NOOK for Android offers the ability to customize text with many font styles and sizes, an easy-to-use navigation bar, reading in landscape and portrait modes, and graphical page turns. It is also the first Android eReader application to offer digital lending. Using Barnes & Noble’s unique LendMe™ technology, customers can easily share eligible eBooks for up to 14 days with friends, who can enjoy these digital titles on a NOOK eBook Reader, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch^® and PC enabled with free BN eReader software.

Key features available in NOOK for Android include:

• Shop Barnes & Noble’s vast eBookstore: Search, explore and browse through more than one million digital titles at www.bn.com/ebooks directly by touching Shop Books from the Library. There are more than a half-million free eBooks available and free samples are offered for all eBooks. Learn more about titles from thousands of editorial and customer reviews. Pick a current bestseller, a classic or anything in between and download it wirelessly in seconds.
• Access your personal B&N digital library: All eBooks purchased through the Barnes & Noble eBookstore sync in seconds and are ready to read in your Library.
• Lend to friends: NOOK for Android is the only Android eReading app that offers eBook sharing with friends.
• Read your way: Customize the eReading experience by choosing from eight font types and five sizes, read in landscape or portrait modes and lock the screen orientation.
• Enjoy the read: The fun and immersive experience offers animated or sliding page turns, a navigation scroll bar, bookmarks and more.
• Easy access to your content: Using the Library List view, see the cover art, sort and filter your eBooks by author, title or recent reads. Access rich product details for the selected eBook, including the synopsis and more books from that author.
• Read across multiple devices: Android users can now complement their eReading experiences with Barnes & Noble’s other eReader experiences such as NOOK eBook Readers, previously announced eBook readers powered by the Barnes & Noble eBookstore, and a variety of other computing and mobile devices, including iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry^® and HTC HD2^™ smartphones, HP computers, PC and Mac^®.
• Pick up where you left off: Sync the last page read of the last eBook opened on an Android device with BN eReader (soon to be renamed NOOK) software-enabled devices including PC and iPad. Coming soon, both will sync with NOOK for iPhone and more devices to follow.
• Follows the standard: Read eBooks formatted in ePub.

Those signing up for a new BN.com account when downloading the new application, will also find three Barnes & Noble Classics Series eBooks – Dracula, Little Women and Pride & Prejudice – in their libraries, along with samples of two current bestselling eBooks.

I downloaded and installed it. It looks neat. I’m in the process of downloading the free ebooks. I haven’t tried the features yet.

News Source: Business Wires.

• New Migration Assistant, which helps in porting your emails from older versions of Thunderbird or from other email clients like Outlook, Windows Mail etc.
• Tabbed Email – Thunderbird 3.1’s tabbed email lets you load emails in separate tabs so you can quickly jump between them. Search results open in a new tab.
• Easy account setup and customization.
• Message indexing is faster and provides users with faster search results.
• New Quick Filter Toolbar lets you filter against search terms, tags, starred messages, address book contacts, new emails, and attachments.
• New Saved Files Manager displays all the files you downloaded from your email to your computer.
• Improvements to Stability, Memory, and Password Handling

If you are already using Thunderbird 3.0.x, you can install the new version by clicking Help – Check for updates. You can also download the new version from here.

Technorati Tags: Thunderbird 3.1, Mozilla Messaging, Outlook, Windows Mail

• New default theme called Twenty Ten
• New APIs that allow developers to easily implement custom backgrounds, headers, shortlinks, menus (no more file editing), post types, and taxonomies.
• New menu management (navigation) via Menus option under Appearances Menu
• New wp_login_form() provides a simple login form for use anywhere
• Renamed various menu items, for example Posts->Edit becomes Posts->Posts, and Links->Edit becomes Links->Links, and so on
• Revised administration menu icons
• WordPress and WordPress MU have merged, allowing the management of multiple sites (called Multisite) from one WordPress installation.
• Contextual help text accessed under the Help tab of every screen in the WordPress administration.
• Ability to set the admin username and password during installation.
• Bulk updating of themes with an automatic maintenance mode during the process.
• Support for shortlinks.
• Password nag for newly registered users
• Add additional columns to the Posts Comments view
• Block comments for future posts and password protected posts
• Change to comments UI to show when a comment is replying to another, and link to the parent comment
• Add Details and Install Now action links under each plugin listed in Install Plugins
• Upgrade plugins in bulk

and a whole lot more. For complete list of features and enhancements, click here.

Technorati Tags: Google, Youtube, Video Editor

Alpha 1 brings GNOME 2.31, which includes an update to Evolution email client, which runs much faster in Ubuntu 10.10 compared to Ubuntu 10.04, KDE 4.5 beta 1, Qt 4.7 beta and Linux Kernel  2.6.34-5.12 based on 2.6.34.

You can download Ubuntu 10.10 alpha 1 from here.

Here are the known issues with Ubuntu 10.10 alpha 1:

• Ubuntu Netbook launcher (both the 2D and 3D variants) have an empty “Favourites” tab. Please switch to the “System” tab to find the launcher for the installer. Due to the same root cause, the panel configuration looks like in standard GNOME instead of the UNE specific setup.
• On the alternate images, the boot menu’s “Rescue Mode” item shows as “Alternative desktop environments”.
• The Ubuntu Server amd64 CD image is oversized and will not fit onto a standard 700MB CD. However, you may still test it using a DVD, a USB drive, or a virtual machine.
• Encrypted home directory creation may be broken on some images.
• The Audio and Video tasks are uninstallable on Ubuntu Studio images. You may install most of the packages they contain with a package management tool after installation; bitscope, mencoder, and mplayer are currently broken.

Technorati Tags: Ubuntu 10.10, Maverick Meerkat, KDE 4.5, Linux, Kernel

• Latest GNOME
• Includes 2.6.32-21.32 kernel based on 2.6.32.11.
• This release fully removes HAL from the boot process, making Ubuntu faster to boot and faster to resume from suspend.
• The likewise-open package, which provides Active Directory authentication and server support for Linux, has been updated to version 5.4.
• The Nouveau video driver is now the default for nVidia hardware. It doesn’t support 3D acceleration yet, so if you want 3D acceleration, install the proprietary nVidia driver.
• Three different NVIDIA proprietary drivers are currently available: nvidia-current (190.53), nvidia-173, and nvidia-96.
• Built-in integration with Twitter, identi.ca, Facebook, and other social networks with the MeMenu in the panel.
• The notification area now features more consistent user experience and design for communication, session management, and many other tasks.
• The desktop has been beautified with the addition of two brand new themes, Ambiance and Radiance.
• Share and sync any folder in your home directory, your existing contacts etc with Ubuntu One.
• Ubuntu One music store – Millions of songs are available for purchase from your Ubuntu desktop, integrated with the Rhythmbox Music Player and using Ubuntu One cloud storage for backup and easy sync.

Though most of the bugs are fixed, there are still few known issues with Ubuntu 10.04. Below is the list of known issues with Ubuntu 10.04:

• The Thunderbird mail and news client has been upgraded to version 3, but the “Lightning” calendar extension is not yet available for this version.
• Hibernation may be unavailable with automatic partitioning
• In some cases, ejecting the CD at the end of installation will leave errors. This is fine.
• A bug in migration-assistant prevents some users with separate home partitions from completing the install successfully.
• Partition alignment changes may break some systems
• On some machines, the CD boot fails with the message “The installer encountered an unrecoverable error. A desktop session will now be run so that you may investigate the problem or try installing again.” If you encounter this error, restart your computer with the CD inserted, press any key at the splash screen (when you see the keyboard icon at the bottom of the screen), and select “Try Ubuntu without installing”. Once the desktop appears, use the “Install Ubuntu 10.04″ icon to begin installing Ubuntu.
• Setting wireless regulatory domain via module option no longer supported 
• Ctrl-Alt-Backspace disabled by default in Xorg, configured via XKB

For more information, Click here.
Credit: Ubuntu.
Technorati Tags: Ubuntu 10.04, Lucid Lynx, HAL, Kernel, NVidia

• Ubuntu Lucid Alpha 3 includes the latest GNOME desktop environment.
• Alpha 3 includes the 2.6.32-14.20 kernel based on 2.6.32.8.
• Alpha 3 of Kubuntu features the new KDE SC 4.4.
• Lucid Alpha 3 sports full removal of the hal package, making Ubuntu faster to boot and faster to resume from suspend.
• The likewise-open package, which provides Active Directory authentication and server support for Linux, has been updated to version 5.4.
• The Nouveau video driver is now the default for nVidia hardware.
• Built in integration with Twitter, identi.ca, Facebook, and other social networks with the MeMenu in the panel.
• The Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud installer has been vastly improved in order to support alternative installation topologies.

You can download Ubuntu 10.04 alpha 3 from here. Kubuntu 10.04 alpha 3 can be downloaded from here.
Since it’s an alpha release, please read the known issues below before downloading.

Known Issues:

• On video hardware that supports KMS, the live CD sometimes does not reboot successfully, instead displaying the boot logo indefinitely.
• When running on Ubuntu Server, the plymouth boot splash screen does not exit after the system is booted. To get to a console login after boot, you must press Ctrl-Alt-F1 to switch to VT1.
• Console keyboard selections made at install time may not be correctly respected on reboot, leaving users with the default US keyboard map. This issue affects all images, but is mostly of concern to users of Ubuntu Server.
• Because of the new alternatives system used for nvidia driver packages, the nvidia installer from NVIDIA’s website currently doesn’t work.
• The fglrx binary driver for ATI video chipsets does not yet support the X server in Lucid. As a workaround, users should use the open source -ati driver instead.
• OEM setup mode does not work from the Alpha 3 Desktop CD, because the post-reboot configuration tool is not present. As a workaround, users can use the alternate CD for OEM installs.

Source: Ubuntu.
Technorati Tags: Ubuntu 10.04, Lucid Lynx, KDE 4.4, GNOME, HAL, Kernel, ATI, NVidia

• OpenOffice.org 3.2 Calc and Writer have both reduced ‘cold start’ time by 46% since version 3.0 was released just over a year ago.
• OpenOffice.org 3.2 has made further strides in compliance with ODF 1.2, including closer conformance to OASIS ODFF/OpenFormula specifications.
• OpenOffice.org 3.2 provides improved support for other common office document types – Password protected Microsoft Office XML files, OLE objects, form controls and pivot tables can now be read from MS Excel 2007 documents, Encryption support within the Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP filter allows password protected Microsoft Word documents to be saved, Filters for AportisDoc and PocketWord now support type detection based on DocType, When writing string data to SYLK files, embedded double quotes are no longer escaped by doubling; semicolons are now escaped by doubling..
• Support for Postscript based OpenType fonts.

Other than those general fixes above, there are numerous additional fixes for individual modules of OpenOffice like Writer, Calc, Draw etc. For complete list of changes, refer to OpenOffice release note.

Technorati Tags: OpenOffice, ODF, XML, Postscript

Lanikai Alpha 1 is built on top of the Gecko 1.9.2 platform. Here are some important changes in Thunderbird 3.1 alpha 1.

• Several improvements to IMAP.
• Several fixes for Smart Folders, message filters, and attachment handling.
• Several design improvements and corrections to the interface.
• Download Manager is now accessible as a menu item (Tools > Saved Files).
• Stability and memory improvements.

If you want to give it a try, read the known issues in this release, below.

All Systems

• If you are using the Kaspersky Anti-Spam Extension, it is disabled in Lanikai Alpha 1. The Kaspersky Anti-Spam Extension will support Thunderbird 3 in their next version.
• If you use or had previously used the master password feature, you may be prompted to enter your master password when you first start up Lanikai.
• Your passwords are stored in a new location. If you go back to using a Thunderbird 2, or switch back and forth between Lanikai and Thunderbird 2, your password lists do not get updated.
• Searching your emails is case sensitive for languages other than English.
• If using SSL or TLS, and the certificate that comes from the server is self-signed, expired, or has a domain that does not match the server domain, a dialog will be shown asking if Thunderbird should permanently make an exception for the cert. This should only be done if the error is understood.
• The extended columns in the folder pane were removed in Thunderbird 3 Beta 1. There is an add-on that restores this functionality.
• The compact header view was removed in Thundebird 3 Beta 3. There is an extension that offers similar functionality.
• Some Thunderbird 2 users upgrading to Lanikai may not be able to login to their smtp server because the secure authentication setting maybe turned on but not supported by the smtp server. Check your smtp server settings in Tools -> Account Settings -> Outgoing Server, and edit the smtp server with the issue. If use ‘secure authentication’ is checked, uncheck it and try again.
• Lanikai requires that extensions either come from a secure server using the HTTPS protocol or are digitally signed, or they will fail to install.
• If you are unable to view content for your RSS feeds in the Wide View Layout, you may need to disable the Lightning Calendar add-on if you have it installed or switch to Classic View and restart Thunderbird.
• Some emails sent in Plain Text may move the message and some of the buttons out of the message pane. Open the message in a New Tab, resize the window, or change your layout to Classic View or Wide View to view the message.
• When working Offline, if you compose an email and select ‘Send Later’, your message may not be sent if you reconnect automatically to the Internet. You will need need to manually resend the email from your Drafts folder.
• In some cases, using ‘Save As Template’ from the File menu may not work. You can still Save As Template from the email Compose window or drag the message into the Template folder.

 

Microsoft Windows

• The keyboard shortcut for ‘Mark All Read’ has changed from Ctrl+Shift+C to Shift+C.

You can download alpha1 from here.

Technorati Tags: Gecko, Mozilla Messaging, Thunderbird 3.1, Lanikai, IMPA, Google, GMail

Here is the spec:

• 1GHz Apple A4 processor (custom)
• 0.5″ thick
• 1.5 pounds
• 9.7″ Capacitive touchscreen (1024×768)
• 16-64GB of SSD storage
• 3G available but not in all iPads
• $14.99 for 250MB, $29.99 for unlimited data on AT&T (no contract)
• 3G iPads are unlocked, have GSM micro SIMs
• Accelerometer, Compass
• 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1
• Runs iPhone apps in window or pixel doubling
• Hardware-accelerated OpenGL graphics
• SDK out today
• $499 for 16GB base model, $830 for all maxed out
• Dock with hard keyboard available

Here are the shortcomings:

• No camera so no video chat
• Limited space — 64GB may be a lot for an iPod, but when you’ve got movies and such, it’ll disappear real fast
• Multitasking?
• No SD or multi-card reader means that’s all the storage you get
• It’s obviously no more customizable than the iPhone
• iPod dock connection only means no easy connection of USB devices

Prices start at $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB. Adding 3G costs $130.

Credit: CrunchGear.
Technorati Tags: iPad, Apple