Google [GOOG] has announced that it is opening a Web Store for Chrome. The service has been designed to let you download web-based applications in to the browser.

The idea is similar to that of the Apple [AAPL] App Store as well as services such as Marketplace that Google offers for Android users and Ovi that Nokia provides to it’s users.

The new Chrome Web Store is being designed for Chrome only and will not function on other browsers. As well as being designed for the Chrome browser, users of Chrome OS when it launches will naturally get this functionality too. [Read more…]

The Vietnamese site Tinhte.vn has managed to get another breaking news story where the guys there managed to get hold of an Apple iPod Touch with a rear facing camera. The new iPod Touch looks the same as the previous iPod Touch other than the addition of a camera on the back.

The iPod Touch has been captured on video to give a brief demonstration of what it can do. However, it appears that the Touch is still in some sort of diagnostic mode similar to what the iPhone 4G was although the Touch gets to a very basic graphical interface that is usable. The camera seems to function as it should although there was no interface specifically for the camera to be used in. Instead, a group of icons showing various functions of the phone are displayed on this prototype model with a video feed in to one of the icons. [Read more…]

Some leaked information from Amazon indicates that a 3rd generation Amazon Kindle eBook reader could be launched later this year.

Amazon appears to be shifting towards games and social networks with it’s eBook reader. The main problem now is that the e-ink paper just doesn’t have the ability to achieve anything with fast movement or touch based applications. This is hinting that Amazon will launch a new generation Kindle with a superior touch screen.

It is believed that Amazon are shifting course due to the success of the Apple iPad that launched last month in the US. The 3rd generation device could do away with the e-ink screen to give a richer experience for users. The screen rumours come because of Amazon purchasing a company called TouchCo that could add multi-touch to the screen. [Read more…]

Spotify has introduced a couple of new plans to it’s services. The new plans called Spotify Open and Spotify Unlimited add some in-between plans allowing users to cut down on what they don’t need from the Premium service and also sign up to the free service without an invite.

Right now the most expensive plan costs £9.99 and is called Spotify Premium. This service gives you full access to Spotify as well as being able to stream music (or store locally for 30 days) any music available through the service. Full comparison here.

The Spotify Unlimited plan costs £4.99/month but removes the ability to use the service on a mobile phone.

Next down the list is the regular Spotify Free where you get free access (ad supported) to the services for an unlimited time per month. [Read more…]

A PreCentral user has successfully loaded up a webOS image on to an IDE hard drive and managed to get it to run on a real PC, meaning it isn’t running as a virtual machine.

The image used comes from the webOS emulator which is compatible with x86 based processors. Some things to note though are that this method will not work with other types of drive such as SATA. IDE is the required type of drive at the moment.

The user, cdowers, used webOS on a standard Dell C600 laptop. Although the OS still runs at the same resolution that you’d get on a Pre smartphone for example, it is certainly an interesting test that could in the near future see webOS put on to tablet computers for example. [Read more…]

Skype has launched the beta version that brings group video calling to Skype users. During the beta test the conferencing version is free although when the beta ends in a few months there will be a small charge to use group video calling features.

With the new version up to five people can conference together at the same time and see and hear each other. The new version is only available for Windows at the moment and all those who want to use group video chat need to be running the latest beta version.

Skype do warn that the software is still in beta, so a few bugs may be found here and there but in general it’s quite close to production. [Read more…]

Adobe and Apple [AAPL] have been in the news a fair bit recently with this Flash business. They still seem to be feeling the pains as they just started up a new campaign over on Engadget where two ads are showing. The first says “We [heart] Apple” and the second ad says “What we don’t love is anybody taking away your freedom to choose what you create, how you create it, and what you experience on the web”.

As well as pushing the ads on to Engadget, a letter has also been written by Adobe saying what they feel about the situation…

We believe that consumers should be able to freely access their favorite content and applications, regardless of what computer they have, what browser they like, or what device suits their needs. No company – no matter how big or how creative – should dictate what you can create, how you create it, or what you can experience on the web.

When markets are open, anyone with a great idea has a chance to drive innovation and find new customers. Adobe’s business philosophy is based on a premise that, in an open market, the best products will win in the end – and the best way to compete is to create the best technology and innovate faster than your competitors.

We believe that Apple, by taking the opposite approach, has taken a step that could undermine this next chapter of the web – the chapter in which mobile devices outnumber computers, any individual can be a publisher, and content is accessed anywhere and at any time.

In the end, we believe the question is really this: Who controls the World Wide Web? And we believe the answer is: nobody – and everybody, but certainly not a single company.

[Read more…]

Microsoft [MSFT] has officially launched Microsoft Office 2010 along with SharePoint 2010, Visio 2010 and Project 2010 and made it available to business customers.

If you remember back a few weeks, Office 2010 was first made available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers. This next phase moves one step closer to the full launch that will be see the 2010 product range launching June 15.

Prices of Office 2010 and other software in the suite will range from $99 all the way up to $499 depending on which version of Office you choose. [Read more…]

The top criminal court in Germany has made a new ruling that those running private wireless internet connections must secure them or potentially face fines.

Internet users can be fined up to euro100 ($126) if a third party takes advantage of their unprotected WLAN connection to illegally download music or other files, the Karlsruhe-based court said in its verdict.

“Private users are obligated to check whether their wireless connection is adequately secured to the danger of unauthorized third parties abusing it to commit copyright violation,” the court said.

[Read more…]

Intel has revealed that they will be delivering an alternative to the Apple iPad and other tablet based devices.

The information comes from Mooly Eden who is the vice president of the PC client group.

Intel ‘are going to design silicon for the tablet segment and will ‘actively participate in the market.

‘People ask me, are you serious about trying to participate in the tablet market? The answer is yes, we are going to have tablets ¦ stay tuned for Computex. We are going to design silicon for this category and we are going to actively participate in this category. Mooly Eden, VP PC Client Group, Intel

[Read more…]

Last week, Google [GOOG] changed the layout of their search engine results pages by introducing a left sidebar that brings a number of “refining” features to your searches such as being able to search for products, blogs, images etc…

Other changes included slight modifications to the fonts, images and general layout of the results. However, a number of people do not seem so keen on the changes made and prefer the older familiar version. If that’s you then Google has provided a link where you can access the old results.

The main problem is that this older interface link doesn’t seem to be permanent and Google hasn’t mentioned if and when the old style search will be removed. [Read more…]

It will come as no surprise that Apple [AAPL] dislike Adobe Flash and that they will more than likely never allow it on the iPhone OS. Steve Jobs went as far as publishing a long letter as to why Apple will not work with Adobe Flash.

We are now hearing that Apple are working on their own Flash replacement. This isn’t the HTML5 used for video, but an actual flash replacement called Gianduia that Apple has been working on for a while and long before these iPad and no flash support arguments started.

Although it is unclear what exactly Gianduia will do, it is possible that this is one of the reasons why Apple do not allow flash on the iPad and iPhone devices… ie, they are already working on their own replacement. [Read more…]