This venerable chat client upgrades with a retooled look and enough Preference control to satisfy even the most obsessive fans of customization. ICQ 6.5 includes video, audio, and text chat modes in a strong push to make the app the most versatile chat client around.
Audio chatting was smooth and painless, although that depends on user connection, of course. There's also a new Quick IM feature that allows you to send a text chat from within your contact list. The text window is only one line high, but perfectly sized if you're just shooting off a quick note.
Many of the notable plug-ins have been folded into the new version as standard features. Standard fare in ICQ now includes SMS messaging and the Flash-movie tZers as well as alerts and skins. Consequentially, the quick-loading app has a larger footprint. Ad banners are nonexistent except in the built-in games, and all text chat histories are automatically saved. Some features, like Push2Talk, seem to have been phased out of the new version, and customizing tZers is no longer an option. Also, the Help option is non-functional in this release.
Despite a few minor setbacks, there are too many improvements to keep ICQ down. Other notable additions include split-screen compatibility, IM forwarding, and integrated Google searching. In enhancing its already rich feature set, ICQ has definitely increased its standing among its many competitors.
Download Now:
http://ping.fm/AouWy
Friday, June 4, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Microsoft updating Windows Live apps
Microsoft on Wednesday outlined a series of improvements it's making to its Windows Live set of downloadable programs for managing photos and videos and keeping files in sync.
With no major update to Windows coming this year, Microsoft is counting on improvements to Windows Live to help boost the appeal of Windows for this year's holiday shopping season.
"We're refreshing Windows 7 with a new suite of apps," general manager Brian Hall said in a telephone interview.
The updates to Windows Live Photo Gallery, Windows Live Movie Maker, Windows Live Mail, and Windows Live Sync will go into beta in the coming months, Hall said, declining to be more specific.
The next version of the Windows Live Photo Gallery tool will add facial recognition abilities and improved editing tools for removing blemishes or scratches. Apple has had face detection in the most recent version of iPhoto, but until now Microsoft has only detected the presence of faces in shots, not tried to recognize who, exactly, was in the picture. Hall said Microsoft's face recognition features draw on the company's research efforts as well as tapping in to the user's existing network of social contacts to figure out who might be in a photo.
A new feature in Photo Gallery is aimed at making for better group shots by letting people create composites from different photos of the same group.
Another new feature in Photo Gallery is aimed at making for better group shots by letting people take multiple pictures and use one person's expression from one shot and another person's face in another shot, using technology to stitch together a composite image. The new software also allows photos that are uploaded and then tagged on Facebook to have those tags brought back into Photo Gallery.
With the updates, Hall insisted, "Windows is better for photos than a Mac, hands down."
The updates to Movie Maker include the ability to upload to Facebook, the ability to import photo caption data from Photo Gallery, and new themes.
Both programs will work with Windows Vista and Windows 7, but not the older Windows XP operating system.
On the Sync front, Microsoft is merging its existing Sync and folder sharing tools as well as the Live Mesh product that had been released as a technical preview. The new Windows Live Sync lets users share an unlimited amount of files in a peer-to-peer fashion among a number of Macs and PCs, but limits cloud storage to 2GB. Users of the Live Mesh preview had access to 5GB of cloud storage, though that was made available to a small number of people, while Hall said the new Sync tool is designed to scale to tens of millions or hundreds of millions of users.
The new tool lets users decide which folders are shared with which computers and which are shared to the cloud. Allowing for peer-to-peer sharing, Hall said, provides a means for people to keep their files in multiple places without handing over control of the data to a third party.
by Ina Fried
News from Geeks On Call – We specialize in providing the computer and network support that is critical for small and medium-sized businesses to succeed in today’s world.
We look forward to becoming your trusted advisor for all your technology needs. Visit us online at www.geeksoncall.com or call us today at 1-800-905-GEEK. (1-800-905-4335)
With no major update to Windows coming this year, Microsoft is counting on improvements to Windows Live to help boost the appeal of Windows for this year's holiday shopping season.
"We're refreshing Windows 7 with a new suite of apps," general manager Brian Hall said in a telephone interview.
The updates to Windows Live Photo Gallery, Windows Live Movie Maker, Windows Live Mail, and Windows Live Sync will go into beta in the coming months, Hall said, declining to be more specific.
The next version of the Windows Live Photo Gallery tool will add facial recognition abilities and improved editing tools for removing blemishes or scratches. Apple has had face detection in the most recent version of iPhoto, but until now Microsoft has only detected the presence of faces in shots, not tried to recognize who, exactly, was in the picture. Hall said Microsoft's face recognition features draw on the company's research efforts as well as tapping in to the user's existing network of social contacts to figure out who might be in a photo.
A new feature in Photo Gallery is aimed at making for better group shots by letting people create composites from different photos of the same group.
Another new feature in Photo Gallery is aimed at making for better group shots by letting people take multiple pictures and use one person's expression from one shot and another person's face in another shot, using technology to stitch together a composite image. The new software also allows photos that are uploaded and then tagged on Facebook to have those tags brought back into Photo Gallery.
With the updates, Hall insisted, "Windows is better for photos than a Mac, hands down."
The updates to Movie Maker include the ability to upload to Facebook, the ability to import photo caption data from Photo Gallery, and new themes.
Both programs will work with Windows Vista and Windows 7, but not the older Windows XP operating system.
On the Sync front, Microsoft is merging its existing Sync and folder sharing tools as well as the Live Mesh product that had been released as a technical preview. The new Windows Live Sync lets users share an unlimited amount of files in a peer-to-peer fashion among a number of Macs and PCs, but limits cloud storage to 2GB. Users of the Live Mesh preview had access to 5GB of cloud storage, though that was made available to a small number of people, while Hall said the new Sync tool is designed to scale to tens of millions or hundreds of millions of users.
The new tool lets users decide which folders are shared with which computers and which are shared to the cloud. Allowing for peer-to-peer sharing, Hall said, provides a means for people to keep their files in multiple places without handing over control of the data to a third party.
by Ina Fried
News from Geeks On Call – We specialize in providing the computer and network support that is critical for small and medium-sized businesses to succeed in today’s world.
We look forward to becoming your trusted advisor for all your technology needs. Visit us online at www.geeksoncall.com or call us today at 1-800-905-GEEK. (1-800-905-4335)
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
HP to cut 9,000 jobs, take $1 billion charge
Hewlett-Packard is spending $1 billion and cutting 9,000 jobs in a restructuring designed to consolidate and invigorate its enterprise services.
The company announced Tuesday that it plans to spend the money to invest in a series of commercial data centers that will offer enterprise customers a more integrated platform on which to run their businesses. The initiative will also consolidate HP's data centers, networks, and applications. But as a result of the increased streamlining and automation, HP expects to eliminate around 9,000 jobs over the next few years.
To pay for the enterprise restructuring, HP will take a charge of about $1 billion over an unspecified number of years that will be included in its financial results. Once the restructuring is complete, the company said it expects to save around $1 billion each year before taxes and between $500 million and $700 million after taxes.
"Over the past 20 months, we focused on integrating EDS and improving profitability," Tom Iannotti, senior vice president and general manager of HP Enterprise Services, said in a statement. "Now that the integration is largely complete, we have identified significant opportunities to grow and scale the business. These next-generation services will enable our clients to benefit from the combined technology and services leadership that only HP offers."
In its most recent quarter, HP reported revenue rising 13 percent to just over $30 billion, and earnings up as well to $1.09 per share, on what the company called "strong performance across every region." Even so, CEO Mark Hurd warned not to expect big spikes in corporate spending in the near future.
by Lance Whitney
News from Geeks On Call – We specialize in providing the computer and network support that is critical for small and medium-sized businesses to succeed in today’s world.
We look forward to becoming your trusted advisor for all your technology needs. Visit us online at www.geeksoncall.com or call us today at 1-800-905-GEEK. (1-800-905-4335)
The company announced Tuesday that it plans to spend the money to invest in a series of commercial data centers that will offer enterprise customers a more integrated platform on which to run their businesses. The initiative will also consolidate HP's data centers, networks, and applications. But as a result of the increased streamlining and automation, HP expects to eliminate around 9,000 jobs over the next few years.
To pay for the enterprise restructuring, HP will take a charge of about $1 billion over an unspecified number of years that will be included in its financial results. Once the restructuring is complete, the company said it expects to save around $1 billion each year before taxes and between $500 million and $700 million after taxes.
"Over the past 20 months, we focused on integrating EDS and improving profitability," Tom Iannotti, senior vice president and general manager of HP Enterprise Services, said in a statement. "Now that the integration is largely complete, we have identified significant opportunities to grow and scale the business. These next-generation services will enable our clients to benefit from the combined technology and services leadership that only HP offers."
In its most recent quarter, HP reported revenue rising 13 percent to just over $30 billion, and earnings up as well to $1.09 per share, on what the company called "strong performance across every region." Even so, CEO Mark Hurd warned not to expect big spikes in corporate spending in the near future.
by Lance Whitney
News from Geeks On Call – We specialize in providing the computer and network support that is critical for small and medium-sized businesses to succeed in today’s world.
We look forward to becoming your trusted advisor for all your technology needs. Visit us online at www.geeksoncall.com or call us today at 1-800-905-GEEK. (1-800-905-4335)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
