On June 17, 2008 Mozilla attempted to set a Guinness World Record for the most downloads in a 24 hour period. According to Mozilla over 8 million downloads were recorded. Currently they are awaiting word from Guinness if they were successful.

But there was one thing we wanted to know about this number. Out of the 3 major operating systems in use today which one blazed away with the most downloads. So we decided to ask and a Mozilla spokesperson gave us the following numbers:

• Windows 79%
• Linux 13%
• OS X 8%

Now the number 1 spot didn't surprise us at all since Windows leads in overall computer operating systems it's almost a given that most of the downloads would come from Windows. But what was a bit surprising was that Linux bested OS X in the numbers of downloads.

One could say that Ubuntu, which is a very popular Linux distro comes packaged with Firefox so it's only natural that more downloads would come from Linux users. But according to w3counter, OS X accounts for 4.95% of the operating systems in use while Linux is barely half of this at 2.01%

So this strikes us as odd. What would cause OS X to slip to 3rd place in the number of downloads? Do these numbers suggested that Apple users only like to use Apple apps? Or did a large group of Mac users not get invited to the download party?

• Addresses stuttered audio or video playback from certain USB devices
• Improved Airport and 802.11x behavior and reliability
• iPhone users can now sync their address book contacts with their Google account
• Safari works better when connecting through a Microsoft ISA proxy
• Improved Spotlight search on AFP volumes
• Improved iCal syncing
• Fixes issues with authenticated RSS feeds in Mail.app

Apple has announced a deal with HBO to offer some of the cable channel's premium content through the iTunes store. Normally this wouldn't be all that noteworthy, but this is no ordinary content partnership. Apple has agreed to price some of the TV shows at $2.99, which is the first time the company has been willing to deviate from its standard pricing of $0.99 per song, $1.99 per TV show, and $9.99 to $14.99 per movie.

In fact, it was a squabble over standardized pricing that led NBC to stop distributing its shows through iTunes last year. not every HBO program will cost $2.99. The network is offering up Sex and the City, The Wire, and Flight of the Conchords for $1.99 per download, while The Sopranos, Deadwood, and Rome will set you back $2.99.

The move makes sense when you consider the fact that HBO charges $50 or so for 1 season of these shows on DVD, even though there are typically fewer episodes per season of an HBO show than you get from a broadcast network program. So we're hoping this isn't going to lead to a pricing free-for-all, with networks charging more for popular shows like Lost and less for shows nobody was going to pay for anyway like 'Til Death.

[via Engadget]

Monday Google unveiled yet another beta site. Google Reader is now formatted for the iPhone. iPhone users tired of pinching and stretching and tapping text only links in the normal version of Reader or dealing with the plain Classic mobile version of Reader can head over to http://www.google.com/reader/i/ to check out the new beta site.

With the iPhone-enabled web-app, Google joins Ask.com in the web-based RSS reader marketplace. Ask.com's Bloglines has had an iPhone version available to users since July 19, 2007. iBloglines was created with less than a 1000 lines of code on a lark by an internal developer who bought an iPhone and wanted better access to the site.

Continue reading Google joins Bloglines with iPhone version of Reader

Apple's Safari web browser may be hot stuff on the Mac, but since launching a Windows version a little while back, not too many Windows users have bothered to install the browser. So what does Apple do? Simple, the company sneakily adds Safari 3.1 to the Apple software update utility so that you download it automatically if you have any Apple software on your PC -- even if you've never installed Safari on your computer. In other words, a whole bunch of Windows iTunes users suddenly found a copy of Safari on their computers.

While a lot of folks criticized Apple for shoving unwanted software at the general public, the strategy appears to have worked. Net Applications reports that Safari's market share of the Windows browser space rose from .07% to .21%. That's still a ridiculously tiny number. But it's bigger than it was. So the message is clear: Give the people what they don't want. Some will be too lazy to uninstall it. And they might even try using it. Ugh, did we just write that?

[via Fortune]

There's no question that it's faster to purchase a movie from the iTunes store than your local video store -- assuming you have a speedy internet connection. But if you want to get the latest releases as son as they're out on video, you're probably better off making the trek to the video store. Or at least that's what we would have told you yesterday, when it could take weeks or months longer for movies to show up on iTunes. But now Apple has announced that many movies will be available on iTunes the same day as they are released n DVD.

Apple has reached deals with Fox, Disney, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Universal, Sony, Lionsgate, Image, and First Look. That covers a lot of territory. New releases will typically set you back $14.99. The press release doesn't make it clear whether this applies to the $2.99 movie rentals, so if you want to rent a video for just a few bucks, you might still better off using Netflix or walking to a bricks and mortar store.

[via TUAW]

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