release

Can the PlayStation Vita succeed?

Rewind to E3, June 2011: we saw the PlayStation Vita. We marveled at its capabilities and its price. For $250--at the time, the same price as a Nintendo 3DS--Sony offered a far superior piece of hardware. We looked forward to its release at the end of the year.

Of course, that was then, and this is now. The Nintendo 3DS dropped its price to $170, still expensive but more sensible. The Vita will release in Japan on December 17, but in the U.S. the release has been delayed until February 22, 2012. Sony has been keen to make a comeback and make a new handheld game system to revive the flailing world of the PSP. Can it succeed?

Regardless of the hype and demand the Vita is able generate in the U.S., there's still a general sentiment of disappointment sweeping through the gaming community on this side of the world. As the Vita misses the 2011 holiday season, a huge loss of momentum follows. Instead of cashing in on becoming what would likely be the toy to get this year, the Vita will see a late February release, just in time to coincide with paying off bank-breaking gift-giving expenditures from a few weeks prior.

It's easy to make lofty accusations about missing golden opportunities and of course we don't know what truly influenced this decision made by Sony, but it's impossible to ignore the potential impact the Vita could have had in the U.S. before 2012 sets in.… Read more

Mozilla pushes Firefox fuddy-duddies toward the future

Mozilla has begun notifying Firefox 3.6 users that now is a good time to upgrade to Firefox 8.0.1--and to the browser's new fast-moving ethos.

The change had been planned for at least two other occasions in recent weeks, but Mozilla postponed it. And then yesterday, Mozilla flipped the switch so that when Firefox 3.6 checks with a server to find out if there's an update, it'll find the newest version of the browser.

"It's live, and users should see an update in the next 24 hours," said spokeswoman Erica Jostedt. … Read more

Five ways to snap a photo with your iPhone

One of the major improvements for both iOS 5 and the iPhone 4S was made in the area of photography. Upgraded camera specs on the new iPhone 4S and improved software in iOS 5 make taking pictures much more appealing from your phone. These tips can help even further, giving users greater options when producing photos.

1. Use your software shutter-release button. This is the basic iOS function that has been included since the very beginning. Open the camera app, adjust your frame and zoom level, then press the camera icon. For better shake control, try pressing and holding the … Read more

Apple releases iOS 5

After a four-month wait, Apple released iOS 5 to consumers this morning.

The new software, which powers Apple's iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, comes after seven beta versions of the software, dating back to June when iOS 5 made its debut at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference.

iOS 5, which is available as a free update, brings an overhaul to Apple's notifications system, alongside a new messaging platform called iMessage that lets iOS users text and chat with one another free of charge. The software is also deeply tied to Apple's iCloud service, which ferries photos, applications, and settings back and forth between iOS devices, and serves as a built-in backup solution. Perhaps most important of all, iOS 5 lets iOS devices stand on their own, removing some of the ties to Apple's iTunes by letting users update their software and edit media right on the device.

The new version of the software can be found by plugging your iOS device into iTunes. It's compatible with the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, third- and fourth-generation iPod Touches, and both the first- and second-generation iPad. Users with older iOS devices remain on older versions of the system software.

Below is the full change log:… Read more

Mozilla postpones Firefox 3.6 update plan

Mozilla has postponed its plan to prompt Firefox 3.6 users to upgrade to the latest version of the open-source Web browser to make sure its servers are up to snuff.

The organization had planned to flip a switch so that users of Firefox 3.6 would be prompted to get the latest version, Firefox 7.0.1. That change that would get a large fraction of people onto Mozilla's rapid-release process--Firefox 3.6 was the second most widely used version of the browser in September, and Mozilla expects the upgrade prompt to encourage a lot of people to … Read more

Mozilla coaxing old-era Firefox 3.6 users to upgrade

In a move expected to bring a large number of Firefox users onto Mozilla's rapid-release process, people using Firefox 3.6 will be encouraged to update to the current version 7.0.1 today.

Mozilla has moved to the rapid-release process to try to make Firefox more competitive by getting improvements into users' hands sooner. Google's Chrome, which has been increasing in browser usage at Firefox's expense, pioneered the six-week rapid-release cycle that Firefox now uses, too.

When Mozilla releases new major versions of Firefox, the older browsers don't immediately notify users they can upgrade. But … Read more

The 404 918: Where a phone by any other name would smell as sweet (podcast)

The band is back together again, just in time for the release of the Apple iPhone 4S. Like everyone else in the first world, we have our share of complaints, but to whine about its aesthetics is to downplay the exciting changes to iOS 5, so we'll try to keep it posi without coming off as fanboiz.

We'll review CNET's First Take of the iPhone 4S at the start of the episode, beginning with a pedestrian explanation of its network connectivity options, and go over some of the more exciting features about iOS 5, things like Newsstand, iCloud with Find My Friends, Cards, and a new AppleCare+ accidental protection package.

And just to explore the playful side of yesterday's announcements, we'll tell you why Japanese customers are chuckling at the name Siri and show you a Steve Jobs Soundboard that could offer useful buying suggestions for potential upgraders.

After the first bathroom break, we'll move onto the general tech stories of the day, including a money dispute that could finally kill "The Simpsons" after 23 seasons, Google's first adult daycare center, a batch of rereleased Disney movies in 3D, and NASA seeking applicants for its next astronaut class in 2013.

The 404 Digest for Episode 918

CNET's complete coverage of the Apple iPhone 4S. Get $200 back for your iPhone 4. Money dispute may end 'Simpsons' Google opens first retail store for Chromebooks. Seriously, Apple? In Japan, Siri fans bottom jokes.

Are Disney's 3D rereleases helping people change their minds about 3D? NASA seeking applicants for next astronaut candidate class. Bathroom break 1: Nancy Grace might have farted on last night's Dancing With the Stars. Bathroom break 2: The Museum of Obselete Objects Presents: The Fax Machine.

Episode 918 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Apple to hold iPhone 5 event on-campus, ATD says

Apple will unveil the next incarnation of the iPhone on its corporate campus in Cupertino, Calif., instead of in San Francisco, All Things Digital is reporting.

Citing unnamed sources, ATD's John Paczkowski says the October 4 event will go down at Apple's Town Hall Auditorium and that it's not clear why the change is being made this time around.

Could it be, Paczkowski wonders, that setting the final date was too fluid a proposition to make it practical for Apple to book one of its usual venues in advance? Perhaps the venues were already taken, or maybe Apple simply wanted a more intimate setting, he adds.

In any case, the news, if true, helps support ATD's earlier report of the actual October 4 date--CNET's Josh Lowensohn has noted that Apple's usual product-launch venues, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and the Moscone Center, both in San Francisco, are reserved that week as part of Oracle's OracleWorld confab.… Read more

Mozilla proposes not-so-rapid-release Firefox

Mozilla, faced with business users' stiff resistance to its new rapid update schedule for Firefox, has proposed a slower-moving version of the browser.

Under the proposal, Mozilla would issue a new Extended Support Release (ESR) version of Firefox every 30 weeks. That's five times slower than the new rapid-release cycle for regular Firefox, which updates the browser every six weeks. And each version would be supported for 42 weeks under the proposal.

After Mozilla got an earful in June about how the rapid-release program outpaces some users' needs to test the browser and in-house Web sites that use it, … Read more