Vista SP1 release candidate goes out to testers

The fall air certainly seems to have put a spring in the step of OS devs everywhere, and Microsoft’s getting in the fun too, releasing the first release candidate of Vista SP1 to beta testers today. Although there don’t appear to be many new features on top of what we’ve already seen, SP1 appears to be well-received, with testers reporting better laptop battery life, faster networking, and improved wake-from-sleep speeds. There’s still no word on when the final release of SP1 will hit, but if you’re in Microsoft’s tester program, SP1 RC1 is available online now.

HyperSpace: Ready to replace Windows ?

HyperSpace is a layer of BIOS embedded software that makes it possible to instantly run applications independently of Windows.  These “instant-on” applications will be truncated versions of open-source programs and that are available before, during, and after Windows boot up and shut down.

Phoenix is targeting the portable PC market and seeks to capitalize on what critics say are the major faults of Windows: its size, speed, inefficiency, and poor security.  HyperSpace allows users to bypass the boot up process and instantly access their favorite applications, such as internet browsers, media players, word processors, and the like. It also promises to conserve battery life since Vista is notoriously power intensive. 

HyperSpace will add value to PC vendors by allowing them to remotely trouble shoot and restore customers’ computers.  It also promises to deliver a layer of embedded security that is stronger than the current standards. 

The product is based on a form of virtualization, called a hypervisor, that allows a machine to simultaneously run multiple operating systems.   Phoenix calls this HyperCore, and it is essentially a paired down hypervisor that uses a Zoned Virtual Machine Monitor (ZVMM) to run their core applications along side Windows.  Since HyperSpace is written into the BIOS firmware, its code is essentially secret and more secure argues Woody Hobbs, Phoenix CEO.

Hitachi shows off finger-controlled steering wheel

Rest assured, there are plenty of steering wheels on the road right now that happily accept finger commands, but Hitachi’s latest invention takes things one step further. The so-called finger vein authentication system can apparently be customized for a certain driver so that simple presses can adjust one’s seat, load up a given playlist, tweak the equalizer, crank the AC or start up the engine. Moreover, such a system provides an additional layer of security against theft or unwanted drive-offs (think mischievous children). Hitachi is still unsure if / when this will actually hit vehicles on showroom floors, but a ballpark figure of “three to four years” was thrown out there for good measure.

Samsung planning firmware updates for YP-P2

It looks like Samsung’s snazzy YP-P2 just became even more attractive. Apparently, the P2 will be hit with an update this December that enables a Bluetooth connection to one’s mobile phone, BT file exchanges and the addition of an e-dictionary . In late January of 2008, you can expect an upgraded Touch UI along with FM recording / playback.

Finally its looking like a device thats worth buying :)

Apple’s Lepord on the loose

Apples new OS Leopard(OS X 10.5) which was supposed to be released day after tomorrow,

has somehow leaked into the public torrent network.

 

And this is something not new to the Apple guys. Anyways here is a link to the torrent  .

enjoy it :)

Boot Camp taken down

With just three days to go before Leopard hits the scene, Apple’s gone ahead and made Boot Camp unavailable to download.

Tiger users with Boot Camp partitions who aren’t ready to make the leap to Leopard can rest easy, however, since existing Boot Camp installations will continue to work fine — but you’ll still be riding dirty since the beta license technically expires on Friday with Leopard’s release.

iPhone Elite team announces “revirginizer”

Over at Google Code, the iphone-elite team has released their revirginizing tool, which is designed to rebuild your iPhone’s seczone lock table. After using this tool, the team suggests, your 1.0.2 unlocked iPhone will return to its pre-unlocked state and be safe to upgrade to 1.1.1.As with all restore/revirginizing methods, I recommend caution. You may want to wait a few days, listen to reports, and see if iPhones truly get restored to a “never been kissed” or even “never held hands” state of pure Apple-in-the-Garden innocence.

iPhone Installer App Updated to 3.0beta3 With Many Improvements

The iPhone’s Installer.app has been updated to 3.0, and features a much better organizational system than the previous “everything listed in a flat list that takes forever to scroll through”. Not only are there sections now, you can “Update All”, and the packaging backend is improved as well. You can’t install this directly on your phone, but instead you have to install the older version, then update via installer itself. If you have 1.1.1, you’ll have to jailbreak first, then transfer it on manually. However, it does detect what firmware version you’re running and only displays the apps that run fine on yours. [Installer via PSMXY]

DOT.TUNES brings wifi streaming to iPhone and iPod Touch

DOT.TUNES has released two plugins that bring wifi (not EDGE) streaming to both the iPhone and the iPod Touch, respectively. DOT.TUNES basically turns your Mac into a web server for streaming iTunes content across your local network or across the internet. The two new plugins optimize the interface for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. With either you get access to your playlists, artists, albums, etc.

Of course any time you run your Mac as a server there are potential security concerns, but DOT.TUNES appears to be a great way to get iTunes content onto your iPhone or iPod Touch over the internet. They’ve even set up a demo server that will show you how it works (click here for the iPhone interface).

DOT.TUNES 4 itself is a free download, but the iPhone and iPod Touch plugins are $20 each.

iPhone Dev Team announces free unlock for 1.1.1

For all of you who have been holding off on paying iPhone SIM Free $60-$100, good news. The iPhone Dev Team has announced AnySIM 1.1. According to the announcement by netkas, the software has been tested with both 1.0.2 and 1.1.1. AnySIM offers a free unlocking solution for iPhone users and apparently, if I’m reading this correctly, does NOT fix baseband problems from earlier releases. This is meant for “virgin” locked phones only. Download your copy here. Be aware that as AnySIM works, it switches off your WiFi until you reboot. Also, this is NOT intended for phones that will be updated. Do not unlock 1.0.2 and then update to 1.1.1. Updating a locked 1.0.2 to 1.1.1 will relock your iPhone. The team is testing a 1.1.1 restore on 1.1.1 unlocks right now. Remember guys: although the software here has been tested to make sure it avoids corruption–it does not hurt NVRAM/seczone–it is very new and has not had a lot of field testing yet.

Source : TUAW