RIM clarifies global service outage, doesn't provide ETA for restore

If you don't own a BlackBerry yourself, chances are you know somebody who does. And if that person lives in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America or South America, they're probably quite unhappy with RIM at the moment. This week's service outage began with a server failure in the UK, and spread like wildfire to Africa and the Middle East, before continuing on to parts of Asia, the US, Canada and a good portion of South America. This is only the latest BlackBerry service outage for RIM, bringing email, BBM and web browsing services to a halt. But with BlackBerry services playing a critical role in real-time business and government communications, any interruption is unacceptable, and costly for all.

RIM CTO David Yach responded to questions during a press conference this afternoon, explaining the original cause of the outage (that UK server failure, along with a series of failed redundancies), and how that grew into the global outage we're experiencing now:

"It's a backlog issue. Clearly we have a backlog in Europe, based on the initial outage and the time it's taken to stabilize that. At this point, we have not throttled the other regions, but as you can imagine, with the global reach of BlackBerry, people using it to contact others around the world, there's a lot of messages coming to Europe from Asia and the Americas, and those would be backed up on the other system. It's looking like over time that backlog built, and started impacting those other systems."

The obvious solution would be to clear the backlog and restore service, but in doing so, RIM would purge any undelivered messages. Yach said that all emails will eventually be delivered, however, so you shouldn't have anything to worry about there (there was no related comment regarding BBM messages). When asked what the company would be doing to "make right" by way of its customers, Yach emphasized that his focus was only on restoring service at this point, and made no promises of restitution.

Is the BlackBerry outage affecting you? Let us know by voting in our poll, or leaving a comment after the break.

Continue reading RIM clarifies global service outage, doesn't provide ETA for restore

RIM clarifies global service outage, doesn't provide ETA for restore originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/12/rim-clarifies-global-service-outage-doesnt-provide-eta-for-res/

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Samsung modifies Galaxy smartphones to satisfy Dutch court, plans to resume sales soon

Earlier this summer, a judge in The Netherlands ruled to ban sales of Samsung Galaxy S, S II and Ace smartphones, stating that the devices violated an Apple patent which deals with a "method of scrolling." Well, nearly two months have passed, and Samsung is just now getting around to releasing "upgraded" versions of the affected devices, presumably implementing a non-infringing scroll tool. A Samsung spokesman told Reuters that the three phones will "shortly be available for sale," neglecting to provide an exact release date -- so we wouldn't suggest lining up to get your Galaxy S II fix just yet. This small victory is only the latest in the Apple / Samsung lawsuit saga, which has created quite a stir in a handful of courts around the world. We have yet to hear about a solution to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 ban in Australia, for example, where fingers are being pointed in every direction.

Samsung modifies Galaxy smartphones to satisfy Dutch court, plans to resume sales soon originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Oct 2011 08:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/12/samsung-modifies-galaxy-smartphones-to-satisfy-dutch-court-plan/

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Windows Home Server 2011 released to manufacturers

windows home server 2011 whs
Just a little under two months after its release candidate went live, Windows Home Server (WHS) 2011 has been finalized and released into the wild. The new version of Microsoft's slick, do-it-all server OS is a big step forward from its predecessor.

Built on the Windows Server 2008 R2 base, Home Server 2011 features a simpler dashboard, a better backup solution, dead simple remote access to your home computers, and Silverlight-powered remote media streaming. For a more detailed look at what's new in Windows Home Server 2011, you check out Microsoft's official breakdown.

Drive Extender, of course, didn't resurface for the final release of WHS 2011 and that's something a lot of power users are still pretty irked about. Even without Extender, Windows Home Server offers a boatload of useful functionality and might be a good fit for your home network. Manufacturers have already begun building hardware, so you should be able to pick up a device in the very near future.

An evaluation download for Windows Home Server 2011 will be made available in April -- we'll let you know when the links are ready.

Windows Home Server 2011 released to manufacturers originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/30/windows-home-server-2011-released-to-manufacturers/

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Apple Stealth Launches ‘Find My Friends’ and ‘Airport Utility’ Apps

Apple’s iCloud launches today, along with a few new iOS apps. And while we’re still waiting for the iWork and iPhoto updates that will allow us to use the new syncing and Photo Stream sharing services, Apple has released the Find My Friends and Airport Utility apps. Find My Friends was announced last week at the [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/10/apple-stealth-launches-find-my-friends-and-airport-utility-apps/

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GNOME 3 released, ushers in an interesting amalgam of iOS and OS X

GNOME 3 desktop manager
GNOME 3, after more than two years of development, has been released into the wild. GNOME 3 is not merely the logical successor of GNOME 2: it is an entirely new project, started from scratch, to create a "completely new, modern desktop designed for today's users and technologies."

The best way to check out GNOME 3's new features -- and it has lots of new features -- is to run a live version of openSUSE or Fedora, or simply head over to the GNOME 3 website and watch the (rather pretty) introductory videos. If you want a synopsis, though, here it is: GNOME 3 looks a lot like Mac OS X, with a healthy dollop of iOSesqueness for good measure, but yet it still somehow retains an underlying feel of Linux.

The overall aesthetic is very simple, very elegant, and despite being slightly out of fashion, there are plenty of rounded corners, too. The main addition, workflow-wise, is the addition of an app-launcher-cum-alt-tab screen, where you can launch apps, or flip through your open windows. For a complete list of the new features and changes, check the GNOME 3 release notes.

Despite GNOME 3 being officially launched, there aren't actually any releases for existing, stable Linux distros -- it's the live CD/USB images, or Ubuntu users will have to wait for the launch of 11.04 for a GNOME 3 PPA, but it will break Unity in the process. Fedora users will have to wait for for the May 24 release of Fedora 15. Of course, if you're feeling crazy, you can always build GNOME 3 from source.

GNOME 3 released, ushers in an interesting amalgam of iOS and OS X originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 06:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/07/gnome-3-released-ushers-in-an-interesting-amalgam-of-ios-and-os/

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Samsung and Google's Ice Cream Sandwich / Nexus Prime event back on for the 19th?

This week's CTIA festivities aren't the same since Samsung and Google decided to postpone their new product announcement that was originally scheduled for today, but now we're hearing the Ice Cream Sandwich / Nexus party has already been rescheduled. An inside source tells us the two have moved their plans for the Unpacked event to October 19th in Hong Kong (interested US residents should clear out the evening of Tuesday the 18th, time zones), timed to coincide with the AsiaD: All Things Digital event there next week. Naturally, we'll be in the house, but with not long to go before the potential date, we'd expect to hear something concrete soon.

[Thanks, anonymous]

Samsung and Google's Ice Cream Sandwich / Nexus Prime event back on for the 19th? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Oct 2011 23:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/w3SXoMEJFpA/

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Banshee music player now works in Windows, supports Amazon MP3 downloads

A few moments ago, version 2 of the Banshee music player for Linux was released, bringing with it a whole slew of new features, and the addition of an official -- but alpha-quality -- Windows build. The Mac OS X build of version 2 is due later today.

The most notable new feature is support for the Amazon MP3 store -- you can buy and download music from within Banshee -- but unfortunately it's only available in the Linux build at the moment (OS X and Windows support are planned, however). There have also been some significant improvements to artist, album, and queue interactions -- and yes, you can finally right click a track, album or artist and select 'play after' to insert it into the queue.

Beyond actual playback, the user interface has been tidied up -- it now looks a whole lot smarter -- and the Ubuntu One Music Store and SoundMenu extensions have been made official. For a complete list of changes, additions and bug fixes, check the change log.

When Windows support initially appeared in February, we found it rough around the edges and fraught with stability issues. With version 2, Banshee for Windows is still a bit unstable, but it's shaping up to be a good alternative to Winamp, iTunes, or whatever other music library manager you use. It's almost as attractive as its GNOMEish brother, too!

Download Banshee 2 for Linux and Windows (Mac OS X coming soon)

Banshee music player now works in Windows, supports Amazon MP3 downloads originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 11:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/banshee-music-player-now-works-in-windows-supports-amazon-mp3-d/

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Motorola and Verizon team up for Z-Wave monitoring service, let you control your home as you roam

Do you have Verizon broadband and an overwhelming desire to dim your lights remotely and spy on the kids while you're out on a date? Verizon's mew Home Monitoring and Control service lets internet subscribers add Motorola's Z-Wave-based 4Home automation system to their existing package, enabling access to networked cameras, light controls, smart thermostats and door locks. With the $10 monthly service, you can monitor a collection of wireless cameras, unlock doors for family members or guests, or adjust the thermostat using a web-connected tablet or smartphone. The basic Home Monitoring Kit will run you $70, and includes a wireless camera and single light control. A $170 Energy Control Kit swaps the wireless cam for a connected thermostat and Energy Reader, while a $220 Home Monitoring and Control Kit includes all of the above. Door locks, window sensors and additional cameras are sold a la carte, making a complete system a rather pricey proposition. Jump past the break for a handful of man on the street customer testimonials (spoiler alert: they love it!).

Continue reading Motorola and Verizon team up for Z-Wave monitoring service, let you control your home as you roam

Motorola and Verizon team up for Z-Wave monitoring service, let you control your home as you roam originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/12/motorola-and-verizon-team-up-for-z-wave-monitoring-service-let/

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Google Engineer Calls Google a Pathetic Afterthought [Google]

When Google+ launched, it was exciting! A new Facebook! Better! Purrrty! But then everyone forgot about it. Folks at Google forgot too. Last night, Steve Yegge, a Google engineer, accidentally posted a rant about Google to his public Google+ profile. It's revealing and absolutely rips Google+. It's also true. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/4Pjg9DQFy-s/google-engineer-calls-google%252B-a-pathetic-afterthought

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