Supreme court moves to center of presidential race (The Arizona Republic)

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Google Drive official: 5GB of free storage, business-focused approach (video)

If it happened any other way, it just wouldn't be as satisfying, now would it? After years of leaks, murmurs, hubbub and other familiar synonyms, Google's mythical cloud storage platform is now official... sort of. As Lady Fate would have it, the company apparently outed a memo of the features on its French blog earlier today, but before it could yank the 'pull' switch, an eagle-eyed reader managed to grab the text and run it through -- surprise, surprise -- Google Translate. What's left is an official-as-you'll-get-right-now transcript of Google Drive's features, but contrary to the hype, it all feels way more enterprise-centric than consumers may have wanted. For starters, there's no real mention of music (we guess Google Music is on its own, there), and there's just 5GB of free storage for "documents, videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs, etc." According to the brief, it's designed to let users "live, work and play in the cloud," with direct integration with Docs and Google+.

We're also told that Drive can be installed on one's Mac, PC or Android phone / tablet, while an iOS version will be "available in the coming weeks." Of note, Google's making this accessible to visually impaired consumers with the use of a screen reader. As for features? Naturally, Google's flexing its search muscles in as many ways as possible; if you scan in a newspaper clipping, a simple Search All within Drive will allow results to appear directly from said clipping. If you upload a shot of the Eiffel Tower, it'll show up whenever you search for the aforesaid icon. Moreover, Drive will allow folks to open over 30 types of documents directly from a web browser, including HD video, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and more -- "even without the software installed on your computer." For those concerned about access, the new platform will have the same infrastructure as any other Google Apps services, giving admins a familiar set of management tools on that end.

On the topic of storage, just 5GB are provided gratis, with 25GB costing $2.49 per month, 100GB running you $4.99 per month and 1TB demanding $49.99 per month, with a maximum of 16TB ($799.99 per month, if you're curious) per user; thankfully, Google Docs will not be included in your usage total. Finally, the note played up the ability to "attach documents directly into your Drive Gmail," and given that it's intended to be an open platform, Goog's promising to work with third party developers in order to enhance Drive's functionality even further. The source link below is still dead as of right now, but it simply can't be long before the lights are officially turned on. Oh, and if you're not enamored at the moment, the outfit's suggesting that "many more developments" will be arriving in the coming weeks.

Update: It's live on the Google Play store, and a pair of explanatory videos are embedded after the break!

Continue reading Google Drive official: 5GB of free storage, business-focused approach (video)

Google Drive official: 5GB of free storage, business-focused approach (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gurwin Sturm (Google+), Fran?ois Bacconnet (Google+)  |  TechCrunch, Google Drive, Google Play  | Email this | Comments

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ASUS Eee Pad Transformer update rollout begins today

ASUS has began pushing out an update for the Eee Pad Transformer (TF101) today, and the change log is online chock full of the things users really wanted it to be chock full of. In case you're not up to snuff on the state of ICS for the original Transformer, some users are having issues with random reboots since getting the OTA to Android 4. It's not one of those things that affects everyone, which makes it that much harder to troubleshoot, but hopefully ASUS has a handle on it with today's news. There's other goodies there as well -- check it.

• Improves system stability
• Improves email stability
• Improves AppBackup App
• Improves MyLibrary stability
• Supports Wi-Fi Direct
• Supports unzip in File Manager
• Add restore tab function in Browser

Short, sweet, and to the point. Exactly how an update should be. According to ASUS the update started going out today (April 24) so start checking for version 9.2.1.21 and shout out when you see it. 

Source: ASUS

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Apple?s Next WWDC Dates Announced: June 11-15

The day after another monster set of earnings from Apple, the company is continuing the momentum. Today, Apple has announced the dates for its next Worldwide Developers Conference: June 11-15, held in its now-traditional venue, the Moscone West in San Francisco. Expect the usual wave of speculation leading up to June, especially since Apple is already preparing us for news at the event: ?We have a great WWDC planned this year and can?t wait to share the latest news about iOS and OS X Mountain Lion with developers,? Philip Schiller, Apple?s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing said in a statement.

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US lessons in Afghanistan can aid Colombian troops

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) ? Defense Secretary Leon Panetta got a glimpse into how America's military's experience in Afghanistan is contributing to the U.S. counterinsurgency training in Colombia.

While the two conflicts are no perfect match, U.S. military and defense officials said they can learn from the Colombian's long and bloody campaign against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC. Likewise, Colombia can learn from U.S. experiences battling the Taliban's roadside bomb threat, which has been the No. 1 killer in Afghanistan.

Under a blistering sun, Panetta and his staff flew Monday to the Talemaida Army Base in the mountains outside Bogota, where U.S. trainers help instruct members of the Colombian special forces.

Panetta also announced during his visit to the base that the U.S. would facilitate the sale of 10 helicopters to Bogota ? five Army Black Hawks and five commercial aircraft ? to help Colombian forces in their fight against the FARC.

Out at the training grounds, a U.S. military officer participating in the program said U.S. special operators are sharing their 10 years of battlefield counterinsurgency experience. The Colombians, he said, can use many of the same techniques, particularly how to share intelligence, sustain and support troops on a long-term basis, and identify and counter improvised explosive devises.

The officer, who has served three tours in Afghanistan but spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said the guerilla, hit-and-run tactics of the FARC, who number about 8,000, are very similar to what the Taliban is doing now.

The FARC took up arms in 1964, and is the biggest of many outlaw groups that abduct people for financial, political and other ends.

As Panetta watched, six commandos descended from the sky, their blue and yellow parachutes billowing above them. The special operations forces demonstrated a raid on a building at mid-field, acting out the rescue of a hostage. Teams also slid down braided ropes from helicopters, gathered up someone acting as an injured person and pulled the stretcher back up. The helicopter flew away with the commandos dangling from the ropes.

Talemaida is the largest Colombian military base, and there is currently a brigade of special operations forces ? or about 1,500 commandos ? being trained there. The U.S. has about 180 U.S. military in the country, including trainers.

U.S. aid to Colombia's police and military has dropped over the past several years, from about $440 million in 2009 to $270 million in 2012, according to Adam Isacson, an analyst with the Washington Office on Latin America, which compiles such figures.

The country's difficult battle with the FARC has dragged on for nearly five decades, but officials now tout it as a success story.

And they suggest one parallel the U.S. can draw between this fight and the war in Afghanistan may be the value of patience in a counterinsurgency battle.

At a very broad level, said defense analyst Michael O'Hanlon, the Colombia fight shows that "not everything is a clean win and clean defeat."

Americans have become increasingly impatient with the deadly Afghan conflict that has dragged on for more than a decade. And there has been a growing drumbeat from both the public and Congress for the U.S. to get out of the war sooner than the administration's strategy, which calls for the exit of combat troops by the end of 2014.

The key to success is the ability of the U.S. and NATO to train the Afghan forces so that they can take over security of their own country.

O'Hanlon, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, said Iraq's relatively rapid turnaround in 2007, after the surge of U.S. forces helped beat back the insurgency, "may have created some unfortunate impressions that are unrealistic to extend to other cases. Just because we're not attaining our preferred goals doesn't mean that we're wasting our time or that we're being defeated," he said.

As is the hope in Afghanistan, the U.S. helped train the Colombian forces over the years so that they could be capable of taking on the fight on their own.

Meanwhile, said O'Hanlon, the U.S. may be able to learn some of the Colombian's well-honed jungle warfare skills.

Despite battling the FARC and Taliban for many years, officials say they continue to learn new tactics that can be shared.

Still, there are differences between the two experiences ? a key one being that the Colombians are fighting in their own country, and are not the unwelcome foreign forces that the U.S. military can sometimes be in Afghanistan. The Colombian forces are largely viewed as legitimate in the country.

"It's just a useful reminder of how it can take time and how sometimes the solutions you get are imperfect," O'Hanlon said. "We've got to be patient and sometimes lower standards a little bit for success."

Panetta's visit to Colombia came on the heels of the U.S. Secret Service sex scandal that erupted earlier this month during President Barack Obama's visit to Cartagena.

___

Lolita C. Baldor can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lbaldor

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Dropbox for Android updates, folder linking now available

The Dropbox app for Android (and the related web service and desktop apps) has been updated today with "performance improvements and bug fixes", along with the option to share links to specific files or folders. The idea is to make it easier to make stuff you've uploaded directly accessible by providing a button next to them on the web site and mobile app. If you recognize these new features, it's because they've been in beta testing for a while, but from today they're accessible to all Dropbox users.

The timing of the update is interesting, with Google rumored to be unveiling its competing "Google Drive" service sometime this week. If it's to succeed in taking users away from Dropbox, Google will have to offer a compelling sharing solution of its own, particularly in light of today's new additions.

We've got the usual Google Play Store linkage waiting for you after the break, along with today's press release.

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Cargo-Bot is a deceptively simple iPad puzzle game, made on the iPad (video)

After flinging avian creatures no longer provides a suitable outlet for your mental acumen, you may wish to graduate to a more challenging level of iPad gameplay. Might we suggest moving crates? Seriously, though, while the premise behind Cargo-Bot may seem effortless, it's actually nothing of the sort. In the game, players must program a crane to properly situate boxes, but with the help of loops and conditional variables, it rewards players for discovering the most efficient method. We definitely dig the idea behind Cargo-Bot, but what makes it truly unique is the fact that it was programmed entirely on the iPad with Codea -- which also makes it a first of its kind. Go ahead and check out the free app for yourself in the source below, but if you need a bit more convincing, just hop the break for a quick premise of the game.

Continue reading Cargo-Bot is a deceptively simple iPad puzzle game, made on the iPad (video)

Cargo-Bot is a deceptively simple iPad puzzle game, made on the iPad (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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