The Download Blog

Kick video butt with KMPlayer

The field of freeware media players that claim support for most or all playback formats out there is growing. GOM, VLC, and KMPlayer tend to top people's lists. KMPlayer is perhaps the least known of the three, but if you haven't toyed around with the level of customization that it offers, you're missing out.

Read more

Make iPhone the company workhorse

Get to work, iPhone. As far as HyperOffice president Farzin Arsanjani is concerned, you've spent too much time avoiding real work.

If he has his way, your days loafing around in back pockets while the other mobile devices pull their weight are over. That's why HyperOffice (review) recently announced a plan to make its suite of online collaboration tools even better on the iPhone (trial beta).

While the productivity application for rapid-growth companies has already been accessible from mobile browsers, certain functions are limited within a constrained user interface. The iPhone, with its large screen and Safari browser, … Read more

Yahoo IM affected by ActiveX vulnerabilities

On the heels of ActiveX vulnerabilities in the image uploading tools for Facebook and MySpace.com, researchers warned Monday that Yahoo Instant Messenger and Yahoo Messenger are vulnerable to ActiveX-based attacks.

Researcher Elazar Broad has disclosed a Boundary Condition vulnerability within mediagrid.dll, version 2.2.2 56. Researchers Krystian Kloskowski and Broad have disclosed a second Boundary Condition vulnerability within datagrid.dll, version 2.2.2 56c. And Kloskowski alone has disclosed a buffer overflow within datagrid.dll 2.2.2 56, which affects the AddImage function.

The three vulnerabilities are present within Yahoo Instant Messenger version 3.5 … Read more

Deadline for Android Developer Challenge extended

News of the Android SDK (download for Windows) by Google has been quiet for the past few months. However, last week we a found notice that the submission deadline for the Android Developers Challenge has just been extended to April 14, 2008. It appears that the Android team has made "significant updates" to the SDK that might require developers to take extra time to finish up applications they had in the works. There are $10 million worth in prizes at stake, so the updates and deadline extensions are probably much appreciated.

The SDK, released in November, introduced a … Read more

uvLayer puts Web videos on your desktop

If you've ever wanted to run a bunch of video widgets on your desktop, there's a new service for you called uvLayer. It's a tiny Adobe AIR application that lets you search, view, and organize Web video clips on your desktop and share them with others. The videos come courtesy of YouTube and Truveo--the AOL-owned video search tool.

What sets uvLayer appart from basic Web video browsing are its sharing features which are robust. The application lets you cobble together a instant-messanger-like friends list and drag and drop any video you think they would enjoy. If they're using the application, your shared video will simply show up on their desktop like a new e-mail would in your in-box. Likewise, you can simply hop over to see what they're watching if they're online.

For bookmarking addicts, uvLayer also lets you share entire sets full of Web videos via URL. If your recipient has the application installed, their screen will simply fill up with your video picks, complete with your original groupings. You can then syndicate these Webtops to both your uvLayer buddies, and your Facebook friends who will be able to view it right in the Facebook application.

The entire uvLayer experience is very reminiscent of OS X's Dashboard for widgets, as you can flip each item around and get access to some of the metadata like the rating and any user comments. It's very flashy. In fact, if you're running the latest version of OS X, then uvLayer might not be that interesting considering you can rip out nearly any Web video and put it on your Dashboard using Safari's Web clips feature.

I'm not sold on the value of watching videos in a virtual desktop environment. While convenient, I think there's a ton of added value to the community of users where the video's hosted. Admittedly when a video hits the front page of Digg or Fark, the user comments from those sites are usually much more entertaining, but the same can't be said when you're passing it along to a just handful of people.

I've embedded a live version of uvLayer after the break (taken from Ryan Stewart's first look over at his blog on ZDNet). Be sure to check out its stacking feature, which lets you group together several videos at once by drawing a box around them with your mouse.… Read more

Bright Eyes: Free MP3 of the Day

Hailing from the flats of Omaha, Neb., Conor Oberst delivers angst-filled songs with a quavering-yet-melodic lyrical style. He has the range to captivate a festival crowd with just his voice and an acoustic guitar as well as engage his dedicated following with a full band.

Quick Tip: Get fast access to Windows folders

If we're starting to sound like broken records (or besotted Romeos) when singing Launchy's praises, it's only because the simple, elegant quick-start launcher for Windows applications hasn't yet let us down. Also, it's pretty.

Now, were you aware of Launchy's other charms? CNET editor Tom Merritt shares a useful tip for making the most of its file indexing to launch, not just Word and Yahoo Messenger, but also any file on the fly.

Power Downloader's FTP client is secure and free

As Power Downloader sifted through an enormous amount of e-mails recently, he ran across one from a friend who wanted some software advice. Apparently, his friend was designing a Web site and had looked around for a free FTP program for transferring files, but had not yet found anything very promising.

Firing up his trusty Web browser, Power Downloader immediately began searching for the perfect free FTP client. Accessing Download.com, Power scanned the file lists and quickly came to the app he was looking for: FileZilla. With this powerful open-source FTP client on his computer, Power's friend would … Read more

Meebo announces new features and partners

The Web IM and chat company, Meebo, just rolled out some very interesting new features. First off, they have introduced a developer API for their Meebo Rooms product. This will allow people to integrate a Meebo Room into their own Web site. Meebo has said that this API will "...further accelerate the widespread adoption of Meebo rooms." Meebo is hoping that Web site owners will take this as an opportunity to build a community around their site.

Meebo also announced a big win for their new Meebo Network chat and advertising platform. They have signed five major partners, … Read more

Spyware Horror Story: Do you know your hacker?

It's tempting to jam criminal hackers into a safe, distant profile. To assume the creep helping themselves to your e-mail, bank account, and surf history is a smug, slaphappy youth, or conniving foreign national. But what if you discovered that the one spying on your life was someone much, much closer?

How close? Like a parent, spouse, roommate, or significant other.

This is the topic of today's meeting in Washington. The Anti-Spyware Coalition gathered with representatives from McAfee and Google, to discuss the extent to which spyware abuse also constitutes domestic abuse.

Anna Stepanov, the Anti-Spyware program manager … Read more