VLC media player gets GPU decoding on Windows and Linux

VideoLAN has pushed out a new finalized build of its VLC media player, adding stability as well as numerous enhancements and features. Among the more noteworthy items listed in 1.1.0's changelog is the addition of GPU decoding on Windows (via DxVA2) and Linux (using VAAPI) for H.264, VC-1 and MPEG-2 formats. Unfortunately, the developer says GPU decoding is currently limited to Nvidia cards, citing driver issues with ATI products.

VLC 1.1.0 also includes DSP decoding using OpenMax IL, improved MKV HD support, and compatibility with Blu-ray subtitles, MPEG-4 lossless, VP8, and WebM. The latest build touts a better audio experience, with additions such as support for DVD-Audio files, AMR-NB, MPEG-4 ALS, Vorbis 6.1/7.1, FLAC 6.1/7.1, and WMAS, not to mention tweaked meta-data and album-art features.

Besides the added functionality and various developer-oriented improvements, VideoLAN says version 1.1.0 is simply lighter and faster, with thousands of lines of code removed and decoding speed boosted by up to 40%. If you're interested, you can read the itemized highlights here.

Safari 5 announced, boasts twice the speed of Firefox 3.6

In addition to officially uncorking the latest iPhone handset and operating system, Apple also announced Safari 5 today. The new build touts improved DNS prefetching and page caching, making it 30% quicker than Safari 4 (based on SunSpider 0.9.1, a JavaScript benchmark), 3% faster than the recently launched Chrome 5, and over two times the speed of Firefox 3.6.

Safari 5 features over a dozen new HTML5 technologies, including full screen playback and closed captions for HTML5 video, HTML5 geolocation, HTML5 sectioning elements, HTML5 draggable attribute, HTML5 forms validation, HTML5 Ruby, HTML5 AJAX history, EventSource and WebSocket. Apple has also launched the Safari Developer Program to let developers create Safari Extensions, which are sandboxed and signed with a digital certificate from Apple for security.

Another key feature is Safari Reader, a function that lets users "read single and multipage articles on the Web by presenting them in a new, scrollable view without any additional content or clutter." When the browser detects an article, users can click an icon to display the post for "clear, uninterrupted reading." Safari Reader has a few tools, such as the ability to enlarge, print, or send via email.

Interestingly, the press release for Safari 5 has disappeared on PR Newswire. That said, one is available on Apple's site, it shouldn't be long before the rollout. When Safari 5 goes live, both Mac OS X and Windows users will be able to download it here.

Update: It seems to be available now, although there is a minor error on the page. We assume someone's scrambling to get it out the door.

Microsoft launches free Office Web Apps

Microsoft has officially taken the wraps off their online productivity suite today as the company steps up its game against the likes of Google and Zoho. Dubbed Office Web Apps, the suite comprises cloud-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, and is accessible to anyone with a Windows Live account. The roll out was supposedly limited to the US, UK, Ireland and Canada but it seems to be working in other countries too -- just not in their native language.

Users get free access to the tools, along with 25GB of storage from their SkyDrive accounts. Microsoft describes it as an online companion to Office 2010 that will give you the "best productivity experience across the PC, phone, and browser." Office Web Apps lets you view and edit documents in your web browser or desktop, regardless of where they were created first. You can also collaborate with multiple people simultaneously, and there's a built in version history feature that will let you to go back to older edits of your documents.

The user interface seems very polished and has a desktop-esque look and feel most of us are familiar with. Surprisingly, Office Web Apps appears to work just fine in Chrome, Firefox and even Opera, though the "Edit in 'Office program'" button won't work unless you are in Internet Explorer. The platform will seamlessly integrate with Microsoft's Office 2010, which launches to the public next week, and will be compatible with smartphone versions of Office 2010.

EA to fend off used game sales with "Online Pass"

It's no secret how most video game developers and publishers feel about the second hand market, but it seems Electronic Arts has actually devised a plan to make up for the lost sales. Beginning with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, players will need an "Online Pass" to enjoy the game over Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network. These passes are included with new copies of the game, but second hand buyers will have to purchase another pass for $10.

The scheme will be replicated in all EA Sports titles going forward. As executive Peter Moore puts it, the move is all about accelerating the company's commitment to enhance premium online services to the entire robust EA Sports online community. In other words, it will help them rake in bigger profits. It may sound shady but for EA business is business, and it's not the first time something like this has been tried. Sony did something similar with SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs, while Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2 both included bonus content for new buyers only.

Used game purchasers will get access to a 7 day Online Pass trial, but after that you'll have to plunk down extra cash to get the full experience.

Mozilla discusses Firefox 4 plans, beta 'could' be out in June

With Google's Chrome making big market share gains month after month and Microsoft working hard on Internet Explorer 9, the pressure is on stagnating Mozilla to step up its game and stay competitive. In an attempt to spark some interest for the next major upgrade of its open source browser, Firefox team leader Mike Beltzner delivered a presentation yesterday night outlining the company's plans for the near future.

In a nutshell, Beltzner listed three main goals for Firefox 4: making it super fast, including support for new open standard web technologies (HTML 5 and more), and putting users in full control of their web experience with personalization features. Beltzner noted that Firefox 3.7 would be ditched in favor of an update to 3.6, version 3.6.4, which will include the former's main additions like out-of-process plug-ins for improved stability and security.

As for Firefox 4, Mozilla is hoping to release beta versions this summer, possibly as early as June, with the final release shipping sometime around November if all goes according to plans. One significant change coming under the hood is JaegerMonkey, which combines Firefox's current JavaScript engine with elements of those used in Chrome and Safari browsers. Also on the Firefox 4 plan is support for 64-bit processors, a streamlined main thread, and DOM improvements, as well as an overhauled and simplified user interface across all platforms.

id Software's Rage pushed to 2011

Id Software's Rage was among the many titles we hoped to lay hands on before the year's end, but apparently, it just wasn't meant to be. Creative director Tim Willits disclosed in an interview that the forthcoming post-apocalyptic FPS hasn't even hit alpha yet, saying "it would be horrible" if the game were released right now. Willits added that although id is still sorting out some graphical issues, the new id Tech 5 engine is "pretty solid."


Further cementing that release window, Bethesda (Rage's publisher) recently passed around a fact sheet which plainly states the game will launch in 2011 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. Still pending is a possible Mac version, but id hasn't settled on plans for that platform yet. The fact sheet also revealed a tiny nugget about the game's multiplayer component with talk of co-op modes and the ability to "go online for all-out multiplayer mayhem."

Mozilla working on new Firefox Add-ons Manager

Mozilla is working on an overhauled Firefox Add-ons Manager that should rollout with v3.7. Rather than opening as a tiny window separate from the rest of the browser, the revamped manager launches as a new tab. In addition to being in the Tools menu, you can also launch the manager by typing "about:addons" in the awesome bar (which inherently means you can create a handy bookmark shortcut).


The tab is home to two panes: one has a sidebar for navigating extensions, themes, plugins and other add-ons, and the other contains a browser, meaning that you can finally find, deploy, and manage add-ons from a single location.

Naturally, since the update isn't finished yet, the end product may have a different look and feel. Nonetheless, you can download the latest build here. It's worth noting that the new Add-ons Manager uses JavaScript, so if you're running NoScript you'll have to whitelist the page.

Microsoft may be able to collect royalties on Android

Handset manufacturers may have to dole out hefty royalties for each and every Android-based device sold, BusinessWeek reports. The fees would be paid to Microsoft for licensing prior patent art, although no details are available concerning exactly what those patents may be.

To the detriment of Google and its free Android operating system, the additional cost and legal complexity may chill the adoption of Android. This would also have the effect of making other platforms such as Windows Phone 7 more attractive to manufacturers, especially since many of them already bundle some of their products with Microsoft's mobile OS anyway.

HTC, maker of Google's Nexus One, has reportedly reached a settlement with Microsoft already. Meanwhile, Microsoft has also been "talking" with other manufacturers to form royalty agreements.

It should be worth noting that Microsoft is not known for litigious patent abuse, only having proactively launched two patent lawsuits in the last three years. This news comes about two months after Apple announced a duel with HTC over the use of their intellectual property as well.

Microsoft Office 2010 RTM ready for download

About a week after Office 2010 went gold, Technet and MSDN subscribers are now able to download Office 2010 Professional Plus in ISO format for both 32-bit and 64-bit platforms. For those of you who would rather avoid the notoriously slow download speeds of MSDN and choose to utilize less official channels, the SHA checksum is: 0E1840BF1AA81077692AF651BEFB75648CD9FAA7. Microsoft has also made available Sharepoint 2010, which is a complimentary enterprise solution for Office collaboration.

Office 2010 aims to bring a more socially-aware and polished experience to the industry-standard office suite. Some of the new features include live collaboration which supports multiple users editing documents simultaneously, integrated video and image editing tools in PowerPoint, the ability to export virtually any document to a web browser, inherent ODF support for Open Office documents and a cleaner, more consistent ribbon bar experience across all Office applications.


Two days ago, Microsoft also went live with its free, cloud-based companion to Office 2010 -- docs.com. It seems to be a slick competitor to Google Docs has been released under the “beta” label. Interestingly, only Facebook users are allowed exclusive access and there isn’t word on a definite release date for the rest of the world.

If you are not an MSDN or Technet subscriber, you will have to wait until Office 2010 hits store shelves. Retail pricing should be $149 for Home & Student, $279 for Home & Business and $499 for Professional. As an added incentive to buy Office now, those who choose to buy Office 2007 in the meantime will be able to upgrade to 2010 for free.

McAfee update bricks thousands of enterprise computers

Earlier today, McAfee unleashed one doozy of an update for its popular antivirus software that crippled an untold number of Windows computers (tens of thousands for sure, potentially hundreds of thousands). The update, virus definition 5958, was pushed out at 06:00 PDT and caused a false positive detection of the critical Windows system file svchost.exe.

The botched update led systems running Windows XP SP3 to detect svchost.exe as the virus W32/wecorl.a. Users say this caused systems to display a BSOD before being caught in an endless cycle of reboots. Windows 7 and Vista computers were unaffected, and the update was mostly limited to corporate machines, meaning that most consumers are in the clear.

The company responded by pulling the tainted update from its distribution network and a clean version, 5959, was released around 10:15 PDT. Complicating McAfee's day, because of the overwhelming impact of 5958, the company's forum was knocked offline, blocking affected customers from sharing information. McAfee has since posted several possible workarounds.