previews

Sneak peek at IE 9

As much bad press as Microsoft gets for Internet Explorer, we can't fault the software giant for continuing to develop what remains to be (for better or for worse) the world's most-used browser. In response to criticism, Microsoft started showing what it terms an Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview. We're told that the forthcoming IE 9 will include modern browser tricks, such as video that can play in the browser without a separate plug-in, better graphics performance, and the HTML5 Web standard that will let the browser handle a more complex class of Web apps. Although IE … Read more

Quickly create alpha images from icons in Preview

Have you ever wondered how MacFixIt gets all those cool icons to start each of our articles? Even if you haven't, this is how you can do it, quick and easy. This tip is great for bloggers who write about applications and don't want to go searching online for an image of the icon from the app they are writing about.… Read more

Apple extends iTunes Web previews to apps

Just a few months after introducing its browser-based iTunes Preview pages for music, Apple has expanded the feature to include items from the App Store.

Now, when a user clicks an iTunes link for an iPhone or iPod Touch app, they're taken to a page with a similar layout to what they'd see when browsing the iTunes Store in Apple's iTunes software. But instead, it's in their browser. This allows users who don't have iTunes installed to see more information about an app without having the software installed. That said, preview pages attempt to launch … Read more

Preview in Snow Leopard not opening images properly

Apple's "Preview" application is an exceptionally useful tool for managing photos in the Finder and performing simple manipulations of the photos, and has become quite popular; however, there are a couple of small problems people have had with using Preview in Snow Leopard, including images not opening in the main window, and groups of images not loading fully when opened.… Read more

Box.net gets a killer app: previews for everything

Three months after inking a deal to acquire Increo Solutions, storage provider Box.net is finally implementing the technology into its own service.

The company on Thursday will begin rolling out a new Adobe Flash-based file preview system that goes a long way to help keep users inside their browser. It allows users to view and interact with stored files even if they don't have the necessary software applications installed.

To a certain degree, this had already been offered for things like image files, rich text documents and MP3s. Box's new system adds compatibility for things like Photoshop … Read more

Apple's iTunes Web preview pages get audio clips

Apple continues to take baby steps in making iTunes a less software-oriented experience. The latest change, which blog The Distorted Loop noticed early Thursday, shows that Apple now lets users listen to 30-second preview clips from its recently-introduced Web preview pages. Here, users who may not have iTunes installed can listen to the first 30 seconds of a song, just as if they were using the media software. Though, in typical Apple fashion, streaming clips requires users to have its QuickTime browser plug-in installed.

It may be a relatively small addition, but it's likely a sign of larger things … Read more

What to expect at CES 2010

CES 2010 begins in Las Vegas on Thursday, January 7, but the press releases start rolling in long before that. The Buzz Out Loud crew took some time from our daily live show to talk a bit about what we expect to see at CES.

2010 monitors preview

Last year, after the dust settled on CES 2009, it became clear to me that there were three major trends dictating the development of new monitors: Full HD resolutions, eco-friendly displays that use less power, and LED backlight technology.

Since CES 2009, all three trends have begun to grow. The vast majority of monitors I reviewed in 2009 were Full HD, 16:9 displays. Also, from Dell's G line to BenQ's recent stark white offering (with an embedded flower pot), the eco-friendly trend is not going away anytime soon. It helps that some of these eco-conscious monitors actually … Read more

2010 gaming preview

While last year's CES didn't blow us away in terms of gaming, we've got high hopes for 2010. Both Sony and Microsoft have new technologies right around the corner and we're hoping to get to see a taste of each at the big show.

Microsoft announced Project Natal at E3 2009, and it would make sense for the company to showcase some of the technology's applications at CES. Could we get an official release date and price for Natal?

Sony has a new motion controller that is almost ready for release so we're anxious … Read more

2010 HDTV preview

A new decade is upon us, and to kick off the "tens" in perfect fashion, there's the International Consumer Electronics Show. CES is ground zero for TV announcements, so each year I use this space to predict the major trends in TV tech. As you may know, CNET also runs the Best of CES awards, and I'll be picking the three most compelling HDTVs again this year. Chances are, one or more of the following trends will play a big part in the winner's pedigree.

Over the last five shows worth of prognostication--CES 2005, … Read more