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Computer Handhelds Wireless

Google Buzz Explained

Google today announced a new service, Google Buzz, that automatically brings social networking into Gmail and the rest of the Google-sphere. Whether or not you’re big on social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook, Buzz offers a somewhat new and intriguing approach.

What’s Buzz All About?

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Computer Gadget Uncategorized

Congress Asks NBC Why Hulu Blocked Boxee

Boxee and Hulu have had a contentious history, with Hulu several times blocking its content from working with the Boxee social media software. NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker once told All Things D he didn’t want Hulu content on Boxee because they were committed to keeping the former “an online experience.”

Today during the Congressional hearing to investigate Comcast’s proposed acquisition of NBCU (you can watch the full length video of the hearing below), Representative Rick Boucher asked Zucker flat out about the company’s exclusion of Boxee users from accessing Hulu content. Zucker’s reponse:

“This was a decision made by the Hulu management to, uh, what Boxee was doing was illegally taking the content that was on Hulu without any business deal. And, you know, all, all the, we have several distributors, actually many distributors of the Hulu content that we have legal distribution deals with so we don’t preclude distribution deals. What we preclude are those who illegally take that content.”

In a blog post, Boxee CEO Avner Ronen responds to Zucker’s claims of illegal content access. He explains that the workaround that currently allows Boxee users to watch Hulu shows is to simply use a web browser for access. Just like Firefox or Chrome users can watch Hulu content, so can Boxee users: “We don’t ‘take’ the video. We don’t copy it. We don’t put ads on top of it. The video and the ads play like they do on other browsers or on Hulu Desktop. And it certainly is legal to do so.”

Considering neither Mozilla nor Google (nor Microsoft or other browser makers) have distribution deals with Hulu, it’s hard not to concede that Boxee has a valid point. What do you think: should Congress intervene to prevent a company like Hulu from blocking access to particular web TV companies, be it Boxee or otherwise?

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Applications Computer

15 Hacks Every Dropbox User Should Know

In addition, Dropbox gives you another 250MB bonus for becoming a Dropbox “Guru.” Just head to the Getting Started section of the website, and complete five of the six steps listed. These are pretty simple requirements, which include taking the Dropbox tour, installing the desktop app, and sharing a folder with friends. This is the quickest and easiest way to get extra free storage without using any referrals.

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Computer

Cisco successfully tests orbital IP router, Pirate Bay ‘very interested’

It’s been almost three years since Cisco and the DoD announced the IRIS project. Short for Internet Routing in Space, the idea is to route IP traffic between satellites instead of bouncing it on and off ground stations. The whole thing has moved forward steadily since we first caught wind of it, culminating with the launch of the first Cisco Space Router aboard an Atlas V rocket last November. According to The Register, the company has just finished its first in-orbit test of the thing, and — lo’ and behold — it’s a success! After some more testing by the DoD (which will go down between now and April), Cisco plans on running yet more trials. And after that? With any luck, IRIS will extend “constant and pervasive” Internet access to areas not served by traditional ground or 3G networks. And never again will a single person have to live their life without having seen the Bill O’Reilly “F**k It, We’ll Do It Live!” rant.

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Computer

Firefox 3.6 Released

After months of testing, Mozilla has finally released Firefox 3.6, the newest version of its popular browser.

The new edition of Firefox sports a new array of features, least of which is an increase in speed — 20% faster than Firefox 3.5, according to Mozilla. It uses Gecko 1.9.2 web-rendering, which improves its load times, startup speed, and stability. Javascript execution is faster and smoother as well.

We’ve talked about some of the other new features before, but our favorite has to be Personas, which lets you customize your Firefox with a single click and without a restart. There’s also autocomplete form functionality and full HTML5 support. You can check out all of the new features here.

The Firefox 3.6 beta has been in testing for several months now, but the release candidates only started coming out this month. It looks like the releases went smoothly, so they’re rolling it out for everyone.

You can visit the Firefox homepage to download the newest edition of the browser.

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Computer Storage

Seagate’s Momentus Thin to ship in 160GB / 250GB sizes this January

seagate-momentus-thin_small

We weren’t waiting on too many more details surrounding Seagate’s 7mm thin laptop hard drive, but one critical tidbit has just now been unearthed by the outfit itself. The Momentus Thin will make its official unveiling at CES here in just a few weeks, where it’ll be available in 160GB and 250GB capacities and with 8MB of cache, a 5400RPM spin speed and a SATA 3Gbps interface. We’re also told that it’ll be far less expensive than similarly sized 1.8-inch HDD options, which means this bugger could soon be planted into Atom D410 / D510-based netbooks. The drive is slated to ship to OEM and integrator partners next month, though specific price points have yet to be mentioned. Have a peek at the first press shots below.