ie8 fix

I

Zinio Z-Pass gives you three magazines for $5 per month

I love a good magazine. That's why I'm hoping digital distribution services like Next Issue and Zinio can help usher in the age of the digital periodical.

Yesterday, Zinio gave it a little nudge by unveiling Z-Pass, a sort of a la carte subscription option: three magazines for $5 per month.

According to the Zinio press release, "The monthly cost of a Z-Pass is the lowest available in the market for a multiple-magazine subscription model." That's technically true, but with a huge asterisk: Next Issue (a sort of Netflix for magazines) costs $9.99 per … Read more

Glasses with Google Glass: Prescription versions appear at Google I/O

SAN FRANCISCO--Google Glass currently comes in five colors and has a pop-in sunglass visor, but no version of the Explorer Edition comes with prescription lenses. For glasses-wearers like me, that means getting contacts or jamming them over my frames. Next year, that may change.

You had to look closely on the Google I/O show floor, but a few Google employees were wearing Glass prototypes with actual prescription glasses attached. Designed in-house at Google, they actually look good: crisp modern lines, but not exactly for the Ray-Ban set. Mark Shandy, seen above, was kind enough to show them off … Read more

Apple graphics-chip supplier hints at future iPad (Q&A)

Imagination Technologies, a graphics-chip designer that supplies the graphics tech in the iPad and iPhone, offers some tantalizing insights into what could power the next iPad.

CNET spoke Wednesday with Tony King-Smith, vice president of marketing at Imagination Technologies, about what's coming down the pike. While he would not confirm what's inside future iPads, it's a safe bet that Apple -- which has a 9.5 percent stake in the U.K. company -- will continue to tap its technology.

Q: Imagination chips are inside the newest iPad and iPhone, correct? King-Smith: The [graphics] core currently in … Read more

Apple iOS 6 devices get nod for U.S. military use

U.S. military members will now be able to use the iPhone 5, along with the Samsung Galaxy S4 and BlackBerry 10 devices.

The U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has approved the use of Apple iOS 6 devices on the Defense Department's networks, the agency said in a statement Friday.

That means the DOD can provide iPhones and iPads running iOS 6 to its employees, though employees cannot use their own devices on the military network, a DISA spokeswoman told CNET.

"It doesn't mean [Apple is] getting a contract with us or anything like that,&… Read more

Apple orders hint at iPad Mini shipment decline

Apple's iPad Mini could be entering a rough few months, according to the latest information the sometimes-spotty DigiTimes.

The blog on Friday reported that AU Optronics, the company that supplies panels for Apple's iPad Mini, will only ship 2.5 million to 2.8 million units to manufacturers in the second calendar quarter, down from the 4 million it shipped in the first quarter.

According to DigiTimes, which is citing "supply chain sources" who claim to have knowledge of the drawdown, Apple cut orders in anticipation of a slowdown in iPad Mini shipments for the rest … Read more

Google: Dart will rescue browsers from JavaScript

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google long has been a firm believer that JavaScript, the programming language used to build Web apps such as Google Maps and Gmail, could shoulder a much heavier computing load.

But even as the company continues to push JavaScript's abilities with Chrome's V8 engine, some at the company believe JavaScript is pushing up against its limits. For that reason, Google developed its Dart programming language, and at the Google I/O developer show here, the company made the case for Dart.

"The ultimate goal is to get Dart into Chrome. I hope you all … Read more

Google engineers: We're trying to fix Android fragmentation

SAN FRANCISCO -- Engineers on the Google Android team say they are still working hard to ensure that Android updates are rolled out to new devices in a timely fashion.

During a fireside chat at the Google I/O developer conference here Thursday, 11 members of the Android development team fielded questions from the audience of developers. Android team members acknowledged the continuing issue of fragmentation within the Android ecosystem. But they also said they planned to continue a rapid pace of innovation.

"This is something we think about a lot," said Dave Burke, engineering director for the … Read more

Google security: You (still) are the weakest link

SAN FRANCISCO--Two of Google's top Chrome and Google Apps security experts confessed that the problem of passwords will continue to plague the people who use them and computer security for the foreseeable future.

On the second day of the company's I/O conference here on Thursday, Eran Feigenbaum, the director of security for Google Apps, suggested that people follow three recommendations to stay safer online.

"You should turn on two-step verification, make sure [the browser] is up to date, and make sure your password recovery options are set," the six-year veteran of Google said.

His colleague, … Read more

Google Glass as congressional catnip: That didn't take long

Let's stipulate for the record that Congress has every right to ask questions of private industry as it works on the nation's behalf. I remember reading something to that effect when I was studying social studies once upon a time.

Then you have this: A public letter sent to Google CEO Larry Page by eight members of Congress inquiring "whether this new technology could infringe on the privacy of the average American."

News flash: Congress has discovered the 21st century.

It's not that the congressional representatives who signed onto to this letter were necessarily naive … Read more