iPhone Compatible with VLC

VLC is a cross-platform media player, which supports almost all kinds of media formats. The good news for Apple iPhone or iPod Touch users is that VLC is now being ported for iPhone as well as iPod Touch. VLC4iPhone app is currently in its beta phase, and you can be a part of their private beta, if you are a donating member of ZodTTD.

Just like VLC, VLC4iPhone supports variety of media formats including MPEG/MPG, MPEG2, MPEG4, AVI, MP3, XviD, h264, FLAC, 3GP and more. This app can be truly handy, if you watch lots of videos on your iPhone. Since most video formats are already support by the player, you no longer need to re-encode them, so that it’s playable on your device.

I’m positive that VLC4iPhone will be a huge hit, when App Store is launched. In the meantime, if you need to install VLC4iPhone on your device, you need a jailbroken iPhone or iPod Touch (and some cash to donate for the cause).

IE8 is to be released in August 8th

Microsoft has revealed their plans to release the second beta of Internet Explorer 8 in August. The first preview version of IE8 was released back in March and it gave web developers a chance to see what Microsoft’s next generation browser had to offer. However, the next beta of IE8 is meant for normal web users to try out. It will have all the features that the browser will have when IE8 is finally released.

According to Reuters, Microsoft plans to adopt a policy which will deliver more regular updates to Internet Explorer users, like Firefox already does. I think that’s a step in the right direction since browser exploits are constantly uncovered and regularly releasing browser updates will help in patching them.

Just as a refresher, Internet Explorer 8 complies with web standards and passes acid2 test. The final release date for Internet Explorer 8 has not been set, but my guess is that it will be at sometime later this year

Mozila trying for guinness world record

While Firefox 3 is on its way, Spread Firefox team is preparing to set a Guinness World Record for the most number of downloads in 24 hours. The official date for the launch of Firefox 3 has not been disclosed yet, but you can help them set a record by pledging to download Firefox 3 on the “Download Day” (which coincides with the release date of Firefox 3).

So far 340,411 people have pledge to download Firefox 3. The current record for most downloads in 24 hours is non-existent, so they’ll set the record no matter what! Campaigns like these are held to promote a better web browser, rather than anything else. Last time, they celebrated World Firefox Day which followed by Friends of Firefox campaign.

Just to make sure you don’t miss it, they’ll probably shoot you an email reminder on the download day. To participate, you just need to download Firefox 3 on the same day. Please remember that only completed download counts. They have a special certificate that can be printed for you to celebrate and show off your participation!

now free music from EMI music and Universal in sprialfrog.com

Ever dreamed of downloading free, yet legal music from popular artists? Spiralfrog.com is an ad-supported, free music and video downloading website and they have recently signed a new licensing deal with EMI music. Last year, Spiralfrog.com signed a similar deal with Universal Music group. This latest licensing deal with EMI gives Spiralfrog.com users the access to content from two out of four major recording companies.
Spiralfrog.com users from Canada and U.S can download music and videos for free. The cover their bandwidth bills and pay rights holders through the revenue generated with online advertisements shown on their site. However they have one small catch – music downloaded from their website contains DRM that makes it playable only on Windows based computers (i.e tracks downloaded from their website can’t be played back on iPod or other portable music devices).
Spiralfrog.com already has 1.1 millions tracks and over 4,000 music videos. The number will significantly rise once EMI’s content gets included in their catalogue. The company is currently pursuing other labels to sign licensing deals and they are hopeful about getting content other major labels.
It feels good to download tracks for free, but also pay the rights holder through a portion of ad revenue. No guilt involved! As of now, Spiralfrog.com is open to users from U.S and Canada only

Bye to “Disc Burner” and “software not found” error in iTunes:

Earlier today, I was trying to backup my iTunes library to disc, but iTunes just wouldn’t let me do that. It said “….” Since this is my first try, I thought that iTunes required some software component for the burn function to work. I also knew that iTunes recognized my DVD Burner, since it was listed under Advanced > Burning tab in Preferences.

After troubleshooting for a while, I found out that Daemon Tools is the culprit. Daemon Tools is a software for inserting virtual CDs, mostly useful for playing games without it’s actually DVD. I tried uninstalling Daemon Tool, but that didn’t solve the problem.

I dug a little deeper and found an add-on called SPTD v1.50. It repairs Daemon Tools to fix the incompatibility issues with iTunes. It’s available for both 32 bit and 64 bit operating systems.

Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1 Now Available

On Friday, Mozilla released Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1, which means exactly as the tag says: unless any major bugs are reported, Firefox 3 RC1 is going to be the final version of Firefox 3, which is planned for June.

Windows Vista users will notice a slight visual refresh. The Bookmark Organizer or "Library" now has a black glossy interface, which resemble with Vista’s looks and feel. The line which separates toolbars from the address bar has now been removed. "Clear" button has been put back into Firefox 3’s download manager.

Help documentation has been removed from the installation, instead, it will now be available online. That way, it will be easier for them to change their documentation without actually releasing a new version of Firefox.

Performance wise, Firefox 3 RC1 is faster and better than previous builds. This is not the final release, so bugs can still exist within the next generation browser. Firefox 3 RC1 is available in 45 different languages for Windows, Linux and MAC. As usual, it won’t work on any operating system prior to Windows2008.