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New iCloud phishing scam targets MobileMe users

If you are a MobileMe user and are looking forward to the switch to Apple's iCloud service next month, be aware that scammers are starting to target the transition. Some MobileMe users are receiving fake e-mails regarding the MobileMe-to-iCloud transition; the e-mails request the users click on links in the e-mail to extend their current MobileMe subscriptions.

The e-mail is from the "MobileMe team," with the subject "Welcome to iCLOUD," and reads as follows:

Dear MobileMe member,

Please sign up for iCloud and click the submit botton [sic], you'll be able to keep your … Read more

How to get the new Gmail preview pane

If you enjoy the three-pane look of a desktop e-mail client, but use Gmail, today is your day. Google just announced a new Labs feature, Preview Pane, allowing you to view and reply to e-mails while navigating your inbox. The feature is also available to Google Apps users.

As Google mentions, the new look will be familiar to iPad owners, who currently enjoy this three-pane view on their devices.

To get the new look, go to Gmail > Mail Settings (upper right) > Labs. Scroll down to "Preview Pane," enable it, and save your changes.

Once enabled, a … Read more

How to switch keyboards on Galaxy Tab 10.1

Honeycomb tablets aren't saddled with just one style of keyboard; you can install new ones easily. Some keyboards are better suited for texting, whereas others are superior for longer-form writing like e-mail. Here's how to quickly flip between keyboards on your Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, or other Honeycomb tablet:

Step 1: Find and install a new keyboard you'd like to try in the Android Market. You could try Thumb Keyboard, SwiftKey, Better Keyboard, or many others.

Step 2: Make sure the keyboard is enabled on your device. Some keyboards will walk you through a setup to … Read more

NTP scores legal victory in patent case, report says

NTP, the patent company that successfully forced a settlement from Research In Motion over wireless e-mail technology, has gotten the nod from an appeals court on the validity of its patents used in lawsuits against several other smartphone players.

Bloomberg reported today that a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that seven of NTP's e-mail-related patents remain valid and enforceable, and ordered the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to reconsider a recent ruling that called them invalid. The court upheld the ruling on an eighth patent found to be invalid.

The patents are being … Read more

Review: Mac OS X Lion

The bottom line: Mac OS X Lion is definitely a worthy upgrade for all Intel Mac users. Featuring several interface enhancements and useful new features across all the core apps, Mac OS X Lion is an excellent update for the price.

Review: When Apple showed off Mac OS X Lion at the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote speech earlier this year, it was clear the company had paid attention to its successes with the popular iOS devices, and was now beginning to include successful iOS features in its flagship OS. Also, with Apple laptops and tablets now far outpacing desktop sales, … Read more

Contact conquerer

Contact managers don't have to be complex to be useful, and E-Z Contact Book takes that fact and runs with it. This simple program makes it easy to keep track of friends, family, business associates, and anyone else, and it includes a few extra features that set it above the no-frills competition.

E-Z Contact Book's interface is plain and intuitive, and we had no trouble getting started with it. To add contacts, you must first create a new group within the All Contacts heading. This makes it easy to keep contacts from different parts of your life organized … Read more

Google+ is multiplying some notification e-mails

Many users of Google's new Google+ social-networking service, which is still in beta and mostly closed to the public, have been tweeting this afternoon about getting the same e-mail notification multiple times--some as many as 40 times or more.

"I just got 29 emails telling me that [another user] is following me on google +. What a weird glitch," writes Twitter user Nolongermusing, whose post was typical of those still streaming in Saturday afternoon.

It's hard to know just how widespread the glitch is. Google did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the problem. And while … Read more

Tackling slow address autocomplete in Mail

When you begin entering recipient's e-mail addresses in the "To" field for new messages in Apple's Mail client, the program will attempt to autocomplete them to make addressing your messages easier. This usually is a pretty quick process; however, there are some instances where slowdowns can occur. When this happens you might enter a few characters of a contact's name or e-mail address, and Mail will then show the spinning color wheel and not respond, which may occur for a number of minutes.

If this happens you can likely fix the problem by checking either … Read more

How to disable Gmail's automatic contact creation

Gmail is set up to create a new contact for each e-mail you send. However, there are times when this can be more of a hassle than a handy tool. For instance, if you are replying to a lot of Craigslist ads for different pieces of furniture to put in your new apartment, your contacts list will likely get cluttered with nonsense e-mail addresses. Luckily there is an easy option that you can readily toggle off and on to control this feature of Gmail. Here's how:

Step 1: Log in to Gmail.

Step 2: Open the "Mail settings&… Read more