Ubuntu 10.10 Has a Brand New Wallpaper

Canonical released last evening the final wallpaper for the upcoming Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) operating system.

A couple of weeks ago, we've announced that Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) has seventeen new beautiful wallpapers and a lightweight and eye-candy theme, that will please every existing and future Ubuntu 10.10 user.



Apparently the default wallpaper introduces on August 27th, was not good enough for the final release of Ubuntu 10.10, and for most of the Ubuntu users. Therefore, Canonical replaced that ugly wallpaper with the one below.

This is the final and default wallpaper for the Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) release!

MacX iPhone Video Converter Available for Free - License Code Giveaway

MacXDVD Software (of Digiarty Software, Inc.) has announced a giveaway promo for MacX iPhone Video Converter which aids users in Converting HD and SD video to iPhone, iPod, iPad with original quality. The tool is available for free download for both Mac and Windows users until September 30th.

All Mac users need to do to get a free copy of MacX iPhone Video Converter is to simply download the trial version using the link below, and then activate it with the following license code: AZ-TGUMTQYN-OFQPET.

Download MacX iPhone Video Converter (Trial)

For Windows users, just visit MacXDVD Software here, click the “Windows” button, and the full version will be automatically downloaded to their computers. A license code is not required.

This giveaway version of MacX iPhone Video Converter is not eligible for free upgrades, once a new release is out. Also, no technical support is offered.

On the good side, you get to keep this version and use it for as long as you want, for free.

Also noteworthy is that MacX iPhone Video Converter offers some pretty advanced conversion functionality, making this an offer you can’t miss out on.

MacX iPhone Video Converter accepts almost any popular video format as input, including high definition video formats like MKV, M2TS, AVCHD, MTS, TOD, HD H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, and HD MPEG, as well as standard definition video formats, including AVI, MPEG, WMV, DivX, MP4, MOV, RM, RMVB, ASF, 3GP, WebM, etc.

A lengthy list of features provided by the folks at MacXDVD Software is available below:

- Support Converting both High Definition and Standard Definition Video on Mac OS

- Convert Video to iPhone, iPod, iPad, MP4, MOV, FLV, H.264, MP3, etc.

- Multi-track video supported. It lets audience choose their preferred language when watch HD videos that contains multiple audio language track and video track.

- Trim video segment, clip the required segments from your video and remove the unwanted video advertisement.

- Take snapshot from video files to be saved as JPG, BMP format and extract audio tracks from multimedia files to set as the ringtone for your iPhone.

- A series of practical settings are provided to make personalized videos, such as video trimming, batch conversion, frame rate, video bitrate, audio bitrate, stretch to full screen, etc

- Simple graphical user interface makes it easy to use and it enables you to makes full use of dual and multi-core CPU to speed up the conversion, up to 8x real time

HDR Photos Already Available for Older iPhones, No Jailbreak Required

Speaking of adding HDR capabilities to old-generation iPhones, the folks at Pictional LLC have just issued version 2.0 of their TrueHDR application for iPhone owners which brings a - new rapid Autocapture mode.

“Have you taken pictures, only to find out that the clouds were washed out, making the sky look like a white haze? Or how about pictures where everything in the shadows looked like a dark blob with no details?”, says Pictional LLC.

“With TrueHDR, you can get the best of bright and dark areas and merge them into a single realistic-looking picture that is much closer to what your eyes originally saw,” the app’s iTunes description reads (iTunes link).

Notably, the software puts HDR photography into the hands of iPhone 3GS owners, and does not require a jailbreak.

A report published online by Softpedia minutes ago informs of a hack that will put HDR photos on legacy iPhones via a Cydia tweak set to become available when the iPhone Dev Team rolls out their iOS 4.1 jailbreak.

While TrueHDR does not support the iPhone 3G as well, it does bring the function to a large group of iPhone users whose devices don’t have native support for it, namely those wielding an iPhone 3GS.

“Take full-resolution HDR (high dynamic range) pictures with your iPhone 4 or 3GS!”, Pictional LLC states.

“A new Rapid Autocapture mode makes it easier than ever to take HDR pictures, and new SemiAuto mode offers greater control in choosing exposure points. Share using Facebook, Twitter, or email from within the app,” the company adds, delving into the new stuff delivered by TrueHDR 2.0.

The full changelog is then provided as follows:

What's New In Version 2.0

- New rapid Autocapture mode - fully automatic and fast (with support for front facing camera!)
- New SemiAuto mode - more control, drag the exposure points around to get them just how you want
- Full support for front facing camera in all three modes (Auto, SemiAuto, and Manual)
- Improved UI with easier access to Facebook, Twitter, email sharing

Download TrueHDR ($1.99)

According to the list of requirements, the app is not only compatible with iPhones, but also with the iPod touch - most likely, the fourth-generation model which boasts a camera.

The software also requires iOS 4.0 or later.

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Apple Peel 520 Officially Makes iPod touch a Phone, Requires Jailbreak

GoSolarUSA has announced that staggering sales figures for Apple’s iPod touch prompted the company’s option agreement with Chinese firm Yosion to start selling the Apple Peel 520, an device that traps on the portable media player and adds cell phone functionality.

The Apple Peel 520 is described as “a wireless device that when used with the iPod Touch functions as a protective skin that adds mobile voice and text messaging capabilities to the touch-screen media player.”

According to GoSolarUSA, “The startling new technology represents a more affordable alternative to purchasing Apple’s costlier iPhone.”

“When we researched the number of iPod Touch units sold, our eyes really popped,” GoSolarUSA President Tyson Rohde said.

“There is truly a huge market for Touch accessories, both in the U.S. and around the globe. With the Apple Peel 520, we believe we will have the most exciting and functional iPod Touch accessory produced to date,” Rohde added.

“The Apple Peel 520 is a very affordable piece of technology that greatly increases the functionality and value of the iPod Touch. We believe strongly that this is something all Touch users will want, and it will be priced for most budgets,” the GoSolarUSA President concluded.

The Apple Peel 520 was covered on Softpedia not once, but twice, one of the reports also containing a number of statements from the actual developer.

Early details about the product, including those on the software side, indicated that users would only be able to employ the Apple Peel 520 after performing a jailbreak.

GoSolarUSA avoids to make this obvious in today’s report, although it does note that “Once the proper software is installed, the Apple Peel adds the ability to make voice calls and text messages to all versions of the Touch.”

Without fail, by heading over to the gosolarusa.com web site, visitors are greeted by an advertisement for the Apple Peel 520 alongside a handy jailbreak guide, complete with iOS firmware downloads and jailbreak tools.

As previously noted by Softpedia, the "Apple" reference in the product's name may constitute an problem for the product's long-term existence.

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Facebook Scam Lures Users with Free Poker Chips 2010

Security researchers from GFI Sunbelt warn that scammers are tricking Facebook users into participating in surveys and sending spam by promising them 10 million free Texas Hold'em poker chips.

These are not real poker chips, but virtual currency for the popular Texas HoldEm Poker game on Facebook, which is developed and run by Zynga.

"Zynga just gave me 10 million poker chips for Texas Hold'em Poker, for FREE! Get yours now: [url] Limited time offer!," the Facebook spam
messages read.

As it turns out, the scammers don't only abuse Zynga's name and reputation, but also the company's logo, which is clearly visible on the external landing page the link points to.

Moreover, a large banner with graphics from the real game and the text "FREE 10M POKER CHIPS" is also displayed to make it appear as if this is a legit campaign.

As it usually the case with most of these scams, the users are asked to jump through a few hoops in order to allegedly receive the amazing bonus.

The first step involves Liking the rogue page, which will promote it to their walls. At the time of writing this article almost 13,000 users fell for the trick and did this.

The second step requires Sharing the page, while the third and most intrusive of all tells users to post the previously mentioned spam message in five different places on Facebook.

Ana even if a misguided user does all this, they will still not get the 10 million chips. Instead they will be asked to complete one of several surveys in order to "help keep this quality content available."

These surveys attempt to sign up users to useless premium rate services and the scammers earn money through affiliate marketing schemes for directing traffic to them.

According to GFI Sunbelt's Tom Kelchner some of the websites users are led to offer game downloads rigged with adware.

KDE SC 4.5.1 Is Now Available - Download Now

The KDE team has released the first update to the latest major release of the software compilation. KDE SC 4.5.1 is a minor update, focusing on bug fixing and more localization.

"KDE has released a series of updates to the Plasma Desktop and Netbook workspaces, the KDE Applications and the KDE Platform. This update is the first in a series of stabilization updates to 4.5.0, coming every month, as if delivered by a cronjob," the KDE team announced.

"4.5.1 brings bugfixes and translation updates on top of KDE SC 4.5.0. KDE SC 4.5.1 is a recommended update for everyone running KDE SC 4.5.0 or earlier versions," the announcement read.

"As the release only contains bugfixes and translation updates, it will be a safe and pleasant update for everyone. KDE SC 4 is already translated into more than 55 languages, with more to come," it added.

Highlights of KDE SC 4.5.1:

· Fixed some stability issues in several platform components, notably the new shared data cache, in KHTML and in KNewStuff;
· Moving applets inside Plasma panels has been improved;
· Listing of UPnP devices in the network:/ KIO slave has been fixed;
· Fixed a regression in KWin which prevented desktop effects from being used;
· Both the weather and the news applet are now updated when internet connectivity is restored.

KDE SC 4.5.1 is the first stability update to the latest big release. The KDE team plans to provide updates like this at regular intervals, once a month.

KDE SC 4.5.0 brought quite a bit of new features for the platform, the user interface but also for developers. You can read more about the release here.

KDE SC 4.5.1 is available for download here (source code)

DDR4 Will Have Clock Speeds of Up to 4.2 GHz

Currently, DDR3-SDRAM is the fastest type of memory on the market but it seems that JEDEC's efforts to increase performance while staying in the same electrical footprints may, in fact, yield a much more powerful memory than users might expect, even making speeds of over 2,500 MHz seem lackluster.

Apparently, the target effective clock speeds of DDR4 will have 2,133 MHz as the lower limit, which is already higher than most DDR3 products currently on sale.

It is the top-most limit that will truly turn heads, if what Bill Gervasi, vice president of engineering at US Modular and a member of the JEDEC board of directors, reportedly said is to be trusted.

Apparently, DDR4 will actually go as high as 4,266 MHz, and one can only imagine what type of overclocking fits and performance levels will be possible with such resources.

For those interested in a reminder, the target clocks of DDR2-SDRAM were 400 to 1,066 MHz, whereas those for DDR3-SDRAM are 1,066-2,133 MHz.

Some players on the memory front do, of course, already deal in memory of higher frequencies, but those products are both expensive and, sadly, impractical for common end-users.

DDR4, on the other hand, should be more than able to keep up with the advancements on the CPU front, especially considering the electrical footprints. To be more specific, DDR4 will have voltages of 1.1-1.2 V.

There is, unfortunately, an apparent drawback to the new memory, in the way that every memory channel in DDR4 memory sub-systems will support just one memory module.

It seems that developers decided to trade the current multi-drop bonus for point-to-point technology. This, however, will hamper system builders' ability to provide high-end systems with sufficient amounts of gigabytes.

Thus, DRAM makers will have to use multi-layer techniques to boost the capacities of the memory chips themselves. The other solution is for special switches to be installed on mainboards, to let multiple modules work on the same channel.

The first samples of DDR4-SDRAM will start to ship next year, but mass production will only start in 2015.

Likewise Presents VMware ESXi Active Directory Integration Technology

Likewise, a provider of software for integrating Unix, Linux, and Macintosh platforms with Windows environments, announced last evening at VMworld that will demonstrate how VMware vSphere 4.1 uses the Likewise Identity Service to integrate the ESXi or ESX hypervisors securely on networks that use Microsoft’s Active Directory technology.

Likewise combines both virtual and physical desktops & servers running Unix, Linux, and Macintosh to an organization's existing network using the Active Directory technology. The result is a single and secure framework for access control and authentication in mixed networks.

"It was about a year ago that VMware first selected Likewise to provide the directory integration technology for their next release of vSphere,” said Barry Crist, Likewise CEO.

"We’re demonstrating the benefits of vSphere with licensed Likewise technology, plus more to show how security can be incorporated in a virtualization initiative right from its inception."

Microsoft’s Active Directory technology offers a secure and enterprise-ready solution for centralized authentication, access control, and identity management. VMware ESX and ESXi administrators can join those systems to Active Directory using the Likewise technology. Therefore, users will only need their Active Directory password to log-in, and administrators can securely appoint management tasks to these users, based on their Active Directory authentication information.

About Likewise

Likewise provides authentication and integration tools for mixed networks to more than 70,000 organizations, enabling secure access of Unix, Linux, and Macintosh platforms on networks using the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Likewise offers identity management and integration solutions to enhance operational efficiencies and security, and to help perform regulatory compliance in mixed networks.

Likewise Open is a tool for integrating Unix, Linux and Mac machines into Microsoft Active Directory environments.

Likewise Enterprise offers all the core authentication technology available in Likewise Open, plus world-class migration, auditing, reporting and group policy modules.

GlobalFoundries Shows Picture of Llano and AMD Orochi 8-Core

GlobalFoundries just used its first Global Technology Conference as an opportunity to offer a sneak peak at one of the upcoming Fusion processors from Advanced Micro Devices, codenamed Orochi and based on the as yet unreleased Bulldozer architecture.

The Bulldozer and Bobcat are the new architectures that will spawn working processors either by late 2010 or in 2011.

The Bobcat's first incarnation will be the Ontario mobile chip, based on TSMC's 40nm manufacturing process and with DirectX 11 graphics.

The Bulldozer architecture, on the other hand, will be used in desktops and servers, the Orochi being one of the apparently more ambitious projects that the chip maker is working on.

No real information was provided on this 8-core product besides that it will be the second 32nm-based product and will be built immediately after the Llano.

The Orochi will feature a set of 4 Bulldozer modules, which provide 8 cores and 8 threads, and will probably have an AM3+ package with an integrated DDR3 memory controller.

The aforementioned Llano APU (accelerated processing unit) was also pictured during the conference and is known to lack L3 cache.

On the other hand, the individual L2 caches will be of 1MB and will support dual-channel DDR3 and will, of course, have its own built-in graphics with support for DirectX 11.

The APU should also feature an integrated northbridge, integrated PCI Express root complex, a HyperTransport interface to the chipset and an integrated SIMD array with 480 stream processors.

The Llano will have to compete with the Sandy Bridge processors from Intel, which also have integrated graphics and will feature better performance than the current Core series.

What AMD will have to deal with is the fact that its rival will ship Sandy Bridge before it gets the Llano out, and the company hopes the graphics performance of the APU will help make up for Intel's head start.

LG's IFA Exhibition Features a High-Quality 31-Inch OLED HDTV

Though OLED is more expensive to make than regular LCDs, it is still a very good display technology because it needs no backlights and has a very high color quality and brightness, and LG definitely appears to have put it to good use when it developed its 31-inch HDTV with a supposedly infinite contrast ratio.

The IFA 2010 show in Berlin, Germany, has entered its second day and IT players have already brought forth a significant number of new or upcoming products.

NVIDIA stole a bit of the spotlight when it released the DirectX 11 mobile GPUs, and PC suppliers also got attention by unveiling multiple new systems.

Now, LG has taken the microphone in order to boast of having created a 31-inch OLED display that has a thickness of just 2.9 millimeters.

Since OLED, through its nature, enables very thin form factors, LG needed to only come up with a suitable layout for the tuner connectivity and all other connectors.

Thus, it set them all in the box at the bottom of the product, leaving only the OLED panel itself to impress with its visual quality.

Not only does the HDTV support resolutions of Full HD 1,920 x 1,080 pixels, but it is reportedly one of, if not the most color-rich and bright of all OLEDs available.

What's more, its maker claims that the contrast ratio is infinite, which should give one an idea of how sharp and clear its images can be.

That said, in order to connect to multimedia players or set-top boxes, the OLED TV has a regular digital TV Tuner, an USB port and a pair of HDMI connectors.

According to Slashgear, LG has two versions of this product on show, the only difference between them being that their stand arrangement and controls are different.

As for availability, they are expected to start selling sometime during the first half of 2010, though their likely massive prices have not been disclosed as of yet.

First Alpha of uTorrent Server for Linux Released

BitTorrent Inc. proudly announced a few hours ago the immediate availability for download of the first alpha version of uTorrent Server for Linux and UNIX-like operating systems!

The uTorrent Server application provides a state-of-the-art implementation of the popular BitTorrent protocol and a full-featured WebUI (web-based user interface).

"This morning, we are announcing a preview release of the first of two new products for Linux users. µTorrent Server, an alpha version available immediately for download, is intended for users seeking a fast, powerful and lightweight BitTorrent client without the need of the full features and complexity of the native GUI."

"The server is a daemonizable 32-bit binary of the µTorrent core, built for x86 compatible Linux. It can be managed programmatically via an HTTP API or interactively by using the (included) customized version of the popular uTorrent Web user interface." - was stated in the announcement.

Highlights of uTorrent Server:

· DHT support (Distributed Hash Table)
· UPnP port mapping
· NAT-PMP port mapping
· Upload rate limiting
· Download rate limiting
· Queuing support
· Configurable limit on number of simultaneously uploading peers
· Incremental file allocation
· Block level piece picking
· Separate threads for download and file-check
· Single port and single thread for multiple torrent downloads
· BitTorrent extension protocol
· Multi-tracker extension support
· Fair trade extension
· Compact tracker extension
· Fast resume support
· Queuing of torrent file-check if fast resume not possible
· HTTP seed support
· Resumption of partial downloads from other BitTorrent clients
· File-sizes greater than 2GB
· Selective download of multi-file torrents
· IPv6 support
· High performance network stack
· uTP - Advanced UDP-based transport with dynamic congestion control

At the moment, this alpha version of uTorrent Server for Linux is available only as an archive, intended to be used for testing purposes only. Packages for various Linux distributions (i.e. Ubuntu, Fedora) will be available in the next releases!

"Today's version is only the first step, and we will continue to support the Linux user community with new versions in the near future. If you prefer to stick to more conventional user experience, rest assured we are working hard to build a full-featured client, coming soon."

"µTorrent Linux will offer the same clean and full featured UI that millions of users of of µTorrent on Windows have enjoyed. We are hoping to get this out to you for testing in a few months. Stay tuned!"

Download uTorrent Server 3.0 Alpha for Linux right now here.

New - Google Posts Simplified Privacy Policies

Google has announced that it has updated its privacy policy and that the new version will come in effect starting October 3rd. The actual policies haven't changed, but the text has been simplified and some bits added to make the whole thing easier to read and understand by the regular user.

"Long, complicated and lawyerly—that's what most people think about privacy policies, and for good reason. Even taking into account that they’re legal documents, most privacy policies are still too hard to understand," Mike Yang, Associate General Counsel at Google, wrote.

"So we’re simplifying and updating Google’s privacy policies. To be clear, we aren’t changing any of our privacy practices; we want to make our policies more transparent and understandable," he explained.

One of the biggest changes taken towards simplifying the policies is getting rid of some of them. Most of Google's products are governed by the global Google Privacy Policy, but many have additional policies of their own.

Google is now getting rid of those for 12 products. This should make it easier to know which policy applies. Google notes that since may services share information and work together, they should have the same policies.

The second big change is to the main policy which is getting a rewrite. Some of the legal jargon is gone and some redundant parts have been removed. New content has bees added as well, where further details were needed, but, overall, the new text is smaller and easier to understand.

The new privacy policy is now available for review and will be implemented starting October 3rd. Google is providing a FAQ for the changes which should cover any uncertainties.

Google is also posting the full text of the new policy for users to get familiar with. Finally, there is also a version which shows exactly what has been removed and what has been added.

NVIDIA Releases 7 DirectX 11 Fermi Mobile GPUs

Coming to assist the GeForce GTX 480M in covering the laptop graphics market, seven new mobile graphics products have now been unveiled by NVIDIA, each boasting full support for DirectX 11 and aimed at the enthusiast and performance markets.

Though Advanced Micro Devices has been selling DirectX 11 mobile graphics cards for months, NVIDIA has had only the GeForce GTX 480M to address this market.

Eager to remedy this, the Santa Clara, California-based outfit took advantage of IFA 2010, Berlin, to trumpet the arrival of a whole collection of Fermi GPUs.

The list includes two GTX Series models, namely GTX 470M and GTX 460M, as well as five GT Series, specifically GT 445M, GT 435M, GT 425M, GT 420M and GT 415M.

The cards naturally support their maker's proprietary technologies, such as CUDA, PhysX and 3D Vision.

What's more, the 400M GPUs support the Optimus technology, which dynamically switches between the integrated and discrete graphics based on application requirements.

"The GeForce 400M Series takes the award-winning Fermi architecture across a complete line-up of DirectX 11 GPUs for notebook," said Rene Haas, general manager of notebook GPUs at NVIDIA.

"Coupled with Optimus technology, 400M Series notebook GPUs deliver great performance for visual computing applications when you need it, and great battery life when you don't," Haas added.

The newcomers have up to 288 processing cores, GPU clocks of up to 675 MHz, up to 1GB of GDDR3/GDDR5 and a memory width of up to 192 bits.

They should soon start to show up inside notebooks aimed at the enthusiast and performance markets, a fact confirmed by the fact that multiple laptop makers have already announced support for them.

The list of PC suppliers that intend to release Fermi-based mobile computers includes ASUS, Acer, Dell, Samsung, Lenovo and Toshiba, to name a few. Those interested in the specifications of each newcomer need only visit this page( http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_family.html ).