PCMag visited Microsoft's offices in Redmond last week, and we not only got an advance briefing on Internet Explorer 9, but we also got a tour of the Internet Explorer Testing Labs. Partner Test Manager Jason Upton took a small group of tech journalists through the facility housed in Microsoft's Building 50, where we were treated to many impressive sights.
For instance, the lab holds 948 PCs and 119 servers each individually configurable through an automation system. The lab's vast resources let Microsoft configure its browser testing to examine very intricate slices of data. Upton compared the capability to finding rarefied baseball stats like "how left handed hitters do against right-handed pitchers during night games when the wind is blowing from the North." Except in Microsoft's case, it'd be more like finding how 2-GHz AMD 64 PC's with 1MB of DDR2 RAM running Vista SP1 and IE7 perform.
Get the full scoop on our tour of the Internet Explorer Testing Labs at PCMag.com.
A list of the top sites experiencing the most growth in February indicates that most of America was interested in Toilet Mummies, asking random questions of strangers, and clicking on ads.
Confused? According to ComScore, the top three sites with the highest growth of unique visitors in February, compared to January, were UrbanDictionary.com, FormSpring.me, and InfoLinks.com. Both UrbanDictionary.com and FormSpring.me more than doubled their visitor count, with 134 percent and 124 percent growth rates, respectively.
UrbanDictionary attracted 12.566 million uniques, and FormSpring attracted 6.492 million uniques. InfoLinks attracted 15.73 million unique visitors.
Google's Buzz social-networking technology has finally received long-expected support from its Android mobile operating system.
Android phones running Android OS 1.6 or higher can now download the widget, which allows users to file Buzz reports while out and about.
"Like other mobile access points for Google Buzz, the widget lets you choose to tag your post with the location or place from which it was posted," Zak Cohen, a Google software engineer, wrote in a blog post. "You can post buzz about a great meal you had and share photos of the new restaurant. To save time, your posts will upload in the background, letting you get back to your scrumptious dessert without a wait."
Note that this is a different implementation than the mobile version of Buzz which Google put in place before, which forced users to access buzz.google.com or add Buzz posts to a Google Maps layer.
You may or may not like Google Buzz, which prompted tweaks to the service after an initial public outcry that it imposed on users' privacy without their permission. But there's no question that it deserved to be a mobile app from the get-go.
Now PocketMac has struck back by unveiling PocketMac for BlackBerry 5.0, a ground-up rewrite that features a simplified user interface and faster, more responsive syncing.
The new version works with Macs running OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or 10.6 (Snow Leopard). It offers two-way sync with Address Book, iCal, Daylite, Entourage 2008, LotusNotes, iTunes, iPhoto, and Stickies. It also features clearer preferences, and can back up BlackBerry SMS texts and call history.
PocketMac for BlackBerry 5.0 costs $19.97 and is available now.
Apple has applied for a patent on a social networking technology called iGroups, which would establish a ad-hoc, mobile social networking group.
The iGroups patent is the fourth Apple social patent made public since the beginning of 2010, according to Patently Apple, which tracks Apple's patent filings.
iGroups is noteworthy for two reasons: first, there's the fact that iGroups is simply an Apple social networking application.
Apple is deservedly famous for creating an ecosystem: in addition to its hardware platforms, it has developed several pieces of software, as well as a robust framework for third-party developers to sign on and write software.
Apple's own application development efforts, however, remain narrowly focused: the various operating systems, of course, as well as the iWork and iLife software suites, plus the Safari browser. What iGroups says is that someone in Apple regards social networking as another core application, and a key part of the Apple experience.
Second, Apple's patent takes ad-hoc networking to the next level. Some users may be unaware that Wi-Fi networking cards allow users to create an ad-hoc network, a group of users which may or may not use another as a gateway to the Internet. Given the hassles associated with ad-hoc networking, and the fact that the access-point model has become ubiquitous, ad-hoc networking has fallen by the wayside.
Among the Twitterers I follow is "Astro_Soichi" aka Soichi Noguchi. Soichi is a currently member of the team of astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
A twitter conversationalist he is not! I've yet to see him push the limit of 140 characters. Often he tweets in his native Japanese. When translated to English he still isn't a conversationalist.
What Astro_Soichi has going for him is he tweets photos and they are spectacular! PopSci reported his in-orbit camera is a Nikon D2Xs equipped with a Nikor 800mm lens. A commenter said it looked more like a Sigma and Nikon doesn't make an 800mm. Either way that's some serious glass.
The ad, which is no longer available online, gave the boy's name as "Gavin" and described him as "a great kid" who "always has a smile on his face." A photo of the boy was included in the ad, which was purportedly placed by the child's father, "Rick Obelophy," who states in the ad that "I can no longer afford to take care of him." The father's name has been a dead-end for investigators.
The ad also says that the boy "doesn't fuss very much but when he does he just screams for hours. I usually just put him in the closet until he stops and that usually works."
A report by Wired.com finds that some iPhone app review sites have asked for money in return for "expedited" or even plain reviews of their applications.
Wired's Brain Chen notes that there is a market for paid reviews; with over 150,000 apps in the Apple iTunes App Store, it's tough to get noticed. But some developers nevertheless object to paying for a review, and have questioned the sites' journalistic integrity.
"They prey on people who need exposure," said Oliver Cameron, developer of the popular iPhone app Postman, who has avoided pitching his apps to sites that request payment for reviews. "It strikes me as a paid ad, really. They never seem to actually 'review' it."
Wired names names. Click on over to find out who they fingered.
Zagat Survey and Handmark have released Zagat to Go for Palm webOS. The latest version joins Zagat's existing portfolio of iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile apps.
Zagat to Go for webOS costs $9.99--steep, but same as the iPhone version. It offers access to Zagat's thousands of restaurant ratings and reviews worldwide. The app also lets diners use GPS to search for nearby restaurants, browse Top Rated lists, make reservations, or sort search results by food, decor, service, and cost.
The app works on the Palm Pre and the Palm Pixi. It's available now through Palm's App Catalog.
Zillow.com has launched an Android version of its popular iPhone app, which lets users search 95 million properties while out shopping for homes.
The app hooks into a phone's GPS radio to find and follow users on an aerial map, and displays the company's Zestimate value for each home, plus listings for homes for sale or rent. It also tracks Make Me Move listings and displays data on recently sold homes in the area immediately surrounding the user's current location.
The Zillow Android app supports Android's built-in voice search feature; users can speak the address, neighborhood, zip code, or city, and the app will instantly take them there on the map. Finally, the app features comprehensive search, and also displays Google Street Views when available.
The free app is available now in Android Market; search for "Zillow" and it should come right up.
This weekend, Skype will subsidize free Wi-Fi use at 100,000 hotspots worldwide, marking the full launch of Skype Access.
The free access will take place between March 20 and 21, from 00.00 GMT on the 20th to March to 23.59 GMT on the 21st. U.K. travellers affected by a strike by British Airways cabin crews will have the free offer extended, so that it expires on 23.59 on Monday, March 22.
Users will need to access one of the free hotspots as well as as a Skype account, plus the latest version of Skype, either Skype for Windows 4.2 or Skype for Mac 2.8 Skype Access allows users to pay for Wi-Fi access using their existing Skype Credit, turning the VOIP service into one that can make mobile payments.
Earlier this week, I was treated to a demo of Metro 2033 in 3D, by the good people at THQ. And after turning on the glasses they supplied, I was offered the chance to take the controller and dive into a new kind of gaming experience--of course I took it.
I was impressed. Tiny dust particles danced lightly by my face as I walked through the underground Russian subway system. When I went top-side, I saw distorted air, polluted by noxious gas from the fallout that nearly annihilated all mankind.
These details might normally go unnoticed, but they were enhanced by the 3D experience provided by nVidia's GeForce GPU, which utilizes its PhysX technology. The new graphics card allowed me to experience effects like nothing I've ever seen. One of the designers shared with me that at one point, he punched the monitor, because he didn't know where the game ended and the screen began. And yes, the combat, at first, was a little disorienting, but the beginning of the game gave me enough time to get my 3D sea legs.
If you're one of those people who are afraid you'll look silly wearing the nVidia 3D glasses in your living room, don't worry: This game is single player. But in a room full of PR reps and level designers, I was able to play the game without feeling self-conscious. Besides, the glasses are actually pretty chic. A little 80s-retro, but that's making a come back now, isn't it?
If someone had just seen an IMAX screening of Avatar, maybe that person would say that these graphics aren't all that impressive. But I dare anyone to say that this isn't a greater gaming experience. We sure have come a long way since Pong.
The Xbox 360 version of Metro 2033 is in stores now for $59.99, and the PC version is also available for $49.99. The nVidia GeForce 3D Vision glasses are a bit more of a long-term investment: They'll run consumers about $200.
Another company has added its name to the growing list of complainers against restaurant-review service Yelp. San Francisco's Renaissance Furniture Restoration became the third company to levy a complaint against the site's advertising policies in less than a month. According to a suit filed by the company, the site's "unfair and unethical conduct in promoting, marketing and advertising its website as maintaining unbiased reviews."
The first such suit was filed back in February by law firms Beck & Lee from Miami and The Weston Firm. Earlier this month, San Diego-based D'ames Day Spa filed a similar suits.
According to the suits, Yelp has solicited the purchasing of ads on its site in exchange for the removal of negative reviews. Yelp denied allegations after the filing of the first suit. A number of small businesses have since signed on to that original suit.
Google news for Mac owners who like to read things: Amazon today announced the release of its Kindle e-book reader app for Apple OS X. The fittingly (if not creatively) titled Kindle for Mac is available now as a free download from Amazon.
The app works with the U.S. Kindle store, which features more than 450,000 downloadable titles. Users can also access their library of purchase books, view notes and highlights made on other Kindles, and read books in full color.
"Kindle for Mac is the perfect companion application for customers who own a Kindle or Kindle DX," Jay Marine, Amazon's Kindle director said in a press release issued today. "For those customers around the world who don't yet have a Kindle, Kindle for Mac is a great way to instantly access and read the most popular new releases as well as their old favorites."
Amazon also used the opportunity to make a brief mention of upcoming iPad compatibility.
For millions of basketball fans, today marks the opening of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, where 64 teams meet in a head-to-head showdown to determine the national champion.
But for every Super Bowl, there's a Puppy Bowl. And for this March, the alternative venue may be the Muppet Madness brackets.
There's one problem: it looks rigged! (It's possible I'm just biased, though.)
PCMag visited Microsoft's offices in Redmond last week, and we not only got an advance briefing on 
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