Technology posts

With Apple’s App Store and the Android Market now literally filled with hundreds of thousands of apps, it’s getting increasingly hard for apps to stand out. And yet, every once in a while, an app will break out to become quite successful – at which point, we all start to wonder what’s so special about this particular new application and how others might replicate its popularity. Something of that sort is now happening with new and rapidly rising photo app Instagram, a photo sharing app that adds a retro style to the pics you take. It’s getting popular fast – it’s only been around for about a month and…

Want the dubstep version of “Because I Backtraced It” on your iPod? This dream has come true with Dirpy, a cheeky little app now in Beta that lets you turn your fave YouTube or Google videos into lovely ear candy. It only works with Google and Youtube’s API’s, but that is more than enough for most people to get their fix. Needless to say, the audio quality on these videos is generally not the best, so the resulting MP3′s may be equally not as awesome. Unless you are a discerning audiophile, you’ll be less concerned about tonal quality and more concerned with your favourite remixes becoming magically…

For some time now, net neutrality has been a ’cause celebre’ for web geeks. The idea – that all traffic on the internet should be treated equally, regardless of source, content or intent – is one that’s pretty compelling. It speaks to the democratic ideals of the web as a place where anyone can get their message out as long as they have access to a computer. Yet, lately, a couple of statistics have arisen that might threaten to throw a wrench into plans for enshrining net neutrality into law. First is that during prime time, Netflix consumes up to 20% of all bandwidth. Second is that, during that usage,…

Digg rolled out several minor changes and one major change this morning. The bury button, removed when they rolled out V4 in September, is back. During the storm of criticism that Digg has been weathering over the last couple of months, the removal of the bury button was one of the most discussed. Kevin Rose tweeted a poll asking the community whether or not they wanted the button back and the results were clear. Functionality changes include: The “Report” feature has been removed. Comments can be done directly from TopNews, MyNews, and Upcoming without having to click through to the story comment…

The announcement of the Mac App Store has been greeted with some mixed feelings. Because of the closed nature of the App Store for iOS devices, there has been some worry about whether the Mac App Store will continue that legacy of tight control – with Apple dictating which apps can appear based on seemingly arbitrary criteria, or whether or not they compete with Apple’s own business model. More generally, people are wondering whether the somewhat constrained, simplified version of the operating system was heading to the computer – and the ‘install whatever you want’ approach that stands now would…

Despite vehement – if mixed – denials from Sony, it’s hard to believe the long-rumored, much sought-after Playstation Phone is anything but a reality. After all, those pictures and list of specs certainly seem convincing. Beyond the the fact that the snaps show the trademark buttons and long-rumored touch-pad, it’s also an idea that just makes sense. People have been clamoring after one for so long for a reason. But may gaming commenters have suggested that the phone will become “a third pillar” in Sony’s lineup: a kind of mobile offshoot that would run alongside the PS3/PS4 and “the real PSP2″….

Nepali telecom company Ncell touted its new setup at the base camp of Mount Everest. This means Everest trekkers can now feed on sweet 3G broadband internet while on the slopes of the world’s tallest mountain. “Today we made the (world’s) highest video call from Mount Everest,” Ncell chief Pasi Koistinen told reporters in Kathmandu, referring to the call made from 5,300 meters (17,388 feet), the area from where climbers begin the actual climb to Mount Everest. The company teamed up with the Swedish firm TeliaSonera to install 3G internet at Everest’s base camp in such a way that the entire mountain…

While most have only heard of “social buying” in the last couple of years, it has actually been around since 2004 (an eternity in Internet time) with WOOT!. Larger sites like GroupOn and LivingSocial have dominated the segment since, but there are many others that revolve around the consumers who want the power of group buying that leverages the power of social media. Our friends at Flowtown have put together the visual depiction of the time line and sizes of the various options for social buyers. As the segment grows and the popularity increases, what innovations will we see? …

Halloween is approaching, and boy do we have a treat for you. It appears that not only are pirates the most used costume during Halloween, but they are also the most heavy users of Internet traffic with BitTorrent. Coincidence? I think not! Halloween is a time of mischief and scary things. In the eyes of Hollywood, pirates are the same: they steal their product and, allegedly, threaten their industry. See the connection? Sandvine, a Canadian management company, recently revealed information that points to expanding P2P traffic; leading the P2P race is BitTorrent. The company reported that…

Is it a bird? A plane? Big Foot? It’s none of those. However, it might just be the first photo of humans in existence. It all started after photos of Cincinnati along the Ohio River were discovered and analyzed. The photos themselves were intriguing, but now question has arisen over whether or not this one photo is a first of its kind: the first photo of humans in existence. Is it? Robert Krulwich, an NPR correspondant, was on to something: This is Cincinnati on Sunday, September 24th, 1848—162 years ago. The picture, a daguerreotype taken by Charles Fontayne and William Porter (who were standing…