Plex for iPhone and iPad updated to v2.3.1

The Plex application allows you to use your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch to browse and play your media (video, photos and music) using the Plex Media Server installed on your Mac or PC. The latest version, v2.3.1, has just been released in the App Store.

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Description

Plex for iOS brings the power of Plex to your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. With Plex, you can stream your music, videos and photos from your home computers running Plex Media Server (available from http://www.plexapp.com/) and access content from a wide range of channels. Channels are available for apps like Aperture, iTunes and iPhoto, or online services like YouTube, Vimeo and Revision3. There’s also a remote control feature for Plex Media Center.
Additionally, you can sign up for the myPlex service, which lets you connect to servers shared with you by your friends, queue videos from your web browser to watch later, and connect to your Plex Media Server at home wherever you are in the world via Wi-Fi or a celluar connection, with no configuration necessary!
Plex Media Server streams your media directly from your computer, so there’s no need to convert before viewing. Plex is smart, too – if your media isn’t already in a format your device can play, it’ll convert it on-the-fly.
Limitations:
• DRM-protected content (TV shows, movies and older music tracks from the iTunes store) is not supported.
• ISO images are not supported.
• VIDEO_TS folders are not supported.
• PGS subtitles are not supported.
• Audio formats iOS can’t play natively (e.g. FLAC) are not supported.

What’s New in Version 2.3.1

– FIX: Immediate crash on startup when logged in to myPlex without any unwatched queue items.
– FIX: Occasional crash when stopping playback.
– FIX: Strange UI behavior when running low on memory.
– FIX: TV Out is supported for older cables again.
– FIX: Playback events are no longer sent to shared servers.
– FIX: Stopping video playback is much faster, especially over remote connections.
– FIX: Image caching works again.
– UPDATED: Localizations for Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Swedish, Turkish and Ukrainian.
– UPDATED: Removed automatic video quality selection.
– NEW: Allowed selecting an additional video quality for cellular connections in addition to the required 64Kbps stream (requires Plex Media Server 0.9.6.1 or later).

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The cost for the app is £2.99.

Download from the Apple App Store

WindowSMART 2012 Pre-Release Sale and Updated Home Server SMART information

Alex Kuretz over at MediaSmartServer.net has some information on the WindowsSmart 2012 add-in and updated Home Server SMART information.

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This is what was posted in the MediaSmartServer.net forums:

As promised, Home Server SMART is and always will be free. WindowSMART, on the other hand, will be Shareware. WindowSMART will run for 30 days as a full-featured trial, after which it will need to be registered (purchase a license) or it will stop working. During the beta, this trial timer will NOT be enforced. If you purchase a license for WindowSMART before the production release, you will still need to update to the production release. July 31 is a hard-coded end for the beta builds.

5 FREE Home Office Licenses to MediaSmartServer.net Users!
I am offering 5 FREE Home Office licenses (a $20 value) to the MediaSmartServer.net community for WindowSMART 2012. Please send me a PM with your first and last name, business name (if you have one) and email address. The first 5 users to PM me will receive their free license via email. I will email your license in under 24 hours. Once all 5 licenses are given away, I’ll post the winners.

MediaSmartServer.net Pre-Release License Sale!
I am offering a pre-release license sale – you can buy a WindowSMART license now, and it will be good for Beta 6, Release Candidate AND all production releases. Updates are free for life. If you would like to buy a license today, you can. Here are the licenses that are on sale:

Family/Home – $10 (regularly $15) – non-commercial home use; unlimited users at a single residential address
Home Office – $15 (regularly $20) – same as Family/Home except commercial use allowed
Small Business 1 – $40 (regularly $50) – up to 25 unique users at 1 location
Small Business 2 – $60 (regularly $75) – up to 100 unique users at 1 location
Medium Business 1 – $80 (regularly $100) – up to 100 unique users at 2 locations
Medium Business 2 – $150 (regularly $200) – up to 500 unique users at 20 locations

Please visit http://wiki.dojonorthsoftware.net/WindowSMART_2012_Licensing for licensing details.

via: MediaSmartServer.net

Xbox LIVE Entertainment Apps Unlocked also in UK this weekend

This morning we told you that Microsoft are offering a free weekend of Xbox Live entertainment this weekend, including movies, TV shows and music in the US. Now they are also offering it in the UK!

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If you haven’t had the chance to check out the latest entertainment apps on Xbox 360, now is a great time because Xbox is unlocking their Xbox LIVE subscription service from this Friday 20th April through Monday 23rd April – no Xbox LIVE Gold membership will be required for this time.

Through this special promotion, anybody with an Xbox console will be able to use and enjoy all of the customised entertainment experiences featured on the Xbox LIVE service. Furthermore, you can search, discover and control TV, movies, video and music using voice and gesture via the power and magic of Kinect.

Adding to the excitement, Netflix will also unlock their subscription services to all Xbox owners in the UK from Friday 20th April through Monday 23rd April. So head on over to Xbox LIVE to watch your favourite TV shows and movies from Netflix – no Xbox LIVE Gold membership or service subscriptions required.

See below for a list of the 14 world-class entertainment apps that will be unlocked in the UK:

  • 4oD
  • Blink box
  • Crackle
  • Daily Motion
  • DEMAND 5
  • Last.FM
  • LOVEFiLM
  • MSN Video
  • MUZU.TV
  • Netflix
  • Screenrush
  • Sky
  • VEVO
  • YouTube

Along with BBC iPlayer, Zune Movies and Zune Music, which are all available on Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE free platform, you can unlock a comprehensive world of live and on-demand television, movies, sports and music controlled using your voice and gestures, thanks to the power of Kinect, the Windows Phone companion app or via a standard Xbox 360 controller.

Hauppauges TV Streamer Broadway gets TV Recording feature added

Hauppauge Digital has announced that Broadway, Hauppauge’s live TV streamer for the iPad and iPhone, now has TV recording support.

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With this new feature, Broadway can record TV programs locally and then stream it to an iPad or iPhone at a later time. “Broadway” is a stand alone “box” which allows live TV to be watched on an Apple device in the home through a WiFi connection, or anywhere in the world via an Internet connection.

Broadway has-2 built in DVB-T Tuners supporting Freeview allowing users to watch one channel and simultaneously record another. Broadway also connects to cable or satellite set top boxes. Once connected to a TV source, Broadway can tune into a TV program and then either stream the live TV program to an iPad or iPhone, or, with the new feature, record the TV program to a locally attached storage device and then stream the recording at a later time.

Broadway can be used in the home, for example, to stream a football game or a news program over the home Wi-Fi network to an iPad. The iPad will display a list of Broadway’s TV channels, and with two taps of a finger on the iPad, live TV will be displayed on the iPad screen.

If you travel and have a Wi-Fi or Internet connection, you can watch live TV from your home anywhere in the world. Broadway connects to your home network router and transmits the TV signal through your network router over the Internet to your iPad or iPhone.

Hauppauge’s PCTV Systems division in Germany developed Broadway. One of the key technologies within Broadway is a high-quality, high definition H.264 video compressor, which can take TV programs from clear QAM digital cable TV or ATSC over-the-air TV and “shrink” these programs into a form which can be displayed on an Apple device. Broadway has a built-in multi-format TV receiver which can tune to digital cable TV channels and ATSC over-the-air broadcast TV channels, and then compress those TV channels and rebroadcast them over both WiFi and the Internet so that the TV programs can be watched on an Apple device. In addition to HD TV, Broadway can also receive and convert analog video into a form which can be watched on Apple devices.

Broadway is standalone, and simply needs a TV source (a cable TV connection or a TV antenna) and a connection to a home network router in order to send live TV anywhere in the world where a Apple device has a connection to the Internet.

The new record feature will be a free software upgrade to Broadway users.

Happy 35th Birthday to the Apple II

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It’s been 35 years since the Apple II was born – happy birthday!

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For those of you who have never heard of the Apple II (!) here is a description from Wikipedia:

The Apple II (styled as Apple ][ ) is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) and introduced in 1977. It is the first model in a series of computers which were produced until Apple IIe production ceased in November 1993.

The first Apple II computers went on sale on June 5, 1977 with a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor running at 1 MHz, 4 kB of RAM, an audio cassette interface for loading programs and storing data, and the Integer BASIC programming language built into the ROMs. The video controller displayed 24 lines by 40 columns of monochrome, upper-case-only (the original character set matches ASCII characters 20h to 5Fh) text on the screen, with NTSC composite video output suitable for display on a TV monitor, or on a regular TV set by way of a separate RF modulator. The original retail price of the computer was 1298 USD(with 4 kB of RAM) and 2638 USD (with the maximum 48 kB of RAM). To reflect the computer’s color graphics capability, the Apple logo on the casing was represented using rainbow stripes, which remained a part of Apple’s corporate logo until early 1998. The earliest Apple II’s were assembled in Silicon Valley, and later in Texas; printed circuit boards were manufactured in Ireland and Singapore.

Did you ever use one? Share your memories with us.

Xbox Live Entertainment Unlocked free weekend

Microsoft are offering a free weekend of Xbox Live entertainment this weekend, including movies, TV shows and music.

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For the whole weekend (Microsoft classes the weekend as April 19 to April 23) you can access all the content that would normally only be allowed if you were an Xbox Live Gold subscriber.

Here is the small print:

Entertainment Unlocked will take place on Xbox LIVE from 9:00 A.M. Pacific Time on April 19, 2012, to 9:00 A.M. Pacific Time on April 23, 2012. Open only to Free members in the 50 United States (including Washington, D.C.), aged 18 years and older. Unlocked applications include all Entertainment Apps. Online multiplayer, Video Kinect, and Deal of the Week will not be unlocked. Additional subscriptions and requirements apply for some Xbox LIVE features, including HBO GO®, EPIX, Hulu Plus, Netflix, Verizon FiOS TV, XFINITY TV. Kinect requires Kinect sensor (sold separately) and varies by feature and app.

So unfortunately if you are outside of the US you can’t take advantage of this. Boo, hiss!

SkyDrive gets an update; including Share to Twitter and 300MB file uploads

Microsoft have quietly made some improvements to it’s SkyDrive offering.

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SkyDrive now supports Open Document Format! They also just released a few other things that they think are pretty cool:

* Share to Twitter

* 300MB file uploads in the browser

* Short URLs (sdrv.ms) for Windows Phone images shared to Twitter

Check out the day with spent with Microsoft and SkyDrive

Are you using SkyDrive yet?

Windows Server 8 now called Windows Server 2012

Earlier today we told you about the 3 versions of Windows 8, now we can tell you that Windows Server 8 will be called Windows Server 2012.

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Microsoft really seem to want to confuse people with their naming convention!

You have Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro. Ok, that makes sense. Then you have Windows RT for ARM – er, ok, if you say so. And now Windows Server 2012 for the range, which ok matches up with the current naming conventions but you would have thought Microsoft would try to have some consistency across the “8” range, wouldn’t you?

Download the Windows Server 8 beta

Microsoft talks about reclaiming memory from Metro style apps in Windows 8

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In the next in their Windows 8 series, Microsoft talk about reclaiming memory from Metro style apps.

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Here is how the article begins:

Previous blog posts have discussed the Metro style application model using Windows Runtime. An important attribute of this app model is that apps are suspended when they are no longer visible to the user. Suspending Metro style apps in the background is a good thing, as it conserves CPU for other apps and ensures that background apps don’t cause activity that can consume resources, thereby improving the battery life and increasing responsiveness. This is outlined in detail in Sharif Farag and Ben Srour’s blog post, Improving power efficiency for applications.

But what about the memory these apps are taking up when suspended? We pointed out earlier that, as a practical matter, the OS will handle this and that your other processes will not feel memory pressure because there are suspended processes. This was an important design consideration. But we know that some of you are still curious how this will all work.

Starting with the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, whenever Windows detects memory pressure on the system, it will repurpose nearly all the memory that suspended Metro style apps would otherwise hold onto. Windows 8 can reclaim this memory without having to terminate an app.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

And don’t forget that there are now only going to be 3 versions of Windows 8.

Intel announce the Intel Solid-State Drive 330 Series SSD

Intel Corporation announced yesterday the Intel Solid-State Drive 330 Series, a SATA 6 gigabit-per-second (Gb/s) solid-state drive (SSD) that gives consumers a more affordable entry into the accelerated storage performance of SSDs.

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  • New Intel SSD 330 Series offers boosted system performance for the budget-conscious PC enthusiast.
  • An ideal PC upgrade, Intel SSD 330 Series is a SATA 6Gb/s-based SSD that blends performance, Intel quality and value.
  • Available in the most popular capacities, 60-, 120- and 180GB, Intel’s newest SSD starts at a suggested channel price of $89.

Ideal for upgrading desktop or notebook PCs, the Intel SSD 330 Series offers the price-conscious PC enthusiast a brand-name SSD that blends performance, Intel quality and value. Offered in the most popular capacity points, 60 gigabytes (GB), 120GB and 180GB, the Intel SSD 330 Series boosts overall system performance and responsiveness for a broad range of applications.

“An SSD is still the single best upgrade you can make to your existing PC, and the Intel SSD 330 Series gives users the latest Intel SSD technology at a price to meet their budget,” said James Slattery, product line manager for client SSDs, Intel Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group. “Backed by Intel’s rigorous testing process, the Intel SSD 330 Series offers our users the speed they need at a great price, backed by world-class manufacturing, reliability and tech support.”

Unlike a traditional hard disk drive (HDD) with spinning disks and moveable parts, SSDs offer a more rugged, low-power storage solution that dramatically improves system performance to keep up with today’s I/O-intensive applications. The Intel SSD 330 Series contains Intel 25-nanometer (nm) multi-level cell (MLC) NAND memory. Its SATA 6Gb/s interface doubles the bandwidth of its current SATA 3Gb/s Intel® SSD 320 Series, providing up to 500 megabytes-per-second (MB/s) sequential read speeds and up to 450MB/s sequential write speeds for faster data transfers. Random read performance can go up to 22,500 Input-Output Operations Per Second (IOPS) and 33,000 write IOPS to boost overall application and system responsiveness, significantly outperforming a typical consumer hard disk drive.

Intel offers a broad range of SSD choices within four product families. The Intel SSD 300 Family is aimed at entry-level, mainstream client users. The Intel SSD 500 Family offers more fully featured, higher-performing client SSDs for computer and gaming enthusiasts. The Intel SSD 700 and Intel SSD 900 Families are targeted for data center applications.

The Intel SSD 330 Series comes in a standard 2.5-inch/9.5mm form factor as a replacement to a slower-performing HDD. It can be used in a dual-drive desktop PC configuration to speed up boot times and applications speeds, or as a single-drive notebook upgrade.

Available now at worldwide retailers and online e-tailers, the Intel SSD 330 Series is offered at the suggested channel price of $89 for a 60GB drive, $149 for a 120GB drive and $234 for a 180GB drive. It is also backed by a 3-year limited warranty.

Learn more from the Intel website

Fujifilm Launch the FinePix F770 EXR Digital Camera

The Fujifilm FinePix F770 EXR sets the new standards for long zoom compact cameras thanks to its enviable specification with 16MP EXR-CMOS sensor, GPS, RAW capture and 20x optical zoom lens all wrapped up in a sleek and stylish body. Making it the perfect camera for families and travellers to capture a huge range of photographs and is available now for £299.99

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Maximum zoom, minimum size

The body of the FinePix F770EXR is incredibly thin at just 1.4” yet manages to include a 20x optical zoom lens. The 25-500mm focal range (equivalent to a 35mm camera) is able to tackle a vast range of subjects from wide-angle landscapes through to tightly cropped wildlife pictures. The wide zoom range capability is due to the newly designed Double Sliding Lens System that features two additional lens elements within the optical construction to extend the zoom capabilities and boost image resolution. And with the addition of Fujifilm’s Intelligent Digital Zoom users can get a maximum telephoto setting of 1000mm, to pull in even the most distant objects.

EXR-CMOS – Flexible and versatile image sensor

The FinePix F770EXR features Fujifilm’s unique EXR-CMOS sensor which has been further evolved. The EXR Auto, automatically optimises settings according to scene types, and has now been expanded to offer 103 different shooting patterns and which pushes the camera’s low-light capabilities even further. Start-up time as well as auto focus speed has also been optimised, with the users now able to focus on their subjects in as little as 0.16 seconds.

A landmark in GPS functionality

Travelling photographers, or those simply wanting to pinpoint their location, will benefit from the FinePix F770EXR’s improved GPS functionality. A new high sensitivity antenna also helps to find the camera’s position more quickly. The camera can also indicate nearby landmarks and the distance the user is away from them.

Better handling for great results

The FinePix F770EXR has some key handling improvements to help make picture taking even more enjoyable. On the front of the camera, an ergonomic, rubberised handgrip* ensures users get a firm hold and gives extra stability when shooting at the extreme telephoto length.

The top-plate, meanwhile, has the addition of a Function (Fn) button for faster access to regularly accessed features including ISO setting, Film simulation, etc. On the back of the camera, the 3-inch LCD shows images and menus with great clarity thanks to the extra bright 460,000 dots LCD, making it easier to see in bright lighting conditions.

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The FinePix F770EXR will be available in black, red, blue and white finishes

*rubberised grip available for black, red, blue colours only

Fujifilm FinePix F770EXR key features

 

· High quality Fujinon 20x optical zoom covering 25-500mm (equivalent to a 35mm camera)

· Intelligent Digital Zoom boosting range to approx.40x

· 16 mega-pixel EXR-CMOS sensor

· Superb build quality and finish

· Extra bright 3.0-inch LCD with 460,000 dots

· Full 1080p HD movie capture

· ISO 100-12800 *

· P, A, S, M exposure modes for creativity plus Scene modes

· RAW file capture

· Film simulation modes

· Macro focusing down to 5cm

· Optical image stabilisation

· Motion Panorama 360 mode

· High sensitivity GPS

*ISO 6400 is effective in image size M or lower, ISO 12800 is effective in image size S

Learn more from the Fujifilm website

FireCore update Apple TV ATV Flash to version 1.5

FireCore have today released an update to its ATV Flash software for the Apple TV 2, taking it to version 1.5.

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This is what FireCore posted on their blog tonight:

Today we’re happy to release a brand new version of aTV Flash (black) which includes a revamped player that is optimized for iOS 5.0 and later. This new player improves performance for virtually all file type resulting in noticeably smoother playback. We’ve also baked in a number of other goodies including NFS streaming, subtitle timing settings, additional translations and a mountain of other improvements and fixes.

What about the ATV3 and the untethered version for ATV2?

Work is still underway on both fronts, and we’ve had some encouraging reports come in over the past few days. However, it’s still too early to give any kind of ETA but we hope to have more news soon.

Easy access to subtitle options through the Playback Menu

Full Changelog

  • Revamped player with improved performance (AppleTV 4.4 and later)
  • Added NFS streaming
  • Added Catalan, Czech, Korean and Traditional Chinese translations
  • Added support for localized TV show pattern: TV Show/Season #/S##E##.extension
  • Added manual subtitle time correction (-10.0s to +10.0s)
  • Added support for embedded .FLAC cover art
  • Added support for .AC3, .DTS and .MOD files
  • Improved .EYETV file handling
  • Improved audio synchronization in slow and unstable networks
  • Improved slideshow operation with small images
  • Improved movie folders detection logic to ignore hidden files
  • Improved metadata fetching to support movies split into multiple files (dvd#, cd#, disk#)
  • Improved zoom mode operation for non-square pixels
  • Improved DVD menu handling
  • Improved .OGG file handling (now correctly treated as audio)
  • Improved error handling for connection issues
  • Improved buffering logic
  • Improved installation routine
  • Other minor UI improvements
  • Resolved format detection that was causing rare playback issues
  • Resolved issue with volume level resetting during rw/fw
  • Resolved floating crashes usually observed when using SMB with Windows 7 shares
  • Resolved conflicts with XBMC related to SMB
  • Resolved issues with metadata fetching for ‘Show.Name.###.extension’ pattern
  • Resolved crashes observed in folders with significant number of files
  • Resolved playback error on DVD and ISO files observed when file path contains ‘?’ character
  • Resolved crashes when working with long file paths
  • Resolved rare issue with incorrect pre-playback screen layout
  • Other miscellaneous bug fixes

Fantastic! Where can I get it?

If you’re already running a version of aTV Flash (black) the new 1.5 version can be installed through the Maintenance –> Manage Extras menu. Links for the new version can also be found in your account under the Downloads tab.

If haven’t yet tried aTV Flash (black) you can learn about all the great benefits here.

Let us know what you think.

Halo 4 to be released worldwide on 6th November 2012

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The countdown has begun for the landmark entertainment event millions of fans worldwide have been anticipating for more than four years. “Halo 4,” the hotly anticipated sequel to the iconic franchise that has shaped entertainment history, will launch worldwide on 6th November 2012.

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“Halo 4” marks the return of legendary hero Master Chief, named by Fast Company as “one of the most popular characters in gaming history,” and aims to set a new standard for blockbuster interactive entertainment. Set four years after the events in “Halo 3,” Master Chief returns to confront his destiny and face an ancient evil that threatens the fate of the entire universe. Developed by 343 Industries, “Halo 4” marks a new beginning for the landmark entertainment franchise that has sold more than 40 million games worldwide and inspired multiple New York Times best-selling novels, live-action shorts, comic books, action figures and apparel.

“We are beginning a new saga with ‘Halo 4’ and embarking on a journey that will encompass the next decade of ‘Halo’ games and experiences,” said Phil Spencer, corporate vice president of Microsoft Studios. “Millions of fans worldwide have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to step back into the boots of Master Chief, and with ‘Halo 4’ leading the charge, we’re confident 2012 will be the most successful year in Xbox history.”

“Halo 3,” the biggest consumer product launch of all time when it released in 2007, concluded the original game trilogy, but left many unanswered questions around the fates of the series’ beloved hero, the Master Chief, and his artificial intelligence companion, Cortana. On 6th November, fans will experience the next chapter of the iconic franchise.

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Personally I can’t wait! Bring on the Master Chief!

RIM Release BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0.1.358

Research In Motion (RIM) announced that the new BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0.1.358 is available now.

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A new version of the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ OS – v2.0.1.358 – is now available to all users. This free update can be downloaded over-the-air from your BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet.

The BlackBerry PlayBook OS v2.0.1.358 contains many updates including:

  • Browser enhancements to address performance with some websites
  • Improvements to support Android apps
  • Optimizations to Video Chat, PIM and BlackBerry Bridge applications
  • And much more!