Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Subscribe to Killing Pixels

“A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world!“  -  A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

This week we began with a catch-up, having not done a show for a couple of weeks. And we touched on the important issue of what Santa was bringing us tech-heads. Gareth will be finding a Drobo under his tree. While I, having rescued what I could from my faulty Seagate drive, will be receiving a Time Capsule for being a good boy this year.

And on to our final stories of 2009…

Zune Twitter app censors rude words – Why, who knows. Maybe they’re trying to drum up some controversy for the Zune app store. Is there even a Zune app store yet? Or maybe Ballmer could only just bear to see his baby referred to as a….. F*^$@!g piece of s^%t.

Microsoft admits code theft – In a refreshing change from normal practice, M$ have admitted and apologised, for blatantly stealing the work of others, and passing it off as they’re own. If it wasn’t amazing enough that a few weeks ago, a Redmond exec admitted to copying Mac OS, when creating Windows. Truly, a Christmas miracle.

Android to burst iPhone’s bubble – It’s inevitable that Android will power the best smartphone ever. Google are using the monkeys, typewriters and Shakespeare principal. You get enough manufacturers making enough different handsets, running enough different versions of the OS, with enough different UI skins and enough different screen sizes. Eventually they’re bound to make the best smartphone.

Google dumps Gears for HTML5 – Wanted to write up that important blog post, while the muse has struck. Use Google Docs, so you can share everything between your different devices. But shock, horror, gasp the ‘cloud’ has deserted you in your hour of need. That’s where Gears came in, allowing to use all the Google office services and Gmail offline. But with the advent of HTML5, Gears has become defunct, it is on more, it is a dead service. Okay not quite yet, but you get the idea. HTML5 is seriously going to kick ass. Plus IE is incompatible, so it could kill that as well. It’s a win win.

TechCrunch and Fusion Garage clash over ‘bad’ JooJoo – The Crunchpad has been crunched. And what ever is happening between Mike Arrington and Chandra Rathakrishnan, you can be sure the legal shenanigans will drag on for quite some time. But the Crunchpad renamed JooJoo will be with us shortly. Then everyone can compare it to the best tablet that’s ‘never’ been made. The mythical, nay legendary Apple tablet.

VLC for the Mac might die – The excellent video utility software VideoLan Client, you can chuck practically any video format at it and it’ll run without a hiccup, might whither and die. The open source software is running out of active developers, to drive the project forward. If there are any developers out there, with the time to donate to this software, please help. We cannot let this useful and important software languish. If this software dies, what am I going to use to watch my collection of Xvid porn.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Subscribe to Killing Pixels

“I think people should be allowed to do anything they want. We haven’t tried that for a while. Maybe this time it’ll work.”  – George Carlin

Our opening chat this week began with Gareth’s Black Friday experience, it’s even catching on over here, just the discounts, no stampedes just yet. Then we bemoaned the lack of any juicy stories, we even considered making some up. Then the newly released beta of Chrome OS featured highly, and speaking of Google thanks to Gareth’s endeavours we are now the proud users of Google Wave, but we don’t know what it’s for either.

Anyway on to the stories…

Zune Colours coming – MS’ flagship mp3 player, sorry, only mp3 player. Is going all polychromatic in time for Christmas. Two colours, purple and magenta, are coming on the 1st of December with others to follow soon. I should say something here about Microsoft copying Apple again, al a iPod Nano. But it happens so often, I can’t be bothered to say it again.

EU rides to file sharers rescue – With the impending arrival of the dreaded ‘three strikes’ laws all over Europe. The European Parliament is enshrining in law rights for accused file sharers. At least now we can appeal, and we might get to keep our internet connections. Or we could end up in Gitmo, who knows.

An Apple with out Steve Jobs – Talk about a dystopian alternate reality. But it almost happened. Where would Apple be now, would there even be an Apple. Or would it just be another technological footnote, in Windows’ inexorable march to total desktop domination…. Oh god what a thought, I think I might have to change my underpants.

Android and Chrome OS expected to merge – In it’s on going attempt to take over any device that might in anyway brush up against the cloud. Google have a desktop OS and a smartphone OS. They also have a cunning plan, unite the two and take over the world… Bwhahahahaha. I can see it now, the completely dominant Google OS, but what to call it? Android or Chrome? I think they should call it something associated with all Google software. Introducing the new Google Beta.