I'm happy to announce I received my iPhone 4 in the mail today, five days before it was scheduled to arrive. After quite a bit of time spent transferring purchases, arranging apps, and checking the appropriate boxes in iTunes, I've activated and synced my new iPhone. Frankly, with a few reboots and trying to manage which apps should be synced and which shouldn't, the process hasn't gone as smoothly as I might have hoped. I even had a period of time where none of my apps would launch at all (gasp!). Fortunately, it's all sorted out.

Now that I'm up and running, I'm immediately noticing a significant speed boost, which is not saying much since I came from the iPhone 3G, but it is still a huge relief. Of course, the best part about upgrading is that I get to use apps I could previously test only on our in-house iPhone 4. Though I will continue to cover apps that work on most iPhones, this week I'm going to focus on a couple of apps that are perfect for your (and my) new iPhone 4.

This week's apps include a utility to give you a bit of light and a first person shooter that's probably the best yet in the iTunes app store.

Flashlight for iPhone 4 (99 cents--iPhone 4 exclusively) might seem like a strange app to feature here, but more and more apps like this one are coming to the iTunes App Store that specifically take advantage of the new hardware. Though there have been many flashlight apps released in the App Store in the past (often turning your screen white for limited illumination), this app uses the LED flash on the back of your iPhone 4 as a light. The interface is dead simple: Flashlight for iPhone has exactly one button that turns your LED light on and off.

Flashlight for iPhone 4 is only one of many new apps that use the LED light on your iPhone 4 (most go for 99 cents, as well), but it seems to be the simplest "switch" for the hardware LED light. One problem I found is that the whole screen acts as the on and off button so you will probably accidentally turn your light off every now and then until you get used to it. Obviously, using the LED light continuously sucks up your charge, so use it sparingly. Even with these issues, just about anyone needs a good flashlight from time to time, and this one is both reliable and easy to use.

Archetype ($2.99) is a new multiplayer first-person shooter that demonstrates the power of the upgraded graphics on newer iPhones. Both 3GS and iPhone 4 users will be able to play this game. When you launch Archetype for the first time, you'll need to register a unique screen name to create your account, but that's it--no e-mail address or extra purchases required. Part of the marketing push for Archetype is that it's not a "freemium" title--you won't have to purchase power packs or spend any extra money at all on downloadable content. With Archetype, you pay only once and play as much as you want.

When I first started playing, I was blown away by the graphics quality--I even had to quit for a few moments and launch Eliminate Pro just to see if maybe it was my new iPhone 4 that made the difference visually. But no, Archetype is truly a visually stunning game that was optimized for the iPhone 4's Retina display, making me forget I was playing on an iPhone screen. Dual joysticks control movement and firing just like other touch-screen FPS games, and the HUD lets you know where your health and ammo levels are at a glance. You get six weapons and two grenades to choose from that you will find throughout the levels as you play.

It comes with only a couple of game types, including a training type of challenge mode and online multiplayer in which you can play five-on-five team death match games. Racking up kills online earns you experience and medals (and is a heck of a lot of fun), but not much else. We hope that later versions include more perks for gaining experience, like special items or outfits, for example, but it's hard to complain about a game that looks this good and is this much fun. Overall, if you want an online multiplayer game with beautiful graphics on the iPhone 4, plus challenging gameplay, Archetype is an excellent choice.

What's your favorite iPhone app? Did you have problems setting up your iPhone 4? Do you have a better flashlight app? What do think of Archetype's graphics and gameplay? Let me know in the comments!

People love Google Chrome, it's as simple as that. But did you know that Google puts out three versions of Chrome? In this How To video, we recap the differences and show you how to jump between builds, also known as channels, in Chrome.

Try jumping between the stable, beta, and developer's channels yourself using the installers for Windows (stable | beta | dev), Mac (stable | beta | dev), and Linux (all versions). Note that at the time of publication, the stable and the beta channels are synchronized, but that's not always the case.

The choice between the 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7 appears to be shifting toward the latter.

With the new operating system less than nine months old, 46 percent of all computers running Windows 7 are using the 64-bit edition, said Microsoft in a Thursday blog post. That compares with 11 percent for the 3.5-year-old Windows Vista.

The major benefit to running a 64-bit OS is that it can address more memory. A 32-bit version of Windows can see only up to 4GB of RAM, and effectively use only around 3GB, since that extra gigabyte is reserved. A 64-bit OS can theoretically address around 17 billion gigabytes of RAM. In the real world, though, the more expensive and advanced versions of 64-bit Windows 7 can handle up to 192GB, while the lower-end editions are more limited.

Microsoft is attributing the surge in 64-bit Windows to a variety of factors. Though the cost of memory does fluctuate, overall the price has dropped over the past few years, so it's less expensive for PC makers to bump up the RAM. And unlike several years ago, today's CPUs are all capable of running a 64-bit OS. As as a result, more OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) have jumped onto the 64-bit bandwagon, many of them moving their entire lineup of PCs into the 64-bit world, according to Microsoft.

The blog cites a recent report from NPD Group analyst Stephen Baker who said that 77 percent of PCs sold in the U.S. retail market in April came with a 64-bit edition of Windows 7 pre-installed. Companies are also making the move to 64-bit, said Microsoft, citing a Gartner study forecasting that by 2014, 75% of all business PCs will be running 64-bit Windows.

Of course, 64-bit operating systems still pose some challenges. The 64-bit flavors of Windows 7 and Vista need specific hardware drivers written for them--their 32-bit counterparts won't work. And though manufacturers have been developing 64-bit drivers for their newer peripherals, users with older printers, scanners, and other hardware face a tougher time trying to dig up 64-bit drivers. Microsoft's Windows 7 Compatibility page lets you browse or search for different hardware and software to determine whether it will run under 64-bit Windows.

Originally posted at News - Microsoft

Ever since June, when we learned of FaceTime, Apple's two-way video-calling feature for the iPhone 4, we've been waiting for Fring to make its competitive move--especially since Fring announced its intention to release the very same features last March.

Since Fring, the joint VoIP-and-multinetwork IM client, was still offering only one-way video calls when we pitted it against FaceTime on the iPhone 4, it wasn't hard to predict the victor of that battle. So for honor's sake, we retested the updated Fring for iPhone, fresh in the App Store with two-way calling, when it was released on Thursday.

It would be cruel to kill you with suspense. While certainly better than it was earlier this month, Fring's two-way calling on iPhone 4 doesn't even approach FaceTime in the arenas of design, video quality, and audio quality. There are some reasons for all of these, however, some areas where Fring can improve, and plenty of cases where despite the drawbacks, using Fring will make sense. Are you ready?

Fring versus FaceTime, part deux

Like FaceTime, Fring uses the iPhone 4's front-facing camera to share video of your visage to your calling companion. Fring lets you make video calls through Skype and SIP, and other chat networks that support such calls. The video shows up in the same location as FaceTime, though the incoming Web cam image we saw was much grainier than FaceTime's. Bandwidth may have something to do with that, and we tested Fring over both Wi-Fi and 3G.

We're disappointed that Fring's video is smaller than FaceTime's and shows more of its bland background. FaceTime undoubtedly lends a richer visual experience. Fring is also less flexible than FaceTime since it's blocked access from swapping between the front-facing and standard cameras, unlike Apple's pet app, which can jump between cameras to broadcast both your face and the view in front of you.

Performance is key, and again FaceTime won the round. We tested Fring in San Francisco, calling out via Skype's service to another Northern California user calling from Skype on his Windows 7 PC, equipped with a third-party Web cam and operating under fast cable data speeds. We tested call quality over both Wi-Fi and 3G.

It took about 5 seconds for the headset to kick in, and 5-to-30 seconds for the two Web cams to engage. When we hung up to try calling again, the Web cam engagement completely failed during subsequent attempts. We couldn't see either video window when our contact called us. When video did come through, it was jumpy over Wi-Fi on our end and over cable on our caller's side.

Audio quality sounded fuzzy and muted on our end, but to Fring's (and Skype's) credit, it was in real time without any delays (that's fitting since this was ostensibly a local call). On their end, garbled sound induced our listener to turn up the volume.

We'll mention that Fring does warn users that 3G performance will vary based on the mobile operator's coverage--in our case, that's AT&T's, which offers a notoriously low 3G signal in San Francisco, and possibly even less if you believe Apple's insistence that its software has been inflating signal readouts.

The case for Fring

Despite Fring's flaws compared to FaceTime, it still has two rabbits in the hat. The first is 3G. FaceTime limits calls to Wi-Fi, with its more reliable video-streaming, whereas Fring accepts calls over Wi-Fi and 3G. While it's less than ideal, we credit Fring with leaving the decision up to callers, agreeing that the frustration of not being able to make a video call outweighs the frustration of choosing to and getting shaky reception.

Its second trump card is multiplatform support. FaceTime calls work only between two iPhone 4s, whereas Fring's two-way video calls will work on Android, iPhone, and Nokia phones running Symbian 60.

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

Microsoft said on Thursday that it expects to issue four security bulletins as part of next week's Patch Tuesday, closing critical holes in both Windows and Office.

The four bulletins cover a total of five vulnerabilities, including a Windows Help Center flaw that had been disclosed publicly by a Google researcher.

Of the two Windows-related bulletins, one is rated critical for Windows XP and low for Windows Server 2003, while the other affects only the 64-bit version of Windows 7.

On the Office front, one bulletin is related to the Access database and is rated critical for the 2003 and 2007 versions of the product. The other is related to Outlook and is rated as important for Outlook 2002, 2003, and 2007.

Microsoft will release more details when it issues the patches on Tuesday. Earlier this week the company said it is investigating a vulnerability in Windows XP and Windows 2000.

Update, 4:40 p.m.: Microsoft confirmed that the patches include a fix for the Windows Help Center zero-day flaw identified by a Google engineer last month.

"The Windows Help and Support zero-day vulnerability will be included in the July bulletin release," Microsoft group manager Jerry Bryant said in a statement. "We were in the early phases of investigation when details on this issue were publicly released on June 9th. We were originally targeting an August release, but we had to accelerate our efforts, based on attacks impacting Windows XP customers."

Attacks based on that flaw cropped up within days of its public disclosure. Because the vulnerability affected only two versions of Windows, Bryant said Microsoft was able to speed up the patch's release.

Originally posted at Beyond Binary