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Microsoft retiring Messenger on March 15th, wants you to use Skype instead

While we knew Microsoft Messenger was due to retire sometime in the first quarter of this year, we now have a confirmed date. According to The Next Web , Redmond has informed users via email that they have until March 15th to use the IM platform, after which they will need to hop on to Skype to chat with their Messenger pals. Your buddy list will automatically be migrated to the VoIP -focused offering. Desktop users of the outgoing service (globally except mainland China, where it will live on) should receive a banner notification to install Skype and, as it turns out, clicking on said banner will also uninstall Messenger. Road warriors are also taken care of, with Microsoft account support already baked into iOS , Android and Windows Phone 8 versions of the Skype app. Nostalgia notwithstanding, fans of the long-standing MSN descendent can at least take solace in the broader set of features Skype offers. Filed under: Internet , Microsoft Comments Via: The Next Web

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Microsoft retiring Messenger on March 15th, wants you to use Skype instead

Mpowerd’s Luci solar lantern hands-on

Luci is Mpowerd’s “little solar lantern with a big impact” and for the price and light produced — 1200 lumens — it does seem to fit the bill. But what really makes this lantern so fantastic, is that Luci is aimed to provide “solar justice” for those off the grid or perhaps suffering through some type of natural disaster and it is done on the cheap. Luci is a solar -powered LED lantern that will juice up in the sun in six hours and then produce six to 12 hours of light from that charge. The light runs in three different modes, low, high, or a distress mode where it flashes, costs only $15.99, is collapsible, lightweight and has a one-year lifespan. Well done Mpowerd, Luci seems a great tech and design innovation in that it solves a problem in a very elegant and simple way. Gallery: Mpowerd’s Luci solar lantern hands-on Filed under: Peripherals Comments

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Mpowerd’s Luci solar lantern hands-on

E Ink demos CST-01, the ‘world’s thinnest watch’ (hands-on video)

We just got a glimpse of the CST-01 E Ink watch, the result of a partnership between Central Standard Timing and E Ink itself. The product has been in the prototype phase for a year, but it just went live on Kickstarter, with a funding goal of $200,000 and pre-orders available for $129 each. The real standout feature here is the 0.8mm design, which is apparently thinner than a credit card. In any case, the stainless steel design is super svelte. The whole package consists of several flexible components that are laminated into a 0.5mm unit, which is then photochemically etched into a piece of flexible stainless steel. This is a digital watch, of course, but its form factor is more along the lines of a bangle than a Casio-style timepiece. An embedded Thinergy micro-energy cell charges the device in 10 minutes via an external dock. The external dock is also used for setting the time (military or 12-hour), as there are no controls on the watch itself. Battery life is rated for a month. When we tried it out here at CES , the watch felt extremely light, though the edges were a bit jagged. This, of course, is because it’s not yet a final product — you can expect a much smoother finish on the final product. You can check out the CST-01 prototype in our hands-on gallery below, along with the video embedded after the break. Gallery: E Ink Watch eyes-on Continue reading E Ink demos CST-01, the ‘world’s thinnest watch’ (hands-on video) Filed under: Wearables Comments Source: CST-01: The world’s thinnest watch (Kickstarter)

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E Ink demos CST-01, the ‘world’s thinnest watch’ (hands-on video)

Microsoft moves another 20 million Windows 8 licenses over holiday season, 100 million total app downloads

Ready for your quarterly dose of Windows 8 sales figures? After hearing that some 40 million licenses had been sold through last November , the company’s CFO and CMO for Windows Tammi Reller announced here at CES that Microsoft has sold 60 million Windows 8 licenses to date. According to her, that number includes “sell in to OEMs for new PCs,” but she didn’t clarify whether or not it includes blockbuster deals like the $617 million one it recently landed with the US Army, Air Force and DISA. Reller also noted that the numbers are “roughly in line with where we would have been with Windows 7.” Moving 20 million of anything over a single holiday season is pretty impressive, and we’ll be keeping an ear out for more details should they emerge. Update : Microsoft also announced that “since the opening of the Windows Store the number of apps has quadrupled and it passed the 100 million app download mark – just two months after general availability.” Filed under: Software , Microsoft Comments Source: ZDNet , Windows Blog

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Microsoft moves another 20 million Windows 8 licenses over holiday season, 100 million total app downloads

Mushkin launches ‘next generation’ USB 3.0 drive, promises 300MBs read/write speeds

While Mushkin tipped its hand early regarding details of its “world’s first” 480GB mSATA SSD , it did keep one thing back for CES . It’s launching what it promises is a SandForce-packing, “next generation” USB 3.0 drive that will have read and write speeds of over 300 MB per second. The company is keeping the specifics about its performance, its pricing, availability and even its casing a secret for now, but we’ve gotten in touch and will update this when we learn more. Continue reading Mushkin launches ‘next generation’ USB 3.0 drive, promises 300MBs read/write speeds Filed under: Storage Comments

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Mushkin launches ‘next generation’ USB 3.0 drive, promises 300MBs read/write speeds

Netflix launches ‘Super HD’ and 3D streaming — but only through certain ISPs

Rumors that Netflix was offering ISPs access to higher quality streams in return for partnering on distribution surfaced early last year , and were followed by the announcement of its Open Connect CDN network in June. Now the full picture has been revealed with the company’s announcement of “Super HD” 1080p and (in the US only, for now) 3D streaming, which comes to its customers at no extra cost, but only on certain devices plugged in to to Open Connect partner ISPs. The hardware list includes PS3, WiiU, Windows 8, Roku, Apple TVs as well as Blu-ray players and smart TVs with 1080p support. According to Netflix, most of its international streams are already going through compatible ISPs, however the only major participants announced in the US currently are Cablevision and Google Fiber. Watch Instantly customers can see if their ISP on the list by visiting the Super HD page and, if it isn’t, they’re encouraged to call and ask for it. Netflix’s ability to manage bandwidth will be increasingly important and the ISPs customers access its with and along with those rankings , “Super HD” is an important lure to get them to play ball. We’ve been seeing some 3D ready titles pop up on the service in the last few weeks and now viewers can access titles like Art of Flight , Immortals and several titles from 3net. According to Dan Rayburn of Streaming Media Blog , the higher-quality encodes are targeted for 7 Mbps, while 3D streams top out at 12 Mbps. One question that lingers is how this quality bump aligns with recent changes some customers have noticed (if X-High suddenly reappears…), but until we get our eyes on the higher quality streams it’s hard to tell. Reed Hastings says he wants all Netflix customers served by Open Connect (whether via colocated appliances or peered at common internet exchanges) as soon as possible — we’ll see if Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon, AT&T and the rest have a similar dream. Continue reading Netflix launches ‘Super HD’ and 3D streaming — but only through certain ISPs Filed under: Announcements , HD Comments Source: Netflix Super HD

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Netflix launches ‘Super HD’ and 3D streaming — but only through certain ISPs

Fences as primitive phone networks

Somewhere between two-cans-and-a-string and Ma Bell lies the barbed wire fence telephone networks used by ranchers in the early 20th century. From CF Eckhardt’s short history of these “rural telephone systems” at TexasHillCountry.com : Across much of the west, to the west of old US 81 (present I-35) in Texas–and not a small part of it east of that demarcation–there was already a network of wire covering most of the country, in the form of barbed-wire fences. Some unknown genius discovered that if you hooked two Sears or Monkey Ward telephone sets to the top wire on a barbed-wire fence, you could talk between the telephones as easily as between two “town” telephones connected by slick wire through an operator’s switchboard. A rural telephone system that had no operators, no bills–and no long-distance charges–was born. Most ranch perimeter fences joined at corners, and in most cases the top wires touched each other or were even interwoven for strength. Where it became necessary for a telephone system to cross a road, all that was required was two posts about 15 feet long, buried about 3 feet into the ground for stability, and enough wire to go from one top fence wire up to the top of the post, across the road, and down the other post to the top fence wire on the other side. ” Before Maw Bell – Rural Telephone Systems In The West ” More at BLDGBLOG: ” Fence Phone ”

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Fences as primitive phone networks

Firefox 18 launched with Retina support, Android browser also updated

We took a look at Mozilla’s mobile OS at the final pre-proper CES event yesterday, and little did we know the official release of its Firefox 18 browser was dropping today. The update adds the new Javascript compiler IonMonkey, which is said to make wep apps “perform up to 25 percent faster.” Mac users who will settle for nothing less than high-res browsing will be happy to know Retina display support has been implemented, as long as you’re on OS X 10.7 or above. Preliminary support for WebRTC has also been added. The upgrade is available now, but if you’re reading this on FF, you’ve probably got it already. The Android version of the Firefox browser has received a little TLC alongside its computer-based counterpart. The IonMonkey compiler is also new to this version, the Google Now search widget has been integrated, and Mozilla suggests mobile browsing has never been safer. Head to the source link for the release notes for both versions. Filed under: Internet , Software , Mobile Comments Source: Mozilla (1) , (2)

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Firefox 18 launched with Retina support, Android browser also updated