB/s reads and 150MB/s writes (110MB/s writes on the 64GB model).

The drives, which are available in 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB capacities, also boast 64MB of DRAM cache and advanced wear leveling algorithms. G.Skill says the Falcon II series also feature the latest Indilinx 1819 version firmware, which purports to offer improved support for the Windows 7 TRIM command, something Intel's 34nm SSDs have struggled with as of late.

No pricing information was available.

Image Credit: G.Skill

Intel Confirms Bricked SSD Bug, Starts Working on a Fix

Paul Lilly — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:15:04 -0600

Late last month, several owners of Intel's X25-M G2 solid state drives cried foul when a firmware update promising a 40 percent performance boost ended up bricking their drives instead. Oops! That marked the latest in a what's becoming a string of problems plaguing the 34nm SSDs, and once again, Intel says a fix is on the way.

"Intel has replicated the issue on 34nm SSDs -- X25-M -- and is working a fix," wrote Alan Frost of Intel's NAND Solutions Group. "Intel is pursuing the resolution of this as a high priority. Intel is seeking direct feedback on this issue from members of the [Intel Support Community]... asking them to send their drives directly to Intel to expedite the analysis of the issues. This action will enable us to more quickly generate a resolution for this issue."

Frost added that there have been no reports of related issues by users who were able to successfully upgrade to the 02ha firmware via the firmware upgrade tool, which would suggest the problem isn't the firmware itself, but a bug in the loader software.

Defense Department to Relax Ban on USB Thumb Drives

Paul Lilly — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:30:52 -0500

The U.S. Defense Department has decided to cautiously reinstate the use of USB thumb drives and other flash storage-based media. Flash storage -- and devices which use them, including memory sticks, digital cameras, media players, PDAs, and more -- were banned last November after thousands of military computers were infected by various malware, most of which was traced back to thumb drives.

That ban will soon be lifted, at least partially. Robert Carey, chief information officer of the U.S. Navy, said in a blog post that only "authorized individuals" are likely to be given permission to use thumb drives, and even then only for "mission-essential functions." And these won't be personal drives picked up off of Newegg or Best Buy.

"The days of using personally owned flash media or using flash media collected at conferences or trade shows are long gone," Carey said.

Instead, the drives will be "government-owned and procured," and will also contain built-in encryption chips that may require both a password and a fingerprint scan to decrypt the data, among other safeguards that are yet to be worked out.

Image Credit: IronKey

First New SSD Using JMicron Flash Chip to Debut Next Month

Paul Lilly — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:43:37 -0500

After a flurry of activity in the solid state drive market, it's been comparatively quiet the past few weeks, but we finally have some new developments to report. As you may recall, the controllers used in SSDs can have a significant impact on performance, and Micron thinks it has a winner on its hands with its just-developed JFM612 NAND flash controller chip.

Micron's first controller ran into some pesky performance problems, some of which they fixed with the JMF602B controller. But the initial hiccups left the door open for competitors to step in, like Indilinx did with its Barefoot controller. Like Barefoot, Micron's new chip is able to use 32nm flash chips, which helps lower the cost of SSDs.

After a few initial issues with the new controller, DailyTech reports that Micron has finally begun mass producing JFM612 chips. The first SSDs to utilize them will be Active Media with the launch of their Predator-X7 series. Along with Micron's new controller, the Predator-X7 will come with 128MB of DRAM cache to eliminate any chance of stuttering, and boast sequential read and write speeds of up to 230MB/s and 180MB/s, respectively.

Six months ago, the the Predator-X7 would have been a real barn burner, but it's tough to get too excited over 180MB/s writes anymore. However, more SSDs built around Micron's new controller are on the way, and you can probably expect these to give today's offerings a run for their money.

Image Credit: DailyTech

Corsair Releases "Practically Indestructible" 64GB Flash Drive

Paul Lilly — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:28:18 -0500

Corsair on Thursday announced its new 64GB Flash Survivor USB drive, which the company claims is the "most rugged high-capacity flash drive on the market." And by the looks of things, they're probably right.

Encased in CNC-milled, aircraft grade aluminum, Corsair says the new drive is pretty much indestructible. Each unit comes molded in a shock-dampening collar and EPDM seal, providing water-resistance up to a depth of 200 meters. Corsair notes that reviewers have dropped, baked, boiled, microwaved, and even run over the Survivor with an SUV in an attempt to show just how durable the drive really is.

"The new 64GB Flash Survivor takes the industry's most popular rugged USB drive and takes it to the next level, with a huge amount of storage space, plus best-in-class performance," said Jim Carlton, VP of Marketing for Corsair. "The 64GB Survivor is ideal for storing and transporting your music, videos, pictures, and other important files, safe in the knowledge that your data will be safeguarded inside the Survivor's protective shell."

The drive is available now with a street price around $170. To help justify the cost, Corsair says each drive comes bundled with a USB extension cable and dog tags, and comes backed by a 10-year warranty.

Image Credit: Corsair via Legit Reviews