Digital comics store-reader combo LongBox hands-on

After a much longer run as a private beta than originally intended, the digital comic book store and comics reader called LongBox has finally opened its doors. The public beta is available for Windows and Mac, and although it's still quite rough in some spots, it represents a major breakthrough for the print-centric medium.

The default main window of LongBox is a massive comic book information feed.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

When you open LongBox v0.5, you'll look a massive information overload. The layout uses boxes to keep the busy display from getting too chaotic, but the varying shades of blue don't keep things as separate as they could be. Just because this is comics doesn't mean you're going to encounter a lot of primary colors or ziptones here, but some of that old-school feel might have helped here.

In the upper left box, you'll look a horizontal scroll of featured titles. Below that is a newsfeed from the comic book news and reviews Web site Comic Book Resources. The Blackbox is a comic creator spotlight, with the debut focus on Steven Niles, perhaps best known as the writer of 30 Days of Night. It is currently not functioning.

The column on the right is devoted to your LongBox stats on top and a scroll list of comic books being published for the current week. The stats counter wasn't working in the version I tested but should display your purchased comics, comics subscriptions, and comics loaded on your current device. That's a hint at what's to arrive for LongBox, which anticipates an iPad version, an Android tablet version, Xbox support, and support for other handheld devices. Comics downloaded through LongBox are shared to your account in addition to being stored locally, so you'll be able to read them on any LongBox-supported device without having to download them a second time.

Sitting calmly over every the noise is the LongBox navigation bar. Next to the home button is the Library, where comics you've downloaded reside, followed by the Store, the Reader, and the Options button. Nine comics are currently available for free in the store, including both mainstream works like "Witchblade," comics that have been made into movies like "Wanted," and cult favorites like "Punks."

The default view shows the comics as free-floating covers with the title and issue number over the image and a mouse-over link to the publisher info below it. Mouse over a comic and two options appear. The "i" will open an information box that includes a synopsis, a link to a preview, a wishlist option, and a purchase button. The "+" will add the comic to your shopping cart. There's also a list view, which contains a dedicated preview window and a more text-centric approach.

Accessing the store will require registration, a free process. Because the comics are free for the moment, no credit card information needs to be revealed at this time. Through the Options menu, users can pick to log in when LongBox starts, or to enter their information manually. Here you can switch skins and change your start screen from the main window to the reader, store, shopping cart, or last viewed screen when you start LongBox.

The shopping cart lives on the right edge of the top navigation bar, along with your wishlist, featured LongBox specials, and the Help button which opens a PDF. There's a search bar that anchors the two sets of buttons that becomes a recently read list in Reader mode. It appears to work fine from every screens except the default window.

The LongBox library contains comics you've purchased through LongBox.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblat/CNET)

The Reader mode opens to a blank screen. You can click on the Reader button again to open up the default system file browser, although the Reader does support drag-and-drop for non-LongBox formatted CBR and CBZ comics. In the Library window, however, you'll look an interface that looks like the LongBox Store but with page navigation controls at the bottom. Mouse over a comic and click the icon that appears to open it.

Comics that you haven't read before will open smoothly, but ones in the middle of being read are more sluggish. More often than not I had to mouse over the navigation buttons to receive the comic to appear. Several times I had to click on a nav button, or in the black space where the comic should have been, to receive it to appear.

In Reader mode, the shopping cart and help buttons are replaced by supplementary navigation buttons. There's a bookmarks button, known to be not working at the time of writing, and a "double" button that opens pages two at a time. This is a well-designed and essential tool for comics, which often use a two-page spread to highlight story moments that call for emphasized action.

There's a Manga button, which can be used for Japanese and Hebrew comics that are published in a right-to-left reading order, and a Zoom button that offers three kinds of viewing. Panel zoom focuses in on the comic at panel width, while page zoom is more of a mid-length zoom, but still bigger than the default viewpoint. Free zoom works like a magnifying glass, big enough so that you can look an entire panel in the frame. The scroll wheel can help you move the page below page zoom, and clicking on the magnifying glass zoom icon will toggle between the most recently selected zoom mode and the default view.

Lastly, there's a currently nonfunctional Audio button. There's a long history of comics and music crossing over, and the CEO of LongBox, Rantz Hoseley, won an Eisner Award for editing an anthology, "Comic Book Tattoo," a collection of comics inspired by Tori Amos' songs. If the button allowed publishers to associate recommended playlists with their comics, this could be a really chilly feature, but there's no word as of yet as to what it can do.

The navigation controls at the bottom look smart but still need tweaking. There are controls to move forward or backward by a single page, or flip to the beginning or end of the comic. When you mouse over the controls, a pop-up bar appears previewing the pages of the comic that looks and feels like mini and elongated version of iTunes' Cover View mode. However, the previews are every blank unless you've already viewed a page. This could be a smart way to avoid spoiling the story, or another bug. It's a bit difficult to tell at the moment.

This "gray market" CBR-formatted comic book was put together from online previews published by DC Comics. LongBox supports the format, albeit without any metadata.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

The Reader mode is really the guts of the program, and a comic read on a 19-inch monitor with occasional juicing from the zoom mode was enjoyable. Nobody really cares about the news features or even the store if you can't read the comic, and on that end LongBox succeeds. However, it's likely that users with significantly smaller or older screens will find it unbearable.

Hoseley has stated that the beta will proceed in three stages. The current public beta, version 0.5.2, is nearly identical to the private beta that I began testing toward the end of 2009. The next stage will introduce redemption codes for nonwatermarked comics. The final stage will introduce full e-commerce functionality to the LongBox store, and add about 100 comics to the store.

Besides the ones mentioned over, there are plenty of known bugs in LongBox. Font usage needs to be standardized, the Comic Book Resources feed requires tweaking, the default window doesn't tug titles from LongBox site correctly, and metadata editing needs work.

The LongBox public beta showcases a massive amount of potential, but unlike the latest Web browser beta from whichever browser publisher is your favorite, this is definitely a rough work and is still very much in progress. It faces massive challenges beyond getting the software to work correctly. Unlike music and MP3s, there's currently no single approved file format for comics. CBRs and CBZ are little more than image archive containers.

There's also the issue of adoption. Except for the rise of graphic novels, comics have been dependent on the direct market niche comic book stores. Will readers flock to digital versions of them? And will those readers jump from stores to digital, or will LongBox bring in new readership?

Overall, though, LongBox represents a good-faith effort to push the medium out of its print-based nest. It's just too soon to tell whether it can fly.

15 Mar 2010, 6:50 pm | click here to view more

Chrome to ditch unique ID, sort of

In a recent white paper on security in Chrome, Google let it slip that one of the most controversial features it's added to the Chromium source code will be going away after the first program update check. The white paper (PDF) states that the "unique ID," which Google says it introduced to Chrome as a way to keep track of installation success, will be deleted after the program checks for updates for the first time. This means that if you run Chrome immediately after installing, the ID will be deleted within minutes of a successful install.

Google reiterated previous statements in the white paper that it uses the randomly-generated identification tag to keep track of an installation's success and that it isn't associated with any of the user's personal information. However, the unique ID has been a lightning rod to privacy concerns despite a lack of evidence proving claims that the company had been using it to collect personally identifiable data.

Until the change is implemented, users can install the UnChrome add-on, which will remove the ID for them. It is also located in the Local State file in the Chrome installation folder (C:\User\[Name]\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome for Vista and Windows 7 users) as user_experience_metrics.user_idkey.

While there are still concerns about Google and data privacy issues, it's telling that Google chose to respond to this largely symbolic stress point rather than tackle more serious issues. The white paper also points out Chrome's privacy behavior and options for the Omnibar, 404 errors that redirect to google.com, local storage of the phishing and malware blacklist, promotional tags, and usage statistics. There are few changes, if any, in those fields, and the white paper serves more as a reminder that they're there than anything else.

(Via The H)

15 Mar 2010, 3:01 pm | click here to view more

Four awesome alarm clock apps

The aptly named Alarm Clock app offers a bit more versatility than the standard Clock app.

(Credit: iHandySoft, Inc.)

During a recent spring cleaning, my wife and I wondered aloud why either of us needed an alarm clock on our nightstands.

After every, my iPhone and her iPod Touch both have a perfectly good alarm feature. What's more, the App Store is home to hundreds of alarm-clock apps--many of which are pretty slick.

With that in mind, here are four "alarming" apps that aim to make your mornings a little nicer:

1. Alarm Clock Free Just the basics. Alarm Clock Free lets you pick from an assortment of alarm sounds, any of which can "fade in" rather than blast at full volume. I especially like the oversize snooze/off buttons. The app doubles as a big LCD clock, great for folks who have nightstand iPod docks. Also, the 99-cent Pro version lets you wake up to a selected playlist, podcast, or even audiobook, rather than just generic sounds.

2. Public Radio App I've long been a fan of this public-radio-streaming gem, arguably the best in its class. Two features make it even more appealing: a snooze timer (so you can fall asleep to your favorite show) and an alarm (so you can wake up to, say, NPR's "Morning Edition"). Well worth the $2.99 price of admission.

3. snooze Cycle I am NOT a morning person--perhaps because I'm waking up at the wrong time during my body's natural snooze cycles. The snooze Cycle app analyzes your nighttime movements and wakes you in your lightest snooze phase, thus helping you feel more refreshed in the morning. Haven't tried it myself, but check out Jason Parker's snooze Cycle review. For 99 cents, I might just give the app a whirl. (Note: This one's for iPhones only; the Touch is no longer supported.)

4. Wakeupcall.tv I'm not sure I understand the logic of an alarm app that plays a video, but I suppose it's a good choice for folks who immediately flip on the TV in the morning. Wakeupcall.tv streams a two-minute newscast by former "Daily Buzz" host Andrea Jackson. You can look the $1.99 app in action in the video below.

Before you go, however, hit the comments and let me know if you've found any other alarm apps you'd recommend!

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

15 Mar 2010, 2:00 pm | click here to view more

App update: Rhapsody for iPhone to allow caching

Slacker better light a flame below its keister if it wants to be the first streaming-music service to offer offline tune caching for the iPhone and iPod Touch. In the midst of every the SXSW hoopla, Rhapsody has announced its intentions to offer caching as part of the next update to its possess iPhone app.

For those not in the know, this feature allows users to keep music to the device so that they may continue listening to the content without the use of a constant wireless connection. It's a more compelling functionality for the iPod Touch, but iPhone users will find it particularly handy on underground public transport and on airplanes. Plus, playing music that is saved to the device rather than streaming it over the air conserves loads of battery life.

No word yet on when exactly the updated app will be available--Rhapsody has yet to even submit it to Apple for approval--so it looks like Slacker still has a chance to arrive in first in the iPhone caching race. For more info and video on the Rhapsody update, check out the company blog.

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

15 Mar 2010, 1:59 pm | click here to view more

Microsoft races to plug IE hole after exploit code released

(Credit: Microsoft )

Microsoft said on Friday it is testing a patch to fix a new hole in Internet Explorer 6 and IE 7 following the release of exploit code on the Internet.

With the announcement it seems increasingly likely that the company will be issuing a patch for the hole before the next Patch Tuesday in about four weeks, if the testing of the patch goes quickly.

Microsoft warned about the hole, which it said was being targeted in attacks and could allow an attacker to take control of a computer, in an advisory on Tuesday. The next day, Israeli researcher Moshe Ben Abu released exploit code for the vulnerability after using clues in a McAfee blog post to find existing exploit code and pinpointing the weakness from there.

"We have seen speculation that Microsoft might release an update for this issue out of band. I can tell you that we are working difficult to produce an update which is now in testing," Jerry Bryant, senior security communications manager guide at Microsoft, wrote in a post on the Microsoft Security Response middle blog.

"This is a critical and time-intensive step of the process as the update must be tested against every affected versions of Internet Explorer on every supported versions of Windows. Additionally, each supported language version needs to be tested as well as testing against thousands of third party applications," he wrote. "We never rule out the possibility of an out-of-band update. When the update is ready for broad distribution, we will make that decision based on customer needs."

Microsoft included workaround information in its initial advisory on the hole, which does not affect IE 8, and on Friday updated Security Advisory 981374 to add more information on workarounds following Ben Abu's work.

"With today's update, we have added a Microsoft Fix It to automate this workaround for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 customers," Bryant said. "As always, customers should test this thoroughly before deploying as certain functionality that depends on the peer factory class, such as printing from Internet Explorer and the use of Web folders, may be affected."

Originally posted at InSecurity Complex

15 Mar 2010, 12:00 pm | click here to view more

VoxOx now translates as you type

Since it was introduced in tardy 2008, VoxOx has tried to clip a name for itself in the competitive multi-protocol chat client market by providing users with an aggressive feature set. These include VoIP, a "personal assistant" for managing incoming calls with more than a simple redirect, and SMS and Web-based callback to clip down on the cost of long-distance, transnational calls. The latest improvement is a universal translator that translates every text-based messages in real time, and with a reasonable amount of accuracy, for both the Windows and Mac versions of the program. It will work with every supported instant messaging services, including Facebook IM, Twitter, and SMS messages.

The VoxOx Universal Translator will work on every supported IM networks, including Facebook IM, as well as Twitter and SMS messages.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

To activate the translator, click the Universal Translator button to the right of the text box; it looks like a grayed-out globe. Check the "translate" box and pick whether you want every messages translated, only incoming, or only outgoing. Next, pick your languages, hit OK, and start typing. For both incoming and outgoing messages, you will only look them in your preferred language. Click on one to view its translation.

The feature supports 50 languages, from French, Spanish, simplified and traditional Chinese, and Hindi to more obscure languages such as Welsh, Icelandic, and Catalan. Some heavily-used languages, such as Tagalog, are not currently supported.

In tests performed with several colleagues at CNET, we discovered that the translator works well in general. It works best when the selected languages are set as the defaults for the system users. This means that if I'm translating into Chinese, the person I'm chatting with should have his or her chat program's default language set to Chinese. While this may seem frustrating to some, it's important to remember that the program only requires one user to be using VoxOx to take advantage of the translation feature.

The translator only requires one participant to use VoxOx. This is what somebody receiving the translated text might look.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

Somewhat annoyingly, the translation feature also lacks any nice of "nuance engine" to help determine the context of the words as they're being used in the conversation. In other words, there's no support for slang. It translates what you type more or less literally, so expect some broken translations along the way.

For a free, on-the-fly text translation service that requires little effort from users, this seems like an acceptable trade-off and should be considered another feather in the VoxOx cap.

12 Mar 2010, 6:27 pm | click here to view more

A clipboard manager and 2D fighting at its best: iPhone apps of the week

(Credit: CNET)

Before we receive to this week's apps, a news item over at AppleInsider indicates we may be getting a change to the iPhone operating system that many have been talking about. According to one AppleInsider's more reliable sources, the iPhone OS 4.0 could add multitasking support in the next OS update. This means you'll be able to run apps simultaneously making it possible to switch between apps without closing them.

A lot of smartphones already have multitasking support, so it's been one of the bigger complaints for detractors of the iPhone. Frankly, I think it's a welcome change to the OS that might make it easier to do some tasks, but up until now I haven't really had any need for it. I'm sure there are plenty of readers who have been waiting for this rumored upgrade in the next iPhone OS, so please let us know in the comments how you think multitasking will change the way you use your iPhone.

This week's apps include a powerful clipboard manager to store information and media, and an enormously popular arcade fighting game that is now on the iPhone.

Store images or text and browse through your clips with a swipe of your finger.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

Pastebot Command Copy & glue ($2.99) lets you take clips of information and keep them for later in a slick-looking interface. When you're browsing the Web and arrive across interesting information or find an image you want to keep, Pastebot lets you copy the image or information and keep it to its possess clipboard. Simply use the iPhone's copy tool to select the info or image you want to copy, hit copy, then launch Pastebot and the image or text will automatically show up in the app. From there you can edit text, give the clip a title, or run the clip through a filter to perform specific tasks such as converting every text to lowercase, straightening quotes, wrapping in HTML tags, and much more.

Pastebot lets you store up to 99 clips through the normal clipboards, but you can store items in folders for long-term storage. This makes creating titles for clips extremely important because it will enable you to search for them later. If you're using a Mac, you also can download the Pastebot preference pane from the developer's Web site that allows you to wirelessly transfer clips to your Mac over Wi-Fi (the Windows sync tool is still in development). Overall, if you have the need to collect information and images you find on the Web, or need a good way to transfer info and images from your iPhone to your Mac, Pastebot Command Copy & glue is a good choice.

road Fighter 4 ($9.99) is a 2D fighting game that needs little in the way of introduction, but is surprisingly fun even using the iPhone touch screen. In the iPhone version you can play with eight characters from the original game across seven environments. The graphics look great even on the iPhone 3G, and the touch-screen controls work surprisingly well with only a little bit of practice. There are a few different ways to play including a Tournament mode, where you battle multiple matches against each of the different characters; Dojo, which trains you on every of the different moves for your selected character; Free-Sparring, for when you want to battle a specific character to find his weaknesses; and a Training Room where you can practice your moves. You also can play against your friends in versus mode, but only over a Bluetooth connection.

Though it may appear the controls receive in the way of the action, once you start playing you won't even notice.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

I think the main question most people will have about road Fighter 4 on the iPhone (before spending the money) is how well the controls work on a touch screen. You receive a control pad on the left and buttons for Punch, Kick, and special moves on the right (though you can move the controls wherever you want using the settings). Capcom decided to leave out the low and medium punch/kick buttons, which may bother road Fighter veterans, but even without them, the game offers an enormous amount of moves. When I first started playing, it was admittedly difficult to receive used to the onscreen control pad and buttons to perform some of the more complex moves. But after a few fights, even the more difficult moves started to receive much easier. Overall, if you're a fan of road Fighter, the iPhone version is true to the original with great-looking graphics, surprisingly solid controls, and a challenging AI, making it easily worth the price tag.

What's your favorite iPhone app? Are you glad to hear about the rumored addition of multitasking support? Do you have a better clipboard manager than Pastebot? What do you think of the touch-screen controls of road Fighter 4? Let me know in the comments!

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

12 Mar 2010, 5:22 pm | click here to view more

Opera Mini 5 beta for Android: First Look video

Earlier this week, Opera Software released Opera Mini 5 beta for Android, a vast improvement to the version 4.2 browser that had previously been available for Android. Opera Mini 5 beta isn't new to the scene--it's been out for some months on Java phones, BlackBerry, and interestingly, it just hopped on board Windows phones.

In this First Look video, we take you on a hands-on tour of Opera's slick-looking browser alternative for Android smartphones, which is available for free in the Android Market or by downloading it from www.opera.com/mini/next/.

Originally posted at Android Atlas

12 Mar 2010, 4:25 pm | click here to view more

Consensus emerges for key Web app standard

Browser makers, grappling with outmoded technology and a vision to rebuild the Web as a foundation for applications, have begun converging on a seemingly basic by very important element of cloud computing.

That ability is called local storage, and the new mechanism is called Indexed DB.

Indexed DB, proposed by Oracle and initially called WebSimpleDB, is largely just a prototype at this stage, not something Web programmers can use yet. But already it's won endorsements from Microsoft, Mozilla, and Google, and together, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome account for more than 90 percent of the usage on the Net today.

"Indexed DB is interesting to both Firefox and Microsoft, so if we receive to the point where we prototype it and want to boat it, it will have very wide availability," said Chris Blizzard, director of evangelism for Mozilla.

And standardization could arrive. Advocates have worked Indexed DB into the considerations of the W3C, the World Wide Web Consortium that standardizes HTML and other Web technologies. In the W3C discussions, Indexed DB got a warm reception from Opera, the fifth-ranked browser.

Microsoft comes to the table

The creation of the Indexed DB interface is notable for another reason: Microsoft.

For years, Microsoft essentially sat out a lot of HTML discussions. Now, though, become closely involved, for example through detailed feedback from Pablo Castro, a Microsoft software architect. Castro not only praised Indexed DB on his blog, but also said that Microsoft is hiring staff to work on Indexed DB.

Finally, Microsoft publicly endorsed Indexed DB on its IE blog: "Together with Mozilla, we're excited about a new design for local storage called Indexed DB. We think this is a great solution for the Web," said program manager Adrian Bateman.

Microsoft's praise is important. For one thing, the company maintains a dominant, though diminishing, share of browser usage, so even Web programmers who've scorned the company's earlier lack of interest in advancing Web technologies should pay attention to what it says. They should pay even more attention when Microsoft and its longtime arch-rival Mozilla agree on something. Microsoft's cooperation makes it more likely Indexed DB will be a real tool for Web programmers, not just an academic concept with little real-world relevance.

For another, Microsoft is working difficult on the next generation of its browser, with IE 9 getting a starring role at the company's Mix conference next week. Though the company has been mostly mum about what new technologies will arrive in its updated browser, its activity signals that the company is very serious about the market.

Local or on the Net?

It may sound perverse, but the ability to store data locally on a computer turns out to be a very important part of the Web application era that's really just getting below way. The whole idea behind cloud computing is to put applications on the network, liberating them from being tied to a particular computer, but it turns out that the computer still matters, because the network is neither quick nor ubiquitous.

Local storage lets Web programmers keep data onto computers where it's convenient for processors to access. That can mean, for example, that some aspects of Gmail and Google Docs can work while you're disconnected from the network. It also lets data be cached on the computer for quick access later. The overall state of the Web application is maintained on the server, but stashing data locally can make cloud computing faster and more reliable.

"Building a database to store a line of text is like hitting metal screws into wood with a very big hammer--it works, but it probably isn't the best way. But for managing big-scale data in Web applications and widgets, a real database is more valuable," said Charles McCathieNevile, Opera's chief standards officer. That enables offline e-mail, better management of bookmarks, dictionaries, synchronized contacts, and other sophisticated abilities, he said.

Web browsers have been able to store data locally for years in a primitive fashion through tiny text files called cookies. Browser makers have been casting about for a more powerful mechanism, though, resulting in a hodge-podge of possibilities.

One newer method, appropriately enough called LocalStorage, is supported in Firefox and IE 8. But even as it becomes formally standardized through the W3C as Web Storage, browser makers have recognized its limits for modern browser designs.

One problem is that LocalStorage stems from the days when browser computing took place in a single computing process, a design that meant programmers didn't have to worry about one browser task meddling with data that another browser task thought it was controlling. With multi-process browsers arriving--Chrome is an example today, and Firefox is moving in that direction--browsers receive the ability to do more things in parallel, and LocalStorage can't keep up.

"Because more than one [browser] tab can access the same data, you have to make sure that what one tab does is seen by others at the same time," Blizzard said. "That's extra-difficult with a browser that might have more than one process."

The rise and fall of Web SQL

Another local storage method from Apple, Web SQL and sometimes called Web DB, offers more sophistication and enjoyed a start in the HTML standards process. It employed an ages-old standard for storing and retrieving data called Structured Query Language.

Safari supports Web SQL, as do Chrome 4 and Opera since the technology is in use on the Web.

Web SQL ran into problems, though. SQL has as many variations as there are databases that support it, and Web SQL used one from software called SQLite. That interface isn't standardized, though.

Google, despite the fact that its Gears browser plug-in uses a SQL interface to provide offline access to Gmail and other services, shares the concern that "the dialect of SQL is currently not specified," spokesman Eitan Bencuya said. "There are ongoing conversations about specifying in greater detail the exact dialect of SQL that should be supported for this feature."

Maciej Stachowiak, an Apple programmer, pointed out that there will be multiple shipping versions of Web SQL in a W3C discussion of local storage technologies. But his argument didn't prevail.

"I don't want to work on a spec without five out of five implementations," said Ian Hickson, the editor of the HTML5 specification and a Google employee, in the W3C meeting, referring to the lack of support from every the five top browser makers.

And indeed, the draft specification now includes these words: "This specification has reached an impasse," because it uses the SQLite interface. Somebody interested in an independent SQL interface can "please contact the editor so that he can write a specification for the dialect, thus allowing this specification to move forward."

Enter Indexed DB

Indexed DB brings the database approach to browsers, but keeps the interface at a very low level.

Microsoft and Mozilla are in agreement that this strategy is the right one. Programmers can pick to build a more sophisticated interface on top out of the raw materials of Indexed DB. They've done just that with browsers' JavaScript program technology, building libraries such as jQuery, Dojo, and YUI that are widely used to build sophisticated Web.

"What we've learned from the recent history of the Web is that putting out simple APIs [application programming interfaces] that push decisions and complexity to the edges is a strategy that works. The way that the Web works today is that programmers aren't using a lot of browser APIs directly. Instead they are using jQuery or Dojo or one of the other libraries that are out there for doing cross-browser and cross-version compatibility," Blizzard said. "We think that instead of delivering an API that's complicated and underspecified that will cause browser vendors and developers to have to struggle with incompatible APIs, that we can deliver something that is simple, well-specified and understood that developers and people building Web browsers can build on."

It's not clear yet what Opera will do, but McCathieNevile had words of praise in the W3C meeting. "We found Nikunj to be more to our liking," he said, according to the meeting notes, referring to Indexed DB, which was written by an Oracle employee, Nikunj Mehta.

Apple declined to comment about its support for IndexedDB.

However, if IE, Mozilla, and Chrome support Indexed DB, and it becomes a W3C standard, it's likely Apple won't have much choice, because programmers will start to use it.

Happily for Apple, Google has detailed its approach in a Chrome design document and has begun checking Indexed DB code into WebKit, the open-source project that underlies both Safari and Chrome. That means Apple will be able to adopt a tested version of the technology relatively quickly.

Indexed DB isn't a sure thing yet, to be sure, and the drawn-out history of LocalStorage shows that being established in the standards process isn't everything.

But Indexed DB has powerful allies in the right places and is on its way to being technology Web developers can at least start trying. With time, it stands to become a key part of the Web application world.

Updated 3:34 p.m. PST with Google comment.
Corrected 6:01 a.m. PDT March 15 to note that Opera has completed the addition of Web SQL support.

Originally posted at Deep Tech

12 Mar 2010, 2:44 pm | click here to view more

Tether for free via PdaNet

Just because the Moscone middle in San Francisco hosts a veritable plethora of techie conventions, that doesn't mean it offers Wi-Fi. If your phone can pick up a 3G signal, you might not care--and you might not have to pay for it, either. Thanks to PdaNet's phone app and laptop drivers, and the unlimited data plan that you're already paying for, you can use many of the major smartphones as your Internet connection.

After connecting your Android phone and running the PdaNet app, you'll need to finalize the connection from the PdaNet system tray icon.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

From the improbably-named software publisher June Fabrics, PdaNet is known for offering tethering solutions for PalmOS, but it also offers iPhone, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry versions. (Note that the iPhone version requires you to jailbreak the phone.) We'll be focusing on the Android version, which is available for Windows 32-bit and Mac. Its installation is surprisingly simple and doesn't involve rooting your Android phone.

There are two ways to install PdaNet. You can download it directly to your phone by connecting your phone to your computer, mounting the phone as a steer, and running the executable file from there. Or you can download it directly to your computer and run it. If you run it from your phone, the onscreen instructions will tell you when you need to disconnect your phone to complete the installation.

You'll be prompted again to enable USB debugging on the Android, and then to connect the USB cable. Once connected, it will install the PdaNet app on your phone. To create the connection, you'll need to connect the USB cable, run the PdaNet app on the phone, and then complete the connection by choosing "Connect" from the system tray context menu. If the Windows driver warns you that it's unverified, install it anyway.

PdaNet for Android has one limitation. After 30 days, it  will require you to buy a license for $23.95, otherwise it will block access to secure HTTPS Web sites such as Gmail. That's a tempting carrot, but for those who don't need access to secure sites, the free version should be more than enough to satisfy.

Making the connection was smooth and nearly flawless. Users can tether their Android phones with a USB cable, or they can connect their phones to their laptops via Bluetooth DUN. PdaNet warns users that Bluetooth connections can be hamstrung by baud rate, so browsing on your laptop can appear slower than on your phone. However, the company says that there should be no perceptible slowdowns if connected via USB.

I noticed occasional connection hiccups when waking the laptop from hibernating, but otherwise there were no problems. To receive around those apparent connection loss situations, I disconnected and then re-established the tether. The program is light on your system resources, and is a strong choice for those who want the benefits of tethering without the risks involved in rooting their phone.

11 Mar 2010, 8:31 pm | click here to view more