Filed under: Photo, Utilities, iPhone

Nikon, never satisfied with merely standing still, have brought out a lovely new iPhone app that acts as an always-there photography guide. If you're an amateur, semi-pro, or even a professional wondering how certain effects or styles are pulled off -- this app would make a great addition to your iPhone's arsenal.

This new app, Learn And Explore, allows you to hunt for professional examples to show you what's possible in a given situation. There are guides that will show you how to take photos in tricky conditions -- indors, outdoors, low-light, long-exposure -- it's al lhere.

They're promising continuos updates and access to their Nikon World magazine through the app.

No reason this would only be of use to a Nikon user either -- though if there's any kind of Nikon branding on the software, I'm not sure a Canon user would be seen dead with it...

[via CNET]

Learn to take better photos with Nikon's iPhone app originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments



Sponsored Topics: IPhone - Download Squad - Photography - Nikon - Nikon World

Filed under: Internet, Video, Web

As I mentioned yesterday, internet movie channel Epix launched this weekend. The TV channel is available to Verizon FiOS customers, who can also login to the EpixHD web site to watch dozens of movies including new releases such as Iron Man and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as well as older, more obscure titles including Bubba Ho Tep and Son of Rambow.

If you don't have Verizon FiOS you can request a 3-day weekend trial of the service, but I'm not entirely sure what the point is, since Epix doesn't plan to launch a web-only version anytime soon. Perhaps they're hoping you'll contact your local cable, satellite, or other TV provider and request they add Epix to the lineup.

If your invitation hasn't come through yet, you can take solace in the fact that I did score an invite. OK, that may not be much comfort, but I did manage to grab a bunch of screenshots of the user interface. It's kind of a mixed bag right now. The search function works quite nicely and you can click the watch button from the drop-down menu that appears when you're searching for a movie -- if the movie is available. Unfortunately, there are a ton of listings for movies that you can't actually watch yet, including Star Trek, GI Joe, and The Godfather I, II, and III.

You can also browser for movies by most watched, newest, genre, or other collections. You can also see all the movies from A to Z.

Browsing is sort of a cumbersome task though, since you have to scroll through thumbnails of movie posters. If it's not clear what movie you're looking at, you can mouse over the cover to see the title, but it may take a moment for the title to show up. And in the genre section, many movies are listed more than once (for example, the same title might show up in comedy, award winners, and action). And it's clear the web site wasn't really designed for geeks, because the sci fi category is dead last, which means you have to do a lot of scrolling before you get to it.

On the bright side, video quality was pretty good and you can even click a button to check your bitrate and other settings, which are automatically adjusted based on your internet connection settings.

First look at Epix internet movie channel originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments



Sponsored Topics: Download Squad - Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Verizon FiOS - Epix - Star Trek

Filed under: Google, Social Software

If you haven't heard of Google Wave yet -- a) wake up! and b) watch this tech demo. It's long, but if you're a nerd, or someone who uses the Internet a lot, you'll find it more exciting than the latest Harry Potter film. And at only 80 minutes, it's not a potentially-bladder-exploding endurance event, unlike the bespectacled wizard wannabe.

And with that said, the goodies: Download Squad are giving away Google Wave invites. We're going to start giving away invites whenever we have them to give away and today, to get the ball rolling, we've got 20 up for grabs! If things heat up, we'll scrounge under the couch cushions until we find more!

Wave is just starting to pick up steam, with more gadgets and gizmos and robots appearing every day. With reports of Google Wave server federation (the ability for anyone to run a Wave server) coming soon, and the sandbox walls being torn down, now's your chance to get in on the action.

Continue reading The great Google Wave invite giveaway!

The great Google Wave invite giveaway! originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments



Sponsored Topics: GoogleWave - Google - Download Squad - Searching - Search Engines

Filed under: Security, Utilities, Windows, Microsoft, Freeware, Windows x64

In AV Comparative's most recent report on malware removal, MSE was the only free antivirus rated Advanced+. That ranking placed it alongside big names like Norton, Kaspersky, and F-Secure. Security Essentials also beat out technician favorite ESET, which managed only an Advanced rating.

It's also worth noting that only three antivirus apps - Norton 2010, eScan, and Security Essentials - scored marks of good or better in removal of malware and removal of leftovers. So not only has MSE beaten free competitors like AVG (version 8.5 tested, not 9.0), Avira, and Avast, it also posted test scores equal to or better than a dozen antivirus programs you'd have to pay for.

Well done, Microsoft!

[via Ars Technica]

Microsoft Security Essentials rated best free antivirus for Windows originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments



Sponsored Topics: Microsoft Security Essential - Microsoft - Download Squad - antivirus - Avast

Filed under: Fun, Photo, iPhone

I'm not a photographer by any means (although I hear Download Squad's newest blogger, Sebastian, is!), and the iPhone's built-in camera isn't exactly the greatest piece of photography equipment around, but the TiltShift Generator iPhone app doesn't really care!

This neat little 99-cent app applies cool toy-camera (think 'dollhouse miniatures') effects and vignetting to any photo, and makes even the crummiest iPhone photographers look good. It can apply two styles of adjustable blur, some color controls and, of course, those hot-looking dark edges.

We've covered ways to fake a tilt-shift effect before on Download Squad - yes, you could just buy a special lens, but software can provide a cheaper approximation - but this is the first on-the-go option I've tried. iPhone features include applying effects to photos you've already taken, saving new photos you take with the app, and sharing via email or Twitter.

If you're not sure where to start with tiltshift photos, try shooting a cluster of objects from above - the creator of the app has done some great-looking stuff with houses and parking lots. Even if you're not too confident in your photographic abilities, shell out a dollar for this app and see what you can do. You might be surprised!

Tiltshift Generator brings easy toy camera effects to the iPhone originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments



Sponsored Topics: Download Squad - IPhone - Photography - Twitter - Handhelds

Filed under: Fun

	Halloween costumes from the Internet: happy Hallo-meme! Stepping away from the computer for a few hours to trick or treat or go to a costume party doesn't mean you have to leave the internet behind.		Six classic horror-iffic games for Halloween Turn out the lights and turn up the volume, it's time to scare yourself silly with some good, old Halloween-y games. Enjoy!
	Use your Mac to detect supernatural activity this Halloween! You knew your Mac could detect wireless networks and Bluetooth devices, but did you know it can also detect spirits? If you want to scan for supernatural activity, download an app called EMF6742,...	Also of interest: More Halloween Time Wasters Halloween Screensavers, the good, the bad, and the ugly Halloween goodies on the web, hold the candy corn

Happy Halloween! Help yourself to these moldy old posts originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments



Sponsored Topics: Halloween - Download Squad - Costumes - Trick-or-treating - Bluetooth

Filed under: Fun, Features

Have you ever wanted your own bag of leftover schwag from SXSW Interactive? Or how about a new laptop bag? Would an AOL USB LED flexible light help you in any way? Check out each of the treat bags below, leave a comment on the pages that describe the treat bags to enter, and in a week we'll randomly choose our winners.

Sorry, limited to US and Canda, restrictions apply, read the rules, etc. and so on below. Happy Halloween from your friends at Download Squad! Each winner also gets a t-shirt or two from LogMeIn, since they sent us a giant bag of shirts.

Treat bag One: the musical coder.

Treat bag Two: the collector.

Treat bag three: the mobile warrior.

NOTE: Do not leave comments on this post -- you can't. You must leave a comment on the post describing the treat bag you wish to enter to win.


Share

Win one of three Halloween treat bags from Download Squad originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments



Sponsored Topics: Halloween - Download Squad - Light-emitting diode - AOL - Musical theatre

Filed under: Internet, Mozilla, Browsers

With that out of the way, here are the new features that debut with Firefox 3.6, straight from the release page:

• Users can now change their browser's appearance with a single click, with built in support for Personas.
• Firefox 3.6 will alert users about out of date plugins to keep them safe.
• Open, native video can now be displayed full screen, and supports poster frames.
• Support for the WOFF font format.
• Improved JavaScript performance, overall browser responsiveness and startup time.
• Support for new CSS, DOM and HTML5 web technologies.

These new changes mostly come from an upgrade to version 1.9.2 of Gecko, the HTML engine that does most of the rendering work in Firefox (and its light-weight sister Camino) -- and as with all version revisions, you will have to update most or all of your add-ons (there's even a compatibility checker!)

Developers should check out the notes for 3.6, if they haven't yet updated the add-ons they administer.

If you've heard enough, here are some direct download links to get you upgraded to the Beta ASAP:

• Windows: Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 Setup.exe
• Mac OS X: Firefox 3.6 Beta 1.dmg
• Linux: firefox-3.6b1.tar.bz2

Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 now available! originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments



Sponsored Topics: Camino - Mozilla Foundation - Download Squad - Gecko - Mac OS X

Filed under: Fun, Games, Internet, Time-Wasters

Unsurprisingly, you start off in a room with nothing. It's the de facto rule that all of these Room Escape puzzles share: you don't know how you got there, or why you're there, but damnit -- you're there, and you need to find a way out!


Inculcation is the first room escape game that I've played with real-time combat elements. There are actually monsters -- zombies? -- that pop up and require shooting. Fortunately it's very easy to shoot them dead, but it does mean that you occasionally lose health. There are syringes about the place that can restore your health.

Mostly the gameplay is what you'd expect from such games -- pick up objects, open doors, solve rudimentary riddles that involve some observation skills. It is nothing special in this regard -- in fact, some of the puzzles feel a little random and rely on guesswork rather than applying your knowledge of the game.


I played through the first house in Inculcation, and I can tell you this now: the enhanced elements of music, artistic direction and creatures that can actually kill you really add to the tension, the danger. I admit I yelped out loud a few times. I admit my hand slipped off the mouse a few times when attacked by zombies. I admit I'm a wuss when it comes to the horror genre.

There's one part in the first house where a door shakes -- as if something is behind it, desperately trying to get out -- and it keeps shaking. Over and over. Louder and louder. And when it finally comes to open the door... well... you're in for a big surprise. Give it half an hour of your time at least -- you won't regret it...

[via JayIsGames]

Scare yourself senseless with Inculcation -- Halloween Time-Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments



Sponsored Topics: Resident Evil - Survival horror - Room Escape - Silent Hill - Video game

Filed under: Developer, Adobe

If you use Adobe AIR apps on a regular basis, you have a lot to look forward to in AIR 2.0. The next version of Adobe's cross-platform app framework adds a bunch of little tweaks and a few major ones, including support for multitouch and gestures. Maybe even more importantly, AIR apps now won't suck up your CPU cycles and memory at such an absurd rate. A full list of upcoming features was just posted by AIR developer Chris Cantrell.

I've run into a lot of people who choose not use AIR apps because of their memory-hogging tendencies, and the improved performance in AIR 2 - depending on how improved it is - might go a long way toward getting more people to adopt the framework. Meanwhile, folks whose machines support multitouch and gestures will start to see new apps that take advantage of zooming, rotating and more. Other less-flashy features include audio recording and opening files in their default applications.

My favorite assessment of AIR comes from Tweetie developer Loren Brichter: "AIR apps are like modern day Java applets ... sure, they run on every platform. But they also suck on every platform." Hopefully, AIR 2.0 will prove him wrong. A beta is coming later this year, with a full release in early 2010.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Adobe AIR 2.0 will hog less memory and add multitouch support originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments



Sponsored Topics: Download Squad - AdobeAir - Adobe Systems - Adobe Integrated Runtime - AIR 2.0