Software

LAS VEGAS--While the presence of software and apps at CES has certainly grown over the past few years, the fact remains that downloads still sit in the shadows of home theater components, gaming equipment, mobile devices, and other hardware at the annual show. At this point, we're beginning to think that software may never take center stage at CES. From an economic standpoint, it might not make much sense for a company to double down on an expensive booth to showcase a straightforward, downloadable app when the show continues to gravitate toward colorful plastics and shiny metals.

Rather, we … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in with questions about a problem installing software updates from Apple's Software Update service, how to restore a deleted Notes application in OS X, and options for recording movies and video to your Mac. I welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Unable to install software updates MacFixIt reader Arthur asks:

No doubt you heard earlier this week that Adobe is giving away Creative Suite 2, an older version of its popular (and pricey) image-editing and design bundle.

Then it turned out that, no, the software wasn't free; Adobe's Don Isaacs wrote that the company was merely "terminating the activation servers for CS2," and that the download page was only for those who already owned licenses for the product.

Ah, but it was too late: the story had gone viral (big time), and it appears Adobe has decided not to try stuffing the genie back into the … Read more

Is the Consumer Electronics Show a waste of time?

According to some critics, it is. They say that the world's largest hardware show has lost relevance in a a software-dominated world. And as Buzzfeed correctly points out in its thorough takedown of CES, the world's most innovative technology isn't at CES anymore. It debuts at individual press events put on by Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Samsung, and the other titans of technology. Of that group, only Samsung has any official presence at CES 2013.

"The fact is, hardware doesn't really matter," argued Wired's … Read more

LAS VEGAS--If you want to make money off of apps, you must develop for mobile, right? Wrong, says SweetLabs' Chester Ng, who points to his company's success with its OpenCandy project to help developers earn a living.

The problem is both cultural as well as logistical, Ng said in an interview outside the Las Vegas Convention Center. Desktop software, especially on Windows, has a long history of being developed as freeware. But pitching a secondary software purchase to the user during the installation process had been poisoned, he said.

"The problem is that developers don't like the … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Software usually isn't the flashiest category to show at CES, but FaceCake's 3D virtual dressing room might be an exception.

CNET previously covered FaceCake's Swivel product back in February 2011, when the company first introduced the idea of adding virtual dressing rooms to online retail sites. Now, the Swivel product is carried in select Bloomingdale's department stores. To be clear, augmented reality, the technology behind Swivel, is not exactly new, but FaceCake's implementation of it, both online and in brick-and-mortar stores, is certainly noteworthy.

Here at CES, we got a chance to try out … Read more

LAS VEGAS--As reported by Kotaku earlier this evening, modular PC vendor Xi3 announced an new project funded by PC game maker and digital distribution service provider Valve Software. The company says it isn't discussing many details about the project, other than the fact that it's "designed specifically to support both Steam and its Big Picture mode for residential and LAN party computer gaming on larger high-def screens."

Steam, if you're unfamiliar, is Valve Software's dominant PC gaming digital distribution service. Big Picture Mode is Valve's new feature that provides a TV-friendly overlay to … Read more

After being lured to U.S. territory and arrested in an undercover sting, Chinese national Xiang Li pled guilty in U.S. federal court to pirating, cracking, and selling software worth more than $100 million today, according to Reuters.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security took down Li in June 2011 after agents discovered that he was heading a pirating ring that sold stolen software on the Web. The software was mostly used by defense, space, and engineering companies and was made by Microsoft, Oracle, Rockwell Automation, Agilent Technologies, Siemens, and others.

"Li thought he was safe from … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, start your programming engines: Lego Mindstorms EV3 is here.

The third full generation of Lego's programmable robotics platform, EV3 is aimed at both enthusiasts -- young and old -- and educators, and blows past the previous generation with a long list of new features that add speed and power, intelligent programmability, and more ways to communicate with the robots. Lego expects to begin selling the product, which includes 594 Technic pieces that can be used to make five different robots, this summer at a retail cost of $350. It will also release … Read more