Thursday, November 29, 2012

Control Ubuntu remotely from iDevice or Android

Have you ever been far away from your Ubuntu Linux server and the only device you had on hand was your Android or Apple iOS device? Well, Splashtop is working on Splashtop Streamer for Linux.

The beta Splashtop Streamer, when used with Splashtop 2, a remote desktop applicaton for Android devices, iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch, will enable you to connect remotely to Ubuntu 12.04 systems. Unfortunately it does not currently cover other versions of Linux or Ubuntu.

Splashtop is claiming that for Ubuntu users, Splashtop Streamer offers a supercharged, high-performance alternative to VNC (Virtual Network Computing) and other remote desktop software. Due to it's efficient protocol, algorithms and optimaizations, Splashtop has been shown in performance benchmarks to deliver up to 15x higher video frame rates and up to 10x lower latency times then it's competition.

Splashtop Streamer for Ubuntu is designed to enable users to remotely connect to an Ubuntu computer and do the following:
-View and edit files remotely (no transferring or syncing)
-Run favorite programs
-Stream music collection
-Watch videos at up to 30 frames per second with low latency
-Perform on the fly trans-coding of various video and audio formats
-Play graphics intensive games
-Use input methods for typing characters in various languages

I can't wait to try this out with my iPhone 4S and my Sony Vaio laptop which runs 12.04. It would be hilarious if I randomly turned on some music while my girlfriend was sitting next to the laptop, it surely would scare her to death.

-Ubu out

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Skype iOS Update - Signing in with MS Accounts

Microsoft-owned Skype updated it's iOS application today, November 28, 2012. With this update you can now sign into Skype using your Microsoft account credentials, ie Hotmail, Messenger, or Outlook.com.

Signing into Skype with a Microsoft account will transport a user's contacts over automatically. From the app, iOS users will be able to have instant message chats with their Messenger, Hotmail, and Outlook contacts.

Don't have a Skype account? Skype 4.2 is available for free in the App Store for both iPad as well as iPhone.

You can now tap and hold on instant messages to edit and delete them, choose emoticons while typing a message, and edit saved phone numbers right from the dial pad. The update also brings some bug fixes.

Seems like a natural addition for Microsoft to do this since they are phazing out Microsoft Messenger.

-Ubu out

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Gmail users can now send 10GB Files

Google announced Tuesday (November 27, 2012) that it will be integrating Google Drive into Gmail. This will allow a Gmail user to send files up to a massive 10GB in size over email.
There's a new button in Gmail's compose window that will give the user the ability to attach a file from their Google Drive account rather then attaching the file directly, which we all know a lot of email services have very restrictive file size limits.
Once it's attached, Gmail will ensure that your recipient has permission to view the file in your Drive account or will prompt you to grant that permission and then it sends the message.
The feature works for links to items stored in your Google Drive account as well as the files you attach. Since this is essentially you sharing a link to the file in the cloud rather then the file itself, you can continue to update it and those updates will show up for your recipient as well.
Each Google Drive user is granted 5GB of free storage from Google. In order to store and send files larger then 5GB users will be required to purchase additional Google Drive storage space. You can purchase 25GB for $2.49/month or 100GB for $4.99/month. Do you use Google Drive? If not you should!

-Ubu out

Wii Mini - Leaked by Best Buy?


Seems strange that Nintendo would let Best Buy debut their product but they have a full blog post discussing the Wii Mini. It doesn’t have internet capability or play Gamecube games, but besides that, is a perfectly functional miniature Wii.
Best Buy will be carrying the Nintendo Wii Mini starting on December 7th and will be taking pre-orders later today (November 27th.)
I find it very strange for Nintendo to release a mini of their Wii considering they just released a brand new console called the WiiU. This may cause confussion for non-gamer types during the holiday shopping season.
What about you, do you own a Wii? Would you consider buying the Wii Mini for a lower cost of only $99 versus the normal Wii Gaming Bundles costing anywhere from $125.00 to $250.00?

-Ubu out

Monday, November 19, 2012

XBOX 720 rumors

Xbox World, a U.K. based magazine, has an article on the upcoming next generation console from Microsoft. Microsoft's Xbox 720 will unveil a new version of Kinect, a Blu-ray drive, and an A/V port for watching and recording broadcast TV.
CREDIT: XBOX WORLD


The latest issue of Xbox World dug up several reported specs on Microsoft's next console.
-The Xbox 720 will introduce Kinect 2.0.
-The rumor of a Blu-ray drive has been touted for a few years now.
-To mention a few other thing it will include directional audio, an input and output for watching and recording TV shows, and an "innovative controller".
-Last February, Xbox World said that the redesigned controller would come with a built-in HD touch screen.
-Microsoft is also eyeing AR (augmented reality) glasses for the 720 at some future stage.

The new Xbox would be powered by a CPU with "four hardware cores, each divided into four logical cores" and 8GB of RAM.

The Xbox 360 has been out since around 2005 with no real new hardware specifications so I'm very excited the read news about Microsoft's newest upcoming console.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Black Op 2 - DOUBLE XP Nov. 16-18

Treyarch just announced that they started their Double XP launch weekend. Across all platforms including Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. To be eligible however you needed to have pre-ordered Black Ops II and have redeemed your Nuketown 2025 code that came in the box.

Call of Duty official twitter account tweeted the following;

"Double XP Launch Weekend starts NOW! Pre-Ordered #BlackOps2? Download Nuketown 2025 to get 2XP on all playlists"

And it's a bit different than previously COD Double XP weekends, instead of getting 2X the score per kill, your XP will be doubled after match is over. This makes sense due to now getting XP for capping flags, defending flags, etc etc versus just for kills like previous COD's.

See you on the battlefield.

-Ubu out