Apple releases Safari Extensions Gallery

Apple on Wednesday updated its Safari Web browser, turning on extensions and introducing the Safari Extensions Gallery.

Safari 5 was introduced in June, but the extension functionality was designed for developers, not the general public. This gave developers a chance to create extensions for the browser before Apple officially launched the feature.

Extensions are created using HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS3, a few of Apple's favorite technologies for building Web apps.

The Safari Extensions Gallery in Safari 5.0.1 is a repository in which users can quickly find and add extensions to the Safari browser. According to Apple, users can "add powerful new features to Safari, from toolbars that display live web feeds to sophisticated programs that filter web content."

Apple says that every Safari Extensions are sandboxed, which means they can't access information on a user's system or communicate with other unintended Web sites.

The Safari Extensions Gallery has extensions from Amazon, Bing, MLB.com, The New York Times, and Twitter, among others.

Safari 5.0.1 is available as a free download from Apple's Web site.

Originally posted at News - Apple

28 Jul 2010, 8:19 am | click here to view more

Google's licensing changes could put a lid on Android app piracy

(Credit: CNET)

While it's easy slinging arrows at Apple for its closed and tightly-controlled iPhone App Store, there's something to be said for its security.

Google's Android operating system has long faced more complicated concerns with its much freer application approval process, it's openness to side-loaded apps (installing apps via APK files that you receive through some source other than the Android Market,) plus having users root the platform to take control over certain internal system processes.

The "unauthorized" use of apps was a concern that application developers repeatedly brought to Google's attention, the company said in a blog post. Copying the app to the SD card and then demanding a refund is only one method of abuse, though developers have likely seen them every.

In this mobile climate, the platform with the most or most popular apps can highly influence user perceptions, if not outright sway a person's decision about which smartphone to buy. It's therefore in the best interests of both Google and the developers to provide a more surefire method for protecting paid Market content, to ensure that developers receive paid and want to continue supporting Android.

Enter Google's new licensing service, which Google hopes to phase in as a replacement for the current copy-protection scheme "over the next few months." The new mechanism runs in real-time, with a server receiving requests to verify that an app was legitimately purchased through the Android Market. (Developers can check out more of the technical specifics here.)

There are still out-standing questions that will either be addressed by Google, or by consumers' usage over time, like how the the verification process might hinder user flow (Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage comes to mind).

Joining the new copy-protection program is free for developers of paid applications running on Android 1.5 and up, though developers will have to use a tad more elbow grease in preparing their code. In addition, the new license server, which is operational now, won't be able to retroactively verify the premium apps already in the Android Market. It will, however, be able to weigh in on participating developers' apps going forward.

[Via MobileCrunch and Engadget]

Originally posted at Android Atlas

28 Jul 2010, 3:31 pm | click here to view more

Are family tracking apps a good idea?

Family Tracker lets you keep tabs on iPhone-packing family members--or just your possess iPhone.

(Credit: LogSat Software LLC)

Like iHound before it, Family Tracker was a fairly useless iPhone app until iOS 4 and multitasking came along. Now the app offers a fairly effective way for you to keep tabs on iPhone-carrying family members.

The question is, should you?

Family Tracker works much like the locator services carriers such as AT&T and Verizon have offered for years. In a nutshell, the app transmits GPS location data from the iPhone. Anyone you authorize can monitor the phone's location via a Web browser or another iPhone.

Shades of Big Brother, right? Yes and no. I can recall numerous times when my wife and kids were tardy coming home--and she wasn't answering her phone, usually because she couldn't hear it ringing. This resulted in a lot of extra worrying on my part.

If she'd had Family Tracker, I could have fired up my Web browser and seen that they were on their way home, not overturned in a ditch.

And what parent wouldn't relax easier knowing a bit more about the whereabouts of their kids? Especially kids who have to receive themselves home from school, who borrow the car, who are out tardy with friends, and so on.

But do apps like this represent an invasion of privacy? A few months back, I was running every over town to plan a surprise party for the missus. What if she'd been monitoring my location? At the very least she'd have been suspicious, and at worst it would have blown the surprise. Let's face it: sometimes you want to keep a low profile, even when family is involved.

This gray area is definitely open for debate, but one thing is certain: Family Tracker is an awesome deal. You pay only a one-time fee of $3.99 for the app.

Verizon's Family Locator service, in comparison, costs $9.99 per month, while AT&T's similar FamilyMap adds a whopping $14.99 to your monthly tab. (To be fair, both carriers' services offer a few features not found in Family Tracker, such as automated arrival and departure notifications from the "trackee.")

Another perk: Family Tracker pulls double duty as a lost-iPhone locator. That's because it works much like the aforementioned iHound, pinpointing your phone's location on a map. However, there are some battery-life concerns, so be sure to read the product description and user comments before buying in.

And let's hear your thoughts on the whole concept of apps like this. Are they a good idea? An invasion of privacy? A little of both?

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

28 Jul 2010, 2:46 pm | click here to view more

Copernic updates Desktop Search Pro

(Click the image to zoom)

If Google Desktop isn't doing the trick for you, check out Copernic's Desktop Search Professional. The company just released an update to the program, which is aimed at tiny business and worker bees with an organizational bent. The latest version fixes a handful of bugs and adds high capacity indexing functionality. Other noteworthy features include the ability to search any file on your difficult steer or network steer as well as keep your most frequent searches. You can also export your list of results in an HTML file; select specific files and e-mail folders to index; control computer resources usage when indexing documents; and receive desktop and Web results with a single search. In addition, the download comes with handy search toolbars for both your desktop and browser.

Copernic Desktop Search Professional will set you back $49.95, but you can test it out for 30 days before committing to the purchase. Anyone who doesn't need every the features offered by the Professional version of of the software can still download Copernic Desktop Search Home for free. However, the publisher did not update this particular program today.

28 Jul 2010, 2:00 pm | click here to view more

Muzix brings queuing to iPhone and iPod Touch

Muzix is a music jukebox application for the iPhone and the iPod Touch that is centered around on-the-go playback queue creation, a feature not offered by the onboard player. The free app offers a reasonable amount of functionality and a fun way to interact with your music, but the interface isn't the most intuitive we've arrive across. Still, for those who loathe iTunes but adore making playlists, Muzix is worth checking out.

The playback screen is pictured on the left, and the track listing screen on the right.

Before you receive started with Muzix, you should know that the experience is more visually thrilling if every of your music has album art attached. The track listing pages, which are organized in alphabetical order, are tiny tiles represented by album art. Depending on how much music you elect to add from your library (an action done directly on the device), you may have an overwhelming number of pages. every songs are listed individually as opposed to by album or artist. On the one hand, this makes sense with Muzix's focus as an on-the-fly queue creator. However, flipping through a ton of pages can become tiresome, so it would be nice to look the app streamlined in a future release.

The other issue we had with the interface is that it's not immediately intuitive, and the function buttons on the playback page aren't terribly clear. That said, adding songs to the now playing queue is as simple as clicking a tune icon. In addition to play/pause and track shuttle soft keys, the playback screen features a variety of buttons on the top, including one for deleting tracks from the list and one for turning on repeat. The others are harder to explain because of the aforementioned clarity issue. For example, one icon is a head and shoulders outline, which flips the page to full-screen album art--that doesn't make a ton of sense to us.

Although Muzix could use some improvement to the interface, it performs well, and it adds a useful feature to the iPhone for those who want to create playlists on-the-fly. As long as it remains free for now, it's worth a look.

Download Muzix

27 Jul 2010, 7:05 pm | click here to view more

Check out CardStar's Foursquare check-ins

If you're toting around an iPhone in one pocket and a bulging wallet stuffed with loyalty cards in the other, let us respectfully say this: You're doing it wrong. With only a bit of legwork, you can lighten your load by scanning or manually adding your cards for your supermarkets, book stores, pet shops, sports stores, and the library, and stick them on your phone with an app like CardStar.

Version 3.0 of the free card-minder is on its way to to the iPhone App Store, and it's packing some pretty major feature changes, including integrating social-networking service Foursquare.

Open up CardStar 3.0 for iPhone and click the merchant record, then the new Foursquare button, CardStar will return a list of results for nearby stores. Star one as a favorite, and the app can recognize it, automatically checking you in at that specific location on subsequent visits. The company intends to reach out to other location-based services as well, possibly Loopt, Gowalla, and others with open APIs.

CardStar 3.0 for iPhone integrates Fourquare's social check-in service.

(Credit: CardStar)

CardStar has been telling CNET for months of its plans to go big by folding social networking hook and coupon offers into what is otherwise a dry, static storage app, and the Foursquare integration is a fair start.

In addition, version 3.0 also sees CardStar branching out with CardStar Connect, a cloud-based backup and restore feature that will soon make it easy to transfer the bar codes and pin numbers you've already entered once to CardStar other mobile devices.

On the user interface front, CardStar gets a second panel on its home screen to help manage apps. We'd prefer a different placement but suspect CardStar did this to draw attention to its newly wrought ability to create accounts. There's also a new Extras tab, which is the access point for Foursquare check-ins, and a Favorite list that facilitates location-driven check-ins.

Look for CardStar 3.0 in the App Store this week.

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

27 Jul 2010, 7:00 am | click here to view more

Tabs get tweaked in Firefox 4 beta 2

App Tabs let users pin frequently visited sites to the left side of the tab bar.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

Mozilla's second Firefox 4 beta debuted on Tuesday, with interface and feature improvements for Windows and Mac users, and below-the-hood changes that include faster browser launch times. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Firefox 4 beta 2 doesn't make any radical visual changes to the browser, but it does introduce a couple of new features and support for new developer tools.

The only interface change made this time around was to give Mac users the tabs on top look by default. Windows users received that feature in the first beta. This can still be reverted below Preferences. Linux users have yet to receive tabs on top by default.

One of the big features that some users have been anticipating in Firefox 4 is App Tabs, analogous to Google Chrome's Pin Tab feature. It reduces a tab to its favicon, and then anchors it permanently on the left side of the tab bar. This can make it easier to find regularly frequented sites, such as Web mail or a calendar. To create an App Tab, right-click on a tab and pick, "Make into an App Tab." One of the principal designers on Firefox, Alex Faaborg, has created a video that details how to use the App Tabs. He also notes that App Tabs will receive some nice of special treatment in the upcoming Tab Candy feature.

How Firefox 4 functions and handles the code that powers the Web has changed slightly, too. The biggest change, made to the XPCOM registration, has the potential to break a lot of components that interact with Firefox. While that could result in a lot of headaches over the close future, users should look faster Firefox start-up times in the long run.

Meanwhile, part of the CSS3 Transformations, called Transitions, are now supported in Firefox 4. This means that developers will be able to build content that animates instead of effecting an immediate change. Curious readers can check out the yellow box demo on the Mozilla Hacks blog. Support for retained layers also shipped in the second beta, which allows for faster page scrolling.

Mozilla also noted that user comments sent via the "feedback" button on the right-hand side of the navigation bar helped the publisher fix more than 670 issues in the first beta. Future betas promise to include new features such as the aforementioned Tab Candy and the redesigned add-on framework, currently code-named JetPack, but also to resolve unsettled debates such as whether to remove the Status Bar and the struggle to improve the browser's overall site-rendering speed.

27 Jul 2010, 4:34 pm | click here to view more

Free iPad sports app a must-have for sports junkies

If you have even a passing interest in sports (or just want to show off your iPad), receive TheScore.

(Credit: Screenshot by Rick Broida)

When I look an app like TheScore for iPad, it forces me to think in big-picture terms, as in: this is how sports news was meant to be consumed. Not in some day-old newspaper or tiny iPhone app, but on a big, beautiful screen jam-packed with scores, standings, videos, and blogs.

In other words, I'm really digging TheScore--and I'm not even that into sports. (It says clearly on my Tech Nerds of America membership card that sports are permissible only as a "passing interest" or for "social interaction research.")

Actually, I do consume a lot of college basketball, which is just one of the dozen-plus major categories covered by the app. Others include MLB, football (both American and Canadian), basketball, hockey, and numerous soccer leagues I've never heard of.

Within any selected section, you can scroll through related Top Stories, Buzz, Videos, and Blogs, or check out the latest scores and standings.

The latest baseball scores appear in a scrollable ticker across the top, followed by a search option for looking up players or teams. Search for Detroit Tigers, for example, and you'll receive team headlines, current standing, game schedule, and a list of team leaders (any of which you can tap for a pop-up summary).

TheScore also serves up half a dozen video channels (including "The Basketball Jones" and "The Break") and an equal number of blogs ("Hockey or Die" and "Branded" among them).

In short, there's an endless amount of good stuff here for sports fans--and you just can't beat the price: TheScore is free. (Ad-free, too.)

Originally posted at iPad Atlas

27 Jul 2010, 2:56 pm | click here to view more

Google fixes Chrome holes, seeks security reform

Just before the Black cap security conference begins, Google has patched seven secuity holes in its stable version of Chrome and begun an effort to speed up the software industry's response to such vulnerabilities.

Google paid two $1,337 bounties for work that lets Chrome avoid critical security problems by sidestepping vulnerabilities in Windows and the widely used glibc software library, according to a Monday blog post about Chrome 5.0.375.125 by Jason Kersey of Google's Chrome team.

Also through its program to reward those who find Chrome security holes, Google issued payments to people who found three high-risk vulnerabilities and one medium-risk vulnerability. The final issue, a low-risk problem, elicited no payment.

That incentive program got more serious in July, when Google announced a new maximum reward of $3,133.7 for severe bugs. (If you're not in on the leetspeak joke, that means "eleet," better than the mere "leet" level that was attainable before.)

Google is trying to steer the security agenda in more ways than just paying those who find holes. In a blog post last week by a group of Googlers, Google called for reform to the "responsible disclosure" practice for sharing newly discovered vulnerabilities.

With responsible disclosure, a security researcher privately notifies a software maker of the vulnerability, announcing it only when the software maker has a fix ready. It contrasts with full disclosure, which gives no such grace period but which also lets users of the software know as soon as possible they may be affected. After every, a computer attacker might have discovered the vulnerability independently and could be exploiting it before the software company has a fix prepared.

"We've seen an increase in vendors invoking the principles of 'responsible' disclosure to delay fixing vulnerabilities indefinitely, sometimes for years; in that timeframe, these flaws are often rediscovered and used by rogue parties using the same tools and methodologies used by ethical researchers," the Googlers said in a blog post last week.

"We believe that responsible disclosure is a two-way road. Vendors, as well as researchers, must act responsibly. Serious bugs should be fixed within a reasonable timescale," they said. "Whilst every bug is unique, we would suggest that 60 days is a reasonable upper bound for a genuinely critical issue in widely deployed software."

Originally posted at Deep Tech

27 Jul 2010, 2:56 am | click here to view more

Lightroom plug-in helps avoid overlarge JPEGs

Jeffrey Friedl created a tool to optimize JPEG photo quality in Lightroom and has incorporated the results into his Lightroom photo export software.

(Credit: Jeffrey Friedl / screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)

It's a fair question for photography enthusiasts uploading their latest shots to the Web or backing up an archive: where do you set the JPEG quality slider?

Sure, a higher setting means more quality but bigger files, but beyond that vagueness, it's a question without easy answers. Happily, at least for those using Adobe Systems' Lightroom software for photo editing and cataloging, there's an answer coming.

That's because Lightroom plug-in programmer Jeffrey Friedl is adding some quality automation tools to his image export software. Earlier this month he posted an analysis of Lightroom's JPEG photo quality that among other things showed Lightroom's 0-to-100 slider actually only has 13 settings.

More to the point, Friedl analyzed where the sweet spot is for JPEG compression in Lightroom below a variety of circumstances. And now he's building a bit of the knowledge gleaned from that exercise into some of his plug-ins.

"Added a warning that blocks export when the JPEG quality is set needlessly high," Friedl said on the update log for his Flickr export plug-in for Lightroom earlier this month. He's had to fiddle with it a bit to iron out problems, but overall, it's a useful idea to keep on upload times and storage requirements if you're making JPEG backups for your raw photos. The new feature doesn't perform an analysis, but cautions about use of the highest quality setting.

He's also added the feature into his export plug-ins for Picasa, SmugMug, Zenfolio, Facebook, Photobucket, and Kodak Gallery.

I use two of Friedl's plug-ins, the Flickr exporter and one for geotagging photos. His tools can be pretty technical, as one might expect from the author of a book on regular expressions, but the options are often very useful for me. For example, tagging my photos with specific keywords can ensure their location is visible only to family members, and I like how I can automatically add EXIF information such as exposure time, ISO, and lens focal length into the photo caption. The profusion of options in the user interface can, however, be daunting.

The Flickr plug-in got a significant upgrade for Lightroom 3, integrating with the publishing system that essentially keeps a live link between the photos in Lightroom and those you've uploaded to Flickr. For example, when you add new keywords or crop a photo after you've uploaded it, the publishing service notices and can replace the old version.

Friedl's plug-ins are a constant work in progress, with no separation between slow-changing production versions and the newest tweak. That can cause occasional hiccups--perhaps why I'm unable to use Google Earth to manually geotag photos with a static location at gift--but he usually irons the problems out promptly.

The plug-ins are free, but below the donationware model, he'll accept gifts via PayPal. To register the plug-in, which grants unlimited use after a six-week trial period, you must donate at least 1 cent. I for one have been glad to help fund Friedl's somewhat accidental new career.

Updated 11:08 p.m. PDT to clarify the donationware mechanism and how the JPEG quality alert works.

Originally posted at Deep Tech

27 Jul 2010, 11:34 am | click here to view more