iPad Safari to have Wikipedia added as a default search engine
According to new digging from 9to5Mac, Wikipedia is likely to be added as one of the default search engines for Safari on the iPad as well as upcoming versions of the iPhone and iPod Touch.
The code is seen in the iPhone 3.2 SDK, and will be the third default behind Google and Yahoo.
It is still unclear why Wiki is being added over Bing or other true search engines, especially because Wikipedia has a very popular free app as well, but still interesting.
O2 iPhone feature list adds video calling
In a strange discovery this weekend, an O2 tariff list reveals that video calling has been added to the “key features” list of the plans for the carriers, and that it will cost as much as the current voice-only plans.
The listing could mean a possible leak into future video chat capabilities of any iPhone, however, current hardware could obviously not allow for such capabilities.
iPhone OS 3.2 beta has shown references to video calling as well.
Apple to update Safari 4.0.5 with Flash plugin crash protection
AppleInsider is reporting that Apple is in the midst of updating Safari, QuickTime and Pro apps, each with significant updates.
Reads the full post:
Safari 4.0.5
People familiar with the seedings say one of the primary focuses of Safari 4.0.5 is to fix a regression in the browser’s JavaScript engine that manifested with the release of Safari 4.0.4. The maintenance release will also reportedly see certain code blocks, like Move Code, transitioned from the Safari codebase to that of Webkit in order to improve cross platform support.
A short list of other enhancements planned for the Safari 4.0.5 include improved HTML5 Video Playback, quicker loading of the Top Sites panels, faster JavaScript performance, better performance loading YouTube, and an overall reduced memory footprint.
Additionally, the release should also sport a much improved Plug-in manager aimed at reducing the number of crashes caused by plug-ins, including Adobe Flash plug-in, people familiar with the current betas say. These advances will reportedly also improve load times for plug-ins.
Safari 4.0.5 is currently undergoing tests in four distinct distributions: a build for Windows, one for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, one for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, and another for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Each are members of the 405Axx build train and weigh between 26 and 38 megabytes.
QuickTime 7.66
Meanwhile, Apple is also evaluating a maintenance, security and performance release for QuickTime 7 labeled QuickTime 7.66. It’s expected to be one of the final updates to QuickTime 7 and is currently undergoing evaluation for Mac OS X Leopard and Windows. The current build is said to be build 23.
[More]>>
Video Daily: The Internet Explorer 6 ‘funeral’
Earlier this week we reported on the “funeral” of Internet Explorer 6, hosted by Aten Design Group, a design firm in Colorado.
The service had a coffin with a dummy inside with an IE6 logo for its head. Anyone who attended was welcome to eulogize the browser with memories, good or bad.
Google plans to pull all IE6 support from its Google family of sites, including Docs and Gmail starting next week, and YouTube fans will start to get hit with nagware popups when trying to access the site from IE6.
UPDATE: Cablevision and ABC make a deal
Update to our previous article (reposted below):
Cablevision and ABC have come to a deal, 45 minutes after the start of the Oscars. More word on the agreement when it is finalized.
Original article:
Disney has blacked out the broadcast channel ABC for Cablevision’s 3 million subscribers, the day of the highly-anticipated Academy Awards.
Cablevision says it’s willing to restart negotiations with Disney, along with a third-party arbitrator, to end the spat over transmission fees.
The cable company has a decent monopoly over the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and parts of NJ and Connecticut.
“Given the extraordinary public interest in this matter, Senator (John) Kerry and other public officials have suggested that arbitration is appropriate in this highly unusual situation,” added Charles Schueler, Cablevision’s executive vice president of communications. “Cablevision will agree to binding arbitration and calls upon Disney CEO Bob Iger to immediately return ABC to New YOrk area viewers and join us in binding arbitration to resolve this matter fairly.”
ABC says they have put forward a counter-offer this afternoon.
Mourners hold ‘funeral’ for Internet Explorer 6
Aten Design Group, a design firm in Colorado has hosted a “funeral” today for the aged web browser Internet Explorer 6, which is quickly being thrown out in favor of faster, safer browsers, including its descendants IE7 and IE8.
The service will have a coffin with a dummy inside with an IE6 logo for its head. Anyone who attends is welcome to eulogize the browser with memories, good or bad.
Some users already posted their thoughts, on the invitation page.
“I feel terrible admitting this, but … I never really liked him,” writes “Eddie Escher,” via CNN. “He had so many hang-ups, and he looked awful — especially in his later years. But… he was always there when you needed him. You have to give him that.”
The real nail in the coffin (pun intended) is coming next week when Google pulls all IE6 support from its Google family of sites, including Docs and Gmail. YouTube will drop support within a month.
All I will say on the matter is I hope IE6 dies fast, there is absolutely no reason anyone should be using it, ever.
TiVo wins court ruling over Dish, Echostar, shares explode
A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of TiVo today in the long-standing patent case brought against them by Dish and EchoStar, with the news sending TiVo’s stock shares up over 55 percent on gigantic volume.
The district court had ruled last year that Dish and EchoStar had violated TiVo patents and ordered a permanent injunction on DVRs being sold by the company’s that used the infringing technology.
The companies were also told to pay TiVo $300 million in damages, and the latest ruling will finally pave the way for TiVo to receive that money.
Sony finally creating a PlayStation phone
According to a new WSJ report, Sony is finally ready to create a PlayStation-branded smartphone, one that will help it compete against the iPhone, and Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 line.
Additionally, the company will be creating “a portable device that blurs distinctions among a netbook, an e-reader and a PlayStation Portable, or PSP,” one that it hopes will compete against the iPad and net/smartbooks.
The products have a target launch in 2010, but prices are nowhere near finalized.
Equally as surprising is the news that this will be a Sony-only venture, leaving out Ericsson, its long-time smartphone partner.
PSP and PSP Go sales have been extremely disappointing since the launch of the iPod Touch and the Nintendo DSiDS continues to rack up impressive sales, all at the expense of PSP market share.
Apple playing dirty, tries to snuff Amazon MP3
Despite a gigantic lead in the online MP3 market, Apple appears to be playing dirty against Amazon MP3, using its clout with the record labels to try to snuff out Amazon’s popular “Daily Deal” promotion.
In 2008, when Amazon MP3 first launched, the Daily Deal was paid for by Amazon, out of their own pockets, as a way to get traffic to the service. In 2009 however, says a label exec, “that promotion morphed into something where the labels make arrangements to provide an exclusive selling window with Amazon for a big release expected to do a lot of business on street date.”
In exchange for the Daily Deal promotion, Amazon gets a one-day exclusive window for sales before street date, as long as digital marketing support through the artist’s Web sites, or MySpace pages.
The same executive said about that situation (via Billboard): “When that happened, iTunes said, ‘Enough of that s**t.’ “
Since then, Apple has been “urging” labels to rethink the Daily Deal, while at the same time withdrawing marketing support for acts that were featured as Daily Deals.
Says another exec: “[Apple] are . . . diverting their energy from ‘let’s make this machine better’ to ‘let’s protect what we got,’”.
Apple, Amazon, Warner, EMI and Sony have not responded to the story yet.
Twitter surpasses 10 billion Tweets milestone
According to the Gigatweet counter, the incredibly popular social network service Twitter has hit 10 billion “tweets,” seeing fast growth from past milestones.
1 billion tweets was hit in November 2008, and 5 billion was hit in November 2009.
Given the current pace of tweeting, Gigatweet has projections for when future milestones will hit, with 20 billion coming as soon as 197 days from now, or about mid-September.
