smith

Facebook VP says the company is finally focused on mobile

As recently as the end of last year, 80 percent of the products pitched by Facebook's various product teams were focused on how people use the social network on desktops. But not anymore, according to Facebook VP Vaughan Smith.

Smith, the vice president of mobile partnerships and corporate development at Facebook, said at a mobile industry conference today that the company knows it needs to be mobile first from here on out. That's why it's trained all its engineers to be mobile developers, ramped up its update cycle for its Android and iOS apps, and shaken up … Read more

Apple Byte: The iPad Mini is in mass production

In this week's episode, you can't escape all the news and rumors about Apple's anticipated iPad Mini. My own sources have confirmed the reports that it's in mass production. Plus, we're also seeing just as many product leaks with the iPad Mini that we saw from the iPhone 5.

Tim Cook said Apple was "doubling down on secrecy," but I haven't seen it yet. What do YOU think Apple has been doubling down on? Let us know in the poll.

Speaking of the iPhone 5, crying about Maps is getting old. Purplegate … Read more

Pulling back from open source hardware, MakerBot angers some adherents

You likely know MakerBot Industries as the poster child for the new era of 3D-printing. You might not know that, until last week, the company and its CEO, Bre Pettis, were considered shining lights in the open-source hardware movement.

Think of open-source hardware, OSHW, as the physical equivalent of open source software. The Open Source Hardware Association, founded just this past March, offers an extended definition for OSHW. Its Statement of Principles sums things up thusly:

Open source hardware is hardware whose design is made publicly available so that anyone can study, modify, distribute, make, and sell the design or … Read more

Help Granny Smith catch the thief in this well-designed iOS game.

Granny Smith, the protagonist of Mediocre Games' latest creation, isn't your typical grandmother. She does have a cane, but she uses it to chase after the thief who steals from her. The game provides a great user experience with a well-designed, uncluttered interface, and we can see how it could easily become addictive.

There are two onscreen buttons placed at the bottom left and right of the iPhone's screen, and these help Granny catch the thief and collect her apples before the thief does. One button is for jumping, and the second is used to extend Granny's … Read more

Software company hopes to speed up mobile connections

Smith Micro Software, a company that normally stays behind the scenes of mobile service carriers, has released an iOS product that aims to let consumers connect to Wi-Fi in lieu of clogged networks.

The company today announced its NetWise SmartSpot tool, which switches users to Wi-Fi when it's available and switches back to networks when the Wi-Fi is out of reach, highlighting a need for mobile companies to address massive data usage that slows down service.

Data traffic bottlenecking has been an issue for some time now as consumers become accustomed to more data-heavy services and features like video … Read more

Camtasia 8 vastly improves screencast frame rates

When it comes to producing professional-looking movies and demos from your computer screen, TechSmith's Camtasia Studio is known for striking the right balance between a powerful toolset and ease of use. Version 8, released today, adds even more useful features that encourage end-user interactivity without making the app any more complex to use.

The feature-packed screencast app, which includes HD production settings, does have a learning curve, but the user-friendly interface and front-and-center icons for most-used tools go a long way toward lowering the intimidation factor a notch. Plus, TechSmith provides a useful online help center that includes several … Read more

Microsoft creates a social network for students

It's time to share your searches, stream original content and earn good Karma:

With all the news focused around Facebook, Microsoft just quietly launched its own social network for students called So.cl (pronounced "social"). It's different from Facebook and Google Plus in that it is focused around search. What students search for on So.cl is shared with other So.cl users -- and it can be shared on other networks like Facebook. The idea is to give students a quick and easy way to share information found through searches.

Hulu has unveiled 10 original and exclusive shows … Read more

Hulu unveils lineup of original, exclusive shows

Hulu hopes summer reruns will have viewers tuning in to its Web site for original shows.

The online video site today unveiled a lineup of 10 shows -- three original and seven exclusive to the site -- that begin airing in June.

It's among most aggressive announcement of unique content yet for Hulu, which is hoping the new shows will give viewers extra reason to view online content through Hulu. The site has been focusing more on original content even as its slate of available television shows and movies either shrink or move behind its Hulu Plus pay wall. … Read more

Mastering music in the age of iTunes

I recently chatted with mastering engineer Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound in NYC. He mastered Beyonce's "Live at Roseland: Elements of 4," Iron Maiden's "Flight 666" DVD, and James Taylor's "One Man Band," so you can see he's a pretty versatile engineer. When he was a kid the sound of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" turned him around, and the first Guns 'n' Roses album made a big impression.

My first question was simply this, "Does the process start as soon as you hear the album for the … Read more