The Livescribe app store, now in beta, allows users to download applications to their pen ranging from inexpensive games to a pricey--but handy--Bar Mitzvah tutor.
(Credit: Livescribe)
It took a little bit longer than the company had hoped, but the Livescribe digital pen now has its own app store.
The store, which requires pen owners to upgrade their desktop software to the new version 2.0, offers a mixed bag of new applications that range from free programs to one that costs US$99.
The programs, which all work without a computer, include games like video poker and hangman, along with utilities like a Spanish-English dictionary. The one that caught my eye the most was the priciest app--the US$99 Magic Yad application, which works to help those studying for their bar or bat mitzvah. Read more »
Along with redesigning the MSN home page, Microsoft also gave the site's butterfly logo a new look.
(Credit: Microsoft)
Aiming to stay relevant, Microsoft is introducing a new look for its MSN.com home page.
Although MSN gets far less attention than the company's Bing or Windows Live efforts, the home page remains an important economic engine for Microsoft's online business, as well as a significant source of search traffic for Bing.
"We believe it's an important asset for Microsoft," said MSN general manager Bob Visse.
The site is still the top portal in about 25 of the 46 markets, with about 600 million unique users globally and 100 million in the US, where it trails Yahoo in popularity. Read more »
Could a legal challenge threaten the launch of Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader?
In a new lawsuit, start-up Spring Design is seeking not only monetary damages from Barnes & Noble, but also is looking to get an injunction barring sales of the Nook, which it says misappropriates its trade secrets.
Spring Design said in a statement that it had filed a lawsuit against Barnes & Noble, but the statement did not specify what damages it was seeking. Read more »
Microsoft appears to be getting relatively strong early adoption of Windows 7 in the 10 days since its official launch.
According to Net Applications, more than 3 percent of PCs accessing the Web in the past two days have been doing so using the new operating system. Usage of the operating system has been growing strong in recent days, though Windows 7 already accounted for 2 percent of global Web traffic in the days ahead of its formal launch.
"The early adoption of Windows 7 looks very strong, and I don't believe Vista enjoyed the same early success," said Vince Vizzaccaro, an executive vice president at Net Applications. "Plus, we've seen surges the past two weekend days, and Windows has historically seen much higher usage market share on weekdays than on weekends." Read more »
My hope with this post is to help things simmer down as opposed to boiling over, but we'll see. So here goes.
The upgrade version of Windows 7 (as opposed to the higher-price full version) lets one move from any properly licensed version of Windows XP or Windows Vista to Windows 7 on that same computer. Only certain of these upgrades, however, can be done as a simple update--what Microsoft calls an "in-place upgrade". Users moving from Windows XP, switching from 32-bit to 64-bit versions, or moving from a higher-end version of Vista to a lower-end version of Windows 7 can use an upgrade disc but will have to do a more cumbersome upgrade, known as a custom, or "clean", installation. Read more »