With an aim to stay ahead of the curve, software maker Roxio is bringing 3D editing to the latest version of its digital media suite, Creator 2011. The company's thinking in adding this functionality is that 3D video is eventually going to make its way from the big screen to our home computers, and it wants the software to be ready for that when it happens.

The new version of Creator includes the ability to import video from popular 3D video cameras, and it lets users edit said videos and even select from a variety of integrated 3D transitions. You can also save 3D videos to various formats and burn discs on 3D-capable media. As an added bonus, the suite is also capable of converting 2D photos and videos to 3D (as shown in the screen grab above). Of course, none of this would be possible without the requisite 3D glasses, and Roxio includes a pair in the package with the software.

Roxio also improved on various other features in Creator 2011, understanding that many consumers still want all the standard functionality offered by the suite. The program now offers accelerated file conversion, a better backup and recovery system, the ability to encrypt discs that you burn, and support for high-def DVD menus. There's also a variety of new photo templates for greeting cards, calendars and other projects as well as iPad optimization and added support for MKV movies.

Roxio Creator 2011 is available now and will set you back $100.

Apple has released a security update for OS X 10.6 and OS X 10.5 machines, which addresses a number of security holes for both the client and server versions of OS X. For both the client and server versions, the update fixes several problems that could lead to arbitrary code execution.

The specific services fixed are CoreGraphics, Apple Type Services, PHP, and libsecurity (certificate host name resolution), as well as Samba. The majority of the exploits are buffer overflows that could result in arbitrary code execution.

It is highly recommended that you apply these updates to your system, but be sure before you do so that you have your system fully backed up in a manner that makes a system restore easy.

The update is approximately 84MB in size and will require a system restart once applied. It is available through Software Update, but also can be downloaded from the following Web pages:

Security Update 2010-005 (Snow Leopard - Client)

Security Update 2010-005 (Leopard - Client)

Security Update 2010-005 (Snow Leopard - Server)

Security Update 2010-005 (Leopard - Server)

For the details on the security holes that were addressed with this update, see this Apple Knowledgebase document.

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Originally posted at MacFixIt

iPhone and iPad users who have longed to get the same functionality found in Google's "Chrome to Phone" extension, which sends items from the browser to the mobile phone, need wait no longer.

A new extension from developer Tom Lerendu called Chrome to iPhone brings a similar level of convenience to users who wish to send links directly to their phones. Users with the extension installed can send whatever page they're looking at in Chrome to their iPhone. Though unlike on a compatible Android device, these links or application shortcuts don't automatically fire up the browser (or relevant application). Instead, users need to save a personalized link to their Safari bookmarks or their iOS device's home screen; clicking on that then launches the browser and takes you to that page.

By nature this will never have the kind of deep integration Google has built into its own solution, which incidentally requires that users are running version 2.2 of the Android operating system (something few phones currently offer). But it certainly beats sending those links to yourself in e-mails.

Something similar can be had for Firefox users with Mozilla's Firefox Home iPhone app, which can mirror whatever tabs you have open in your desktop browser, as well as any bookmarks and history.

(via Gizmodo)

Originally posted at Web Crawler

Mozilla released its fourth beta of Firefox 4 on Tuesday, bringing a new feature that addresses one of the biggest challenges in the new era of the browser: reclaiming control over the burgeoning number of tasks that now happen on the Web.

Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Firefox 4 beta 4 introduces a feature now called Firefox Panorama. Today's browsers typically cram tabs in a strip along the top of the window, but Panorama provides a Mac OS X Expose-like interface that groups tabs into related bunches.

Panorama presents an array of thumbnail images, each representing a tab. The thumbnails reside in rectangular boxes that constitute a group. Tabs can be moved from one group to another, and groups can be named and moved as well.

The overall idea is to make it easier to switch from one tab to another, to group or regroup related tabs, and overall to see what's going on. It's potentially a big improvement in browser usage, compared to aiming a mouse at an ever-skinnier tab, cycling through a list with alt-tab keystrokes, or pecking at a drop-down menu to reach the tabs that overflowed off the end of the list.

And notably for Mozilla, during a time of increasingly fierce browser competition, it's a feature none of its rivals possess right now. Opera has been taking swipes at the challenge with thumbnails of tabs, though, and on Monday, there were signs that Google is starting to tackle the problem more seriously. "I am working with the design leads to find a solution to this," Google Chrome engineer Andrew Bonventre said in discussion of the Chrome "tab overflow" issue.

Firefox Panorama: How To from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

There are limits to Panorama, as implemented today, though. In my tests on Mac OS X, it can be easy to get confused when using the tab strip at the top of the browser, because only the tabs in one group show across the top. For another thing, tab groups don't span multiple browser windows; each new browser window has its own tab groups in Panorama.

Also new in Firefox 4 beta 4 is Firefox Sync, the service once called Weave that synchronizes bookmarks, open tabs, passwords, browsing history, form autofill data, and other information, among different instances of Firefox that might be running on multiple computers or mobile devices.

"Firefox Sync encrypts all of your data before sending it to the server and does not track your travels throughout the Web. This means that you never have to compromise your privacy for the convenience of using Firefox Sync," Mozilla said of the feature.

Today's browser is growing ever more important in the technology realm as cloud-computing services such as SalesForce.com and Google Docs expand what's possible through a browser. The flip side, though, is that the browser can become a sprawling mess of tasks. User interface improvements can ease the pain.

Sync is geared for the cloud-computing era, too. With the state of one's computing chores stored on a server rather than a PC, it becomes easier to move from a work computer to a home PC to a mobile phone--and for that matter, to an airport Internet kiosk, a friend's Mac, an in-dash car computer, and whatever other windows on the Web will emerge.

Sync makes it easier to pick up and move to another machine without losing track of what's going on.

Mozilla faces significant challenges today. It remains the top alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer, but Microsoft lit a fire under its programmers and the fruits of that labor are now showing in IE9 work.

IE has begun reclaiming browser usage share, according to Net Applications' data on activity to its large network of Web sites, while Mozilla has been slipping. However, since usage overall is increasing in absolute terms, there's still room for growth.

Updated 12:48 p.m. PDT with further context on cloud computing.

Originally posted at Deep Tech

Most of the Earth's surface is covered with water, which we land-lubbers have a difficult time exploring on our own. A new update to Google Earth for Android adds an ocean layer to its application for surveying our planet.

The Ocean layer will be switched on by default. To explore the ocean floor, zoom in to just below the ocean surface and tap the "look around" button to take a closer look at undersea dimensions.

We dove underwater to check out the Monterey Bay Canyon that's situated just off the California coastline. Other fissures and mounds on our planet's sea floor are clearly marked, from Hawaii's coasts to the Mariana Trench, Earth's deepest point--though frankly, the picture wasn't clear enough to really plumb its depths.

You can access Wikipedia information within the app where the marker is available, along with photos and videos contributed by other Earth users.

Android 2.2 brings a handful of additional features, including support for Flash video playback within the app, and a way to pan your surroundings with two fingers, instead of tapping the onscreen button. Google Earth for Android is available in the Android Market. It's compatible with Android phones running version 2.1 of the operating system or higher.

Originally posted at Android Atlas