Mozy is one of the most popular cloud backup services around, with more than one million users storing around 70 petabytes of data. Its popularity apparently put it on the acquisition radar of VMware -- which has now made Mozy part of its virtualization empire.

VMware's official blog post makes it clear that the company wasn't so much interested in Mozy as a consumer offering. Rather, it's the inner workings of Mozy which piqued VMware's curiosity. CTO Steve Herrod says, "Over the past 5 years, Mozy has built one of the best examples of a globally distributed, large-scale cloud offering." He adds that the move will allow VMware to "further ramp our own cloud-related learning and accelerate new IP, scale, and capabilities" of its existing offerings.

Existing Mozy customers don't need to worry, of course. VMware has pledged to continue running Mozy's service without interruption.

VMware adds Mozy to its cloud and virtualization empire originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/05/vmware-takes-over-operation-of-mozy/

EASTMAN KODAK CO EARTHLINK DST SYSTEMS DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES DIODES INORATED

Continue reading Windows 8 getting a built-in PDF reader, Metro-style

Windows 8 getting a built-in PDF reader, Metro-style originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/windows-8-getting-a-built-in-pdf-reader-finally/

BT GROUP CANON MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS MICROSOFT MILLICOM INTL CELLULAR

The developer of iCab Mobile, a feature-rich alternative to the Safari Web browser on iPad and iPhone, has been ordered by Apple to remove its ability to download and install JavaScript modules.

Presumably it's not the fact that iCab can execute JavaScript that's causing Apple to apoplectically puff and splutter, but rather its ability to download modules. Both Apple and Google frown upon apps that contain market-like functionality, and someone at Apple probably thought that iCab's JavaScript modules looked like a bit too much like discrete apps.

Alexander Clauss, iCab's developer, has rather a lot to say on the matter. "Maybe if I would have called the modules 'smart bookmarks' and would have made installing them much more complicated, Apple would have never asked to remove the ability to download them from the internet. The great user experience of installing modules has probably created a suspicion that these modules are more than just a piece of JavaScript code. From a pure technical point of view, if Apple does not allow to download modules (JavaScript code), Apple would also have to disallow to load web pages in general, because these do also contain JavaScript code."

In conclusion, to circumvent Apple's draconian decree, iCab Mobile now simply comes bundled with some 20 JavaScript modules. The ability to download modules made by third-party developers has been disabled, however -- but even then, Clauss says that you can simply contact him and ask for your module to be bundled with the next version of iCab.

Download iCab Mobile for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch ($1.99)

Apple orders iCab iOS browser to cripple JavaScript modules originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/08/apple-orders-icab-ios-browser-to-cripple-javascript-modules/

BT GROUP CANON MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS MICROSOFT MILLICOM INTL CELLULAR

We've all heard it before; you need to select a lengthy password, one that's hard to guess. Not a dictionary word. And it has to have some capital letters in it too, and some digits, and a symbol or two won't hurt either.

That's a handy set of rules to keep in mind, but How Secure is My Password helps us understand why they're important.

It's basically like a full-screen version of one of those password-strength meters websites sometimes use. But instead of showing you a bar going from "weak" to "strong", it shows you an estimation of how long your password would take to crack. That's a much more visceral way to understand why your password is strong.

For example, when I entered "rabbit", it came back with "your password is one of the 500 most common passwords. It could be cracked almost instantly". "rabbit5" would take two hours, "$rabbit5" would take 38 days, and "$rabbitZ5" would take 237 years. It's quite enlightening to see what a difference three simple characters can make.

How Secure is My Password lets you know just that originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 05 Mar 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/05/how-secure-is-my-password-lets-you-know-just-that/

ADOBE SYSTEMS ADVANCED SEMICONDUCTOR ENGINEERING ALLIANCE DATA SYSTEMS ALLTEL AMAZONCOM

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Last month, Switched On discussed two of the Android expansion initiatives announced at Google's I/O conference -- the relatively easy to execute Android Open Accessory program and the relatively difficult to execute Android@Home initiative. In support of the latter, which would seek to wedge a new home networking standard among wireless systems such as Zigbee, Z-Wave and Insteon.

In making the case for Android@Home, Google showed off a new LED light bulb from Lighting Science Group that included the necessary data radio embedded in the bulb. The advantage versus traditional lighting controls is that it removes the requirement for an electrician (or at least advanced DIYer) to build the radio into the wall plate. NXP Semiconductors has also shown off both compact flourescent and LED bulbs that can be controlled wirelessly via smartphones and other devices. But in a quest to tackle two staples of the smart home in one flip of a switch,, speaker house Artison has teamed up with lighting company Sylvania. to create MusicLites. As its name suggests, MusicLites combines lighting controls and multi-zone distributed audio in in a single product, but is it an approach you'll buy into?

Continue reading Switched On: Light music

Switched On: Light music originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/t-jzHjHAJk8/

JDS UNIPHASE JDA SOFTWARE GROUP JACK HENRY and ASSOCIATES IXYS ITRON

We’ve reviewed our share of iPad stands here on The Gadgeteer. Today I want to show you another iPad stand, but this one isn’t for your desktop, it’s an iPad floor stand called the iProp. The iProp is an adjustable stand that will allow you to use your iPad hands-free for watching movies, reading, or [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/06/22/iprop-ipad-stand-review/

FORMFACTOR FISERV FIRST SOLAR FINISAR FEI COMPANY

We've covered Classic Shell before, but here's the crib note: Classic Shell restores almost every Windows XP-era Explorer feature. The best change, in our opinion, is the reemergence of the 'up' arrow, meaning you now navigate without using the Windows Vista/7 'breadcrumbs' address bar. The status bar yet again shows the total size of your selection, and -- praise be! -- the diabolical Windows 7 Copy File 'copy and replace?' dialog has been replaced with a Windows XP lookalike (image after the break).

New to the most recent version of Classic Shell is the ability to make IE9 look like IE8. With Classic Shell the title bar yet again has a caption, so you can see the full title of Web pages. The current security zone and loading progress indicator have been put back into the status bar, too. If you enable 'Show tabs on a separate row,' it's almost like using IE8.

Finally, Classic Shell replaces the omnipotent Windows 7 Start Menu with the age-old 'classic' Windows 2000/XP-style Start Menu. Classic Shell makes the Start Menu skinable, too, if you're into the kind of thing.

As awesome as it sounds, we've only touched on a small section of Classic Shell's feature set. Check the Classic Shell site for a complete list. There's a few more images of Classic Shell in action after the break.

Download Classic Shell for Windows

Continue reading Classic Shell now makes Internet Explorer 9 look like IE8

Classic Shell now makes Internet Explorer 9 look like IE8 originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/classic-shell-makes-windows-explorer-and-ie9-look-like-their-anc/

NIKON NINTENDO NOKIA NVIDIA ORACLE

Sprint finally released its much-anticipated Evo 3D into the wild today, but it turns out that's not the only good news for fans of the Now Network. Courtesy of This is my next, we've got some tasty tidbits regarding Sprint's forthcoming phone lineup for Q3 of this year. Apparently, we can expect to see the successor to Samsung's Epic 4G, the Epic 2, sporting a 4-inch display, a single-core 1.2GHz Hummingbird processor, and an 8-megapixel shooter. There's also an unnamed 4G device from Sammy in the works, which our gadget senses tell us may be Sprint's version of the Galaxy S II, the Within. Not a fan of little green bots? Not to worry, because RIM is bringing its Bold Touch and Monaco handsets to the carrier, plus a push-to-talk BlackBerry, too. Well played, Mr. Hesse -- with all these fancy new phones in the works, might this be the summer of Sprint?

Sprint's 2011 Q3 roadmap leaks, gives a glimpse of our smartphone future? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 21:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/4Zs8fch278U/

INTERNATIONAL GAME TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES (IBM) INTERDIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS INTEL INSIGHT ENTERPRISES

By Ryan Paul, Ars Technica Nokia has finally announced the long-anticipated N9 handset, the culmination of Nokia’s five-step plan to deliver a mainstream Linux-based smartphone. The N9 is an impressively engineered device that is matched with a sophisticated touch-oriented interface and a powerful software stack with open source underpinnings. It’s a worthy successor of the developer-centric [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/06/nokia-n9-failure/

INTEL INSIGHT ENTERPRISES INGRAM MICRO INFORMATICA INFOCUS

Firmly departing from the Stuff Of Dreams category, Duke University physicists have successfully tested an acoustic cloaking device that fools sound waves while looking nowhere near as scifi as you'd think. Layering nothing more than a bunch of hole-punched plastic sheets -- known as meta-materials, for those curious -- atop a ten centimeter long block of wood, highly-directed sound in the 1 - 4kHz range bounced right back into the ether none the wiser. The cloaking tech owes some of its origin to the math behind transformation optics -- and maybe to the Duke team, too. Besides allowing defense department bunkers to erupt into silent applause, the research should prove useful in the construction of future concert halls. DIY hobbyists, let us know what you can rig up with some trash bags.

[Thanks, Drew]

Duke University physicists test first air-based acoustic invisibility cloak originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Jun 2011 16:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/U-FNqwOJPsg/

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