Posted 09/25/09 at 09:33:52 AM by Pulkit Chandna

Google on Thursday announced the release of a new API for its Sites tool, an online drag-and-drop solution for building internal websites. The new application programming interface (API) enhances the overall ease of moving data to and from Google Sites.

The API follows days after Google announced a romantically named initiative, called Data Liberation Front, aimed at offering greater data portability to those that use its services (Che Guevara could not head the initiative due to his premature demise). With the new Sites API, businesses can update Google Sites from third-party applications, easily move data to and from Sites, and edit their Sites pages offline.

If your business does not possess the right men to build apps based on the API, or if they are too indolent to engage in anything other than social networking, you can always use apps built by other companies.

Read More

Posted 09/14/09 at 04:45:14 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Samsung today launched a mobile apps store in the UK. The prosaically named Samsung Application Store currently only features around 300 applications for the company’s Omnia and Omnia HD phones, however, the company expects that count to rise to around 2,000 by the end of this year. The apps store will soon feature apps for other Omina phones, namely the Omnia II, OmniaLITE and Omnia Pro. To access the apps store, users will have to download a software update. Though paid apps can only be bought using a credit card at this time, Samsung plans to also support carrier billing in the future.

Read More

Posted 09/02/09 at 03:40:07 PM by Paul Lilly

T-Mobile G1 owners and anyone else who frequently accesses the Android Market will soon see changes made to the user interface, and if early leaked pictures turn out to be legit, the semi-face lift appears to be for the better, though not extensive.

According to the photos, which a tipster sent in to Cnet, the redesigned Market will sport buttons to sort by Top Paid, Top Free, and Just In. A search button sits in the upper right corner, and that's really all that's evident from the sneak peek. But that's enough to make navigation easier than it currently is.

As work is still being done, more features and GUI changes might still be added. Look for the update sometime before the end of the year.

Read More

Posted 08/25/09 at 03:00:34 PM by David Murphy

Having just gotten off a plane, I'm now facing the difficulties that a West-to-East coast trip does to one's sleeping schedule. Thus, this week's freeware roundup has as much of a concrete theme as I have a coherent thought at the moment. But that's ok. Examples of killer freeware or open-source software don't always fall within a single bucket.

So what's on deck for right now? I won't give away too many details. Suffice, if you've ever lost data as a result of a scratched or scuffed CD, you'll want to click on the jump below. While the page loads, go dig though the trash to recover the media that you just tossed--it's not dead. It might be on life support, and you might stand a very good chance of losing parts of your data, but you might also be able to save a portion of the files located on said disc.

That's a great bit of lifesaving... and it's just one of the programs in this week's roundup. Even niftier applications lurk behind the cut below. Get your downloading finger ready.

Read More

Posted 06/15/09 at 03:00:00 PM by David Murphy

There was a ton of great feedback to my column last week, where I dreamed up (blabbed out loud) the idea of a Windows-based application store for open-source downloads.  For the Linux layman, this would be something like a wicked hybrid of iTunes and apt-get.  A package manager featuring pretty icons, one-click downloads, descriptions, and community interaction that could help bring the open source world just one step closer to the hearts and minds of average computer users.

As it turns out, a number of package managers already exist for the Windows operating system.  In theory, they provide you the convenience of being able to hunt down a number of open-source projects, categorized by operation, which you can install without having to pore over the Web for the right file.  Beyond that, they also give you a way to learn about newer open source projects that you might not have heard about or seen by your casual browsing on SourceForge. But are these applications as glorious as my dream from last week?  Are these applications even worth your time at all?

Unlike typical open-source roundups, where I recommend five awesome programs that you. must. have. I'm actually going to give you the pros and cons of a series of five different package managers so you can decide for yourself as to which one would best fit your PC habits. So without further ado, I present: Windows Package Managers.

Click the link to get started -- I hope you've cleared off some space on your hard drive!

Read More

Posted 06/02/09 at 09:23:54 AM by Paul Lilly

iPhone users beware. According to TheiPhoneBlog.com, some users running the 3.0 Beta firmware are finding out they're unable to redownload already purchased apps without paying for them all over again.

"You've already purchased this. You can redownload it for free on your computer, or tap Buy to buy it again," a message reads when attempting to redownload.

Coming to the iPhone (and available in the 3.0 Beta firmware) is the ability to manage and switch between iTunes accounts. Charging for redownloads might be the company's way of ensuring purchased content doesn't get shared between accounts. For example, logging into your account on a co-workers iPhone and 'redownloading' an app that was never purchased for it.

We'd like to know how you feel about this potential new policy. Hit the jump and sound off!

Read More

Posted 05/26/09 at 03:37:24 PM by Paul Lilly

Some 50 million Nokia owners have reason to rejoice, as the company has now gone live with its Ovi app store, however U.S. residents will have to wait a little longer. So far, Australia, Singapore, Spain, Italy, Germany, Russia, Ireland, the UK are the first countries to gain access, with U.S. availability expected later this year.

Nokia's Ovi Store puts the company in position to compete with Apple's App Store, BackBerry App World, Windows Mobile Marketplace, and the Android Marketplace, plus any others we may have missed. At launch, the Ovi Store boasts some 20,000 items, representing a mix of both free and paid apps, podcasts, wallpapers, and ringtones.

The company's upcoming Nokia N97 is expected to work with the Ovi Store, and AT&T has promised to make the Ovi Store available to its customers later this year.

Read More

Posted 05/26/09 at 12:30:00 PM by David Murphy

So here's the deal. You have a ton of extra storage sitting around your house/apartment/basement. That's great. So what's the problem? It's just sitting there, doing you absolutely no good. You've maxed out the SATA ports on your desktop rig, but would love for a way to make use of your hard drives in some manner that's geekier than a doorstop, a height extension for your coffee table, or a crude weapon.

Have you thought about building your own server?

Woah, woah. Don't skip over this article just yet. It sounds complicated, but crafting up your own personal server for your files (and multimedia) isn't that complicated. In fact, for some of the free solutions I'm about to show you, all you need is a working PC that accepts USB keys. That's it. Plug it in, fire up the software, and you'll have a brand-new storage array that's ready to receive your file backups and music files in equal measure. And why is that important? Because you're probably not running a RAID array on your main PC--if your primary drive goes, that's it. Game over. End of story. And if you're the most backup-conscious person around, wouldn't it be nice to have a low-powered PC that serves up multimedia for any networked computer in your abode? I thought so.

All this and more awaits you in the land of home servers!

Read More