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December 2, 2009 2:31 PM PST

Logitech to give PSP Go its UMD back?

by Jeff Bakalar
  • 52 comments

Clearly the most notable detail about the PSP Go is the omission of a UMD drive. With Sony opting for a digital-only device, veteran PSP users with UMD discs don't really have much of a reason to upgrade.

From Joystiq comes a rumor that Logitech is developing a UMD add-on drive for the PSP Go. To us, this just reinforces the fact that a PSP Go owner who wants a UMD drive should have bought a cheaper PSP-3000 to begin with. This would just defeat the whole purpose of having a digital-only device.

So let's just get this straight: this third-party accessory will improve the PSP Go--a product that prides itself on not having a UMD drive--by actually giving it one? OK, it sounds just as strange when we say it loud too.

Again, as confusing as it may be, this is nothing but a rumor right now. PSP Go owners, would you pay for a UMD add-on drive?

(Source: Joystiq via Engadget)

August 11, 2009 9:00 AM PDT

Sync contacts between Thunderbird, Google

by Dennis O'Reilly
  • 5 comments

A couple of weeks ago, I described how to sync contacts between Outlook, Gmail, and your iPhone. The program missing from this contacts mega-merge was Thunderbird (download for Windows | Mac), and for good reason. Mozilla's free e-mail program is not particularly contact-friendly.

The first time I attempted to use Mozilla Thunderbird's import function to bring my Gmail contacts into the client e-mail application, I was seriously disappointed with the results. Most of the contact information was squished into a single nondescript field for each record. The few fields that did make the conversion were incomplete. The entire process was pretty worthless, overall.

Then I found the free Zindus add-on for Thunderbird. The program brings a subset of contact fields from Google and Zimbra into Mozilla's free e-mail program. For Google, the fields imported include the contact's name, primary and secondary e-mail addresses, phone numbers, IM names, company, title, and notes. (I didn't test the program with Zimbra.)

After you download and install Zindus, a "Zindus" option is added to Thunderbird's Tools menu. Clicking it opens the Zindus Configuration Settings dialog box where you're presented with a handful of contact-sync options, including a Sync Now button.

Zindus Configuration Settings dialog

The Zindus Configuration Settings dialog lets you reset your sync options.

(Credit: Zindus)

... Read More

Originally posted at Workers' Edge
Dennis O'Reilly has covered PCs and other technologies in print and online since 1985. Along with more than a decade as editor for Ziff-Davis's Computer Select, Dennis edited PC World's award-winning Here's How section for more than seven years. He is a member of the CNET blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET.
June 1, 2009 9:00 AM PDT

Utility merges duplicate Outlook contacts

by Dennis O'Reilly
  • Post a comment

If you followed the steps in my post from August on merging your Outlook and Gmail contacts, you may have ended up with duplicates in your contact lists. Microsoft's advice for deleting duplicate contacts is to sort them by the date modified, Ctrl-select the ones you want to remove, and press delete.

The problem is, the duplicate entries probably aren't identical, so you're almost certain to delete some data along with the dupe. What you need is a way to merge the information in the duplicate contacts. There's no such feature in Outlook, but if you're willing to spend $30, you can make short work of your extraneous Outlook entries by running 4Team's Duplicate Killer for Outlook.

The program deletes or merges duplicate e-mail messages, calendar entries, tasks, and notes in addition to contacts. I tested the program with Outlook 2007 but, according to the vendor, it works with Outlook 2000, XP, and 2003 as well. The new version, 3, is said to work with "Microsoft Exchange type folders including public folders," according to the vendor's Web site, but I ran it on a standalone Outlook installation.

... Read More

Originally posted at Workers' Edge
Dennis O'Reilly has covered PCs and other technologies in print and online since 1985. Along with more than a decade as editor for Ziff-Davis's Computer Select, Dennis edited PC World's award-winning Here's How section for more than seven years. He is a member of the CNET blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET.
April 24, 2008 12:00 AM PDT

Featured Freeware: FoxyTunes

by Seth Rosenblatt
  • 2 comments

FoxyTunes inserts a music player control panel into the Status Bar of Firefox and Internet Explorer, eliminating the scramble to switch windows so you can skip that Barry Manilow ditty you forgot to delete from your collection. The interface is easy to use and is highly customizable.

When opened, it shows a navigation array with buttons for Play, Pause, Mute, Next Track, Last Track, Volume, and the useful Show Player, which brings your music player to the front. There's also a Hide Player button, as well as a music Search tool, keyboard shortcuts, skins, and a mini player that places the application controls on your desktop as long as your browser is running.

Supported players include iTunes, Winamp, RealPlayer, XMPlay, and Last.fm, as well as nearly two dozen others and a "custom player" option. Lyric and album art searches are complemented by skins, native music discovery, and automatic ''Now Playing'' inserts into your blog posts and Twitter feed. FoxyTunes' strengths are in the depth of available features plus the level of customization. Its weaknesses? Only that you'll wish all add-ons were this good.

Originally posted at The Download Blog
January 25, 2007 2:53 PM PST

News on your Wii? Sure, why not

by Caroline McCarthy
  • Post a comment

Wow, you really can do just about everything with your Wii. You can play tennis or baseball, check the weather, fight bad guys...and now, stay informed on what's going on in the world. On Saturday, the "Wii News Channel" will be launching, available on all Wii consoles that have Internet-browsing capabilities through the downloadable Opera browser. News will be supplied by the Associated Press, which has inked a two-year deal with Nintendo. So far, it's just news stories and photographs, but you never know what they might add next. This way, you can take a break from Wii Tennis, check the results of the latest high-profile tournaments, and see how you match up to Roger Federer.

I wonder if there will be a special feature that showcases the latest in Wii stupidity.

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