We're terribly sorry for the recent downtime the site has incurred, but we've been hard at work to bring the site back up. We've had issues with a few things including hosting issues as well as a bit extra, which I've outlined in our forum, but we're back now and we're working hard towards being better than ever before. Keep your eyes peeled for a forum update within the next few days that will include a section for average members to post news for the website in. That news can be taken and posted up by a staff member, giving full credits to the user, of course, and will be a great way that the community can take part in making the site a better place.
Also, it's HIGHLY advised to enter the Brewology Network through www.Brewology.com instead of using one of the mirrors like WiiBrew or PSPBrew because we're going to be adding news posts that are specific to the Brewology page itself about the latest tech trends and what-not and the only way to see such information is to enter the site through www.Brewology.com. Doing this will also filter the news from every aspect of our site into one convenient page for you to view! So please, if you haven't already, make sure to add the Brewology page to your bookmarks or homepage or just plain enter it in when accessing the site.
Thanks for everything folks. Again, sorry for the downtime, but welcome back to the Brew!
Posted by: DarkPacMan77 on Sunday, February 07 2010 @ 2:06am PST
Rumored 4.0 iPhone Firmware Will Only Support 3G and 3G[S]?
Apparently, you will only be able to use the new iPhone firmware on the 3G and 3G[S] iPhones. It seems like Apple may be rolling out with a new iPod Touch, too, if hardware limitations is the cause for this.
Next-gen Ford Sync adding WiFi hotspot capabilities, you provide the 3G mod
Sure, you could go the easy route and pick up a MiFi, but if you're serious about your on-the-road wireless broadband, you should probably buy an entire car. Ford's next generation of Sync systems will have built-in WiFi and the capability of sharing a 3G connection with the car's driver-defined white list of approved devices. It's a bring-your-own-3G-card affair (you jack into the Sync's USB plug), and sounds like a nice way for Ford to get you to pay for a 3G connection that could theoretically fuel some of those upcoming Sync apps. The second generation of Sync is due to launch next year, and we should be seeing plenty of it at CES in January: Ford's CEO has the opening keynote.
Dell's reorganizing the entire company to create a bonafide mobile division that will make work on phones and other portable thingers, headed up by Ron Garriques, formerly of Motorola. Incidentally, Dell's consumer PC division is getting rolled into the small-business unit—which kinda smells weird to us, especially considering how Dell's shrinking.
Sprint handed customer GPS data to law enforcement over 8 million times las
"Privacy advocates and career criminals alike are in a lather over reports that between September 2008 and October 2009, Sprint Nextel ponied up customer location data to various law enforcement agencies more than 8 million times. Speaking at ISS World 2009 (a conference for law enforcement and telecom industry-types responsible for "lawful interception, electronic investigations and network Intelligence gathering"), Sprint Nextel's very own Paul Taylor, Manager of Electronic Surveillance, lamented on the sheer volume of requests the company's received in the past year for precise GPS data for Sprint customers. How did the company meet such high demand? Apparently, his team built a special "web interface" which "has just really caught on fire with law enforcement." We're glad that Sprint's plans to streamline the customer service experience don't stop short of those who serve and protect, but as the EFF points out, plenty of nagging questions remain, including: How many individual customers have been affected? Is Sprint demanding search warrants? How secure is this web interface?"
Well well, maybe we can all get along after all: AT&T and Verizon just dropped their variousadvertising-related lawsuits against each other. We can't say we're surprised, considering AT&T lost its request to have Verizon's ads pulled down for the holidays spending money to litigate this further would have have simply been a waste, and generated even more bad PR. Now let's just hope these two suck it up and battle it out over service quality and pricing, like they should have been doing all along. Or AT&T can just make some more nonsensical Luke Wilson commercials, whatevs.
Update: Whoa, so this is crazy. We just checked out the other suit that was dismissed, and it turns out that Verizon actually sued AT&T back in July, but not for any damages instead, Big Red asked the court to rule that its various "Most Reliable 3G Network" taglines were actually true. That wackiness certainly explains why AT&T felt the need to push back, we suppose, and it makes Verizon's current whining over Sprint's "Most Dependable 3G Network" claims part of a larger, lamer pattern. We've included a shot of the case after the break, check it out.
Dolphin browser for Android adds multitouch support on Droid
We've already seen that the Droid is perfectly capable of implementing multitouch gestures in third-party apps, and the most high-profile (if not the most important, period) implementation of that is in a good web browser where non-stop zooming is a way of life especially when browsing sites designed for desktops. Dolphin which has been kicking around for a couple months in the Market has just added multitouch support on the Droid, which automatically makes it an interesting alternative to Android's mediocre (well, mediocre by WebKit standards, anyhow) built-in fare. If you're running Android and you've got a couple fingers to spare, just check it out yourself from the Android MarketPlace.
Fring was the first to bring VoIP calls to the iPhone, and it looks like it's now finally done the same for video calling sort of. While it obviously can't do much to change the camera placement on the iPhone, the latest version of the app will at least let iPhone users (and iPod touch users, for that matter) see the person on the other end, and Fring says it'll add two-way video calling whenever "a front camera is placed on these." As with the company's app for Nokia devices, you'll also be able to make video calls to Skype users, but you'll have to make sure you're in the vicinity of a WiFi hotspot, as this one doesn't support calls on 3G.
Facebook and Myspace Apps now Compatible with 5.0 firmware Blackberrys!
One of the biggest complaints everyone is having with all of the OS 5.0 leaks is the fact that Facebook does not work. Short term solutions were found using their mobile site which was actually for the iPhone. Last night RIM has released version 1.6.0.22 of the Facebook app, and the best news of all, it is compatible with the latest 5.0 OS leaks. I know everyone is grabbing their BlackBerries right now to install it. This is great news if this was the only thing left that you were missing on the new OS. RIM has also released an updated version of MySpace. Have at it and be sure to let us know how the new version works
.
It seems like ever since the iPhone came out, all touch screen mobile systems have had to amp up their GUI. The Windows Mobile platform is no different. This latest build of Windows Mobile gets shown off with really nice graphics and very finger-friendly operations. Check out the above video to see for yourself.
If you direct your browser over to Microsoft's official Zune store, you'll notice that you can no longer purchase a Flash Zune. If you really still want to buy one of these, then head over to Amazon.com. They've got a lot of extra stock.
This may be because of the upcoming Zune HD.. What do you guys think?
Ben Patterson, from Yahoo!, was able to test run the Zune HD for about an hour. He wrote up a nice little article about the feel and UI of the digital beast but it seems too scripted to me. He praises that the prototype version for its size and style. It looks nice by the 5 or 6 pictures that he's uploaded. I can't wait to see a video of this thing, though. I want to know for sure if it lives up to its hype.
P.S. Don't Forget that Microsoft and Yahoo! are now coorperate partners.
Best Buy: Zune HD to be $220 for 16GB, and $290 for 32GB on Sept. 8th
Best Buy seems to have the Zune HD in its inventory system for $220 USD for the 16GB model and $290 for the 32GB model. According to this data, the Zune HD will also be released on September 8th. Usually, when these kinds of reports come out, the date is usually a few days to a week off and the price is usually lower than the leaked data. Are you planning on getting a Zune HD?
A while back, Apple approved it's first app to be sold on the appstore that contains nudity. It confused many, many of us. There's been stories of how strictly Apple reviews and cuts off apps for including too much drug use, sexual content, violence, naughty diction, and baby-shaking. Because of this strict policy, you'll never be able to download a hentai reading app or a video streaming app for pron sites. Now, that same policy has censored, get this, ready? A dictionary app! A dictionary! WHAT?!!?! Right now, you're like, "What the heck!!!" I know, I was too. Apparently, the dictionary contains too much sexual content to be released. The same dictionaries that we find all over America in libraries and elementary classrooms.
This one's a cool hack. ubiq_01 has created an impressive and simple program to show off how the WiiMote and iPhone can connect through bluetooth. Apparently, many people have been waiting for this to come out for their homebrew programs. I don't know why'd anyone want more accelerometers, but hey, whatever floats your boat.
Well well, maybe we can all get along after all: AT&T and Verizon just dropped their variousadvertising-related lawsuits against each other. We can't say we're surprised, considering AT&T lost its request to have Verizon's ads pulled down for the holidays spending money to litigate this further would have have simply been a waste, and generated even more bad PR. Now let's just hope these two suck it up and battle it out over service quality and pricing, like they should have been doing all along. Or AT&T can just make some more nonsensical Luke Wilson commercials, whatevs.
Fring was the first to bring VoIP calls to the iPhone, and it looks like it's now finally done the same for video calling sort of. While it obviously can't do much to change the camera placement on the iPhone, the latest version of the app will at least let iPhone users (and iPod touch users, for that matter) see the person on the other end, and Fring says it'll add two-way video calling whenever "a front camera is placed on these." As with the company's app for Nokia devices, you'll also be able to make video calls to Skype users, but you'll have to make sure you're in the vicinity of a WiFi hotspot, as this one doesn't support calls on 3G. 
