Unlike Apple, Microsoft does not offer Family Pack licenses to its users but a recent evaluation suggests that Microsoft may want to change this habit starting with Windows 7.

According to the license agreement for one of the latest builds of Windows 7 Home Premium, users will now be allowed to install the OS with the same license on as many as three computers. Clause stated below:

If you are a ‘Qualified Family Pack User’, you may install one copy of the software marked as ‘Family Pack’ on three computers in your household for use by people who reside there.

Now this is definitely is good news for the consumers and also provides them with another reason to choose Windows 7 and purchase it, though the offer still doesn't come up to the mark like Apple's which allows users to install the same OS with a Family Pack license on as many as five computers.

Previously! Microsoft offered a similar Family Pack license for users who purchased Windows Vista Ultimate but later on, the offer was phased out.

However this time, Microsoft wants to turn this offer into something that users would really look forward to, though it will be limited to users within a single household and will not be offered to any business or for any commercial use.

Earlier we announced that we iPhone users would now require a new tool to unlock iPhone 3G known as Ultrasnow and the tool has finally been released.

For those who want to catch up fast, follow the below procedure to unlock the iPhone 3G on Firmware 3.0.

1. Ensure you have upgraded to iPhone OS 3.0.
2. Jailbreak the device using PwnageTool or Redsnow.
3. Run Cydia to install Ultrasnow.
4. Please add the repo repo666.ultrasn0w.com
5. Search for Ultrasnow and install it.
6. Reboot your iPhone 3G.

Please note that this method is only suitable to work with iPhone 3G which was previously unlocked with YellowSnow. And the method is not recommended to unlock an iPhone 3GS.

As compared to PwnageTool, Redsnow is a much powerful and easy-to-use utility to Unlock the iPhone 2G and works both on Windows and Mac. The latest Redsnow is now capable to Unlock the iPhone 2G running on Firmware 3.0.

To unlock the Firmware 3.0 on iPhone 2G with Redsnow, follow the instructions:

1. Download the Redsnow tool (For Win | For Mac)
2. Extract the archive and run the utility.
3. Grab the iPhone Firmware 3.0 for your corresponding device.
4. Also download the bootloader files, bl39.bin and bl46.bin
5. Proceed with the on-screen instructions on the utility.
6. Enter DFU mode and restore to Unlock.

Thats pretty much all of it. If you are simply planning to Jailbreak an iPod Touch, you will need the corresponding firmware and bootloader files are not required. For an alternative, also check out our hack on manually Unlocking the Firmware 3.0 for iPhone 2G.

Note: The above method even works to Jailbreak an iPhone 3G but it won't be able to Unlock it until Ultrasnow for Firmware 3.0 is released offiicially.

Last year, our blog provided the iPod Touch users with an exclusive hack to Update to Firmware 2.0 for Free and as we see it now with the release of Firmware 3.0, most blogs have gone wild into copying the same instructions without testing it out.

Apple is once-again charging iPod Touch users with a fee of $9.99 but we have yet again come up with a hack to help all iPod Touch users do it for free and what makes our hack different is, that it has been tested on a real iPod Touch and actually works for both iPod Touch 1G and 2G.

Just follow the steps below and soon you will be having an updated iPod Touch with firmware 3.0 absolutely for free.

1. Download the latest iTunes from here.
2. Connect your iPod Touch 1G or 2G to PC/Mac with iTunes.
3. Click on Restore while holding Shift (for PC) and Option (for Mac).
4. Browse to the Firmware 3.0 for your device and select it.

Sit back and enjoy while iTunes does the rest! There you go, did it without even paying a penny!

Download links for the Firmware 3.0 are provided below:

iPod Touch 1G
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-ipod1g-firm3-1
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-ipod1g-firm3-2
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-ipod1g-firm3-3

iPod Touch 2G
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-ipod2g-firm3-1
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-ipod2g-firm3-2
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-ipod2g-firm3-3

Use HJSplit (for PC) and Split&Concact (for Mac) to join the parts into one file. Once you download the firmware locally on your PC or Mac, follow the steps above to update iPod Touch to Firmware 3.0.

Sadly, iPhone 3G users will still have to wait till Ultrasnow is pushed to the Cydia repo so until now only iPhone 2G users will be able to Jailbreak and Unlock their device on the iPhone firmware 3.0. Also the Pwnage Tool can be used by 1st Gen iPod Touch to Jailbreak the device.

The Unlock process for users with iPhone 2G running on iPhone firmware 3.0 is as below:

1. Download the PwnageTool 3.0 (Direct | Torrent)
2. Make sure to download bl39.bin and bl46.bin
3. Grab the firmware 3.0 for iPhone 2G from our page.
4. Run the PwnageTool and follow the steps on the software.
5. Once the custom firmware is made, enter DFU mode and restore the firmware.

Note: To enter DFU mode, watch this easy tutorial. Also while clicking the restore button, hold 'Shift' in Windows and 'Option' in Mac to browse to the custom firmware file.

Unfortunately the PwnageTool does not work for Windows users so just make use of the following custom and unlocked firmware 3.0 files for iPhone 2G.

Custom/Unlocked OS 3.0 for iPhone 2G
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-iphone2g-custom3-1
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-iphone2g-custom3-2
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-iphone2g-custom3-3

1. Download the Custom/Unlocked firmware 3.0 files above.
2. Combine the files with HJSplit (for Windows) and Split&Concact (for Mac).
3. Now you will have on file named iPhone1,1_3.0_7A341_Custom_Restore.ipsw
4. Simply boot into DFU mode and restore the Custom/Unlocked firmware 3.0.

There you go! easy unlock for the iPhone 2G. Now we also provide an alternative to Unlock the Firmware 3.0 on iPhone 2G with Redsnow.

The update was pushed by Apple a couple of minutes ago and users all around the world are now able to download it to their iPhone and iPod Touch devices. Though, we are still waiting for a word from iPhone Dev Team so the users running and unlocked iPhone should not update their device yet.

The new iPhone 3.0 firmware brings the following new exclusive feature to the device:

• MMS Functionality
• Landscape keyboard
• Cut/Copy and Paste
• Spotlight search
• In-App purchases
• Stereo Bluetooth
• Internet Tethering

and many more.

For a complete list of features, please consult a preview of iPhone 3.0. Below are the direct download links for iPhone 3.0 for iPhone and iPod Touch.

iPhone 3G
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-iphone3g-direct-30

iPhone 2G
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-iphone2g-direct-30

iPod Touch 1G
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-ipod1g-direct-30

iPod Touch 2G
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-ipod2g-direct-30

Following download links for iPhone 3.0 are hosted on Rapidshare.

iPhone 3G
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-iphone3g-firm3-1al
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-iphone3g-firm3-2al
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-iphone3g-firm3-3al

iPhone 2G
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-iphone2g-firm3-1al
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-iphone2g-firm3-2al
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-iphone2g-firm3-3al

iPod Touch 1G
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-ipod1g-firm3-1
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-ipod1g-firm3-2
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-ipod1g-firm3-3

iPod Touch 2G
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-ipod2g-firm3-1
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-ipod2g-firm3-2
http://tinyurl.com/sizlopedia-ipod2g-firm3-3

They have named the new unlock as Ultrasnow and it is an updated version of Yellowsnow which earlier allowed iPhone 3G users to unlock their iPhone and use with any carrier.

As demo'ed above, users will be able to Jailbreak and unlock the iPhone 3.0 running on iPhone 2G with Pwnage and QuickPwn as soon as Apple releases the new firmware but iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS will have to wait till Friday for the release of Ultrasnow which will perform the carrier unlock.

If you haven't been keeping close tabs on what's coming in iPhone 3.0, lets just say that Apple has re-invented the OS and made it more powerful and efficient. Apart from all the usual improvements, we will get to have Stereo Bluetooth, Landscape keyboard, iTunes purchases, Cut/Copy and Paste, Spotlight search and many more.

Meanwhile, just stay tuned and we will post as soon as Apple releases the new firmware for all the devices.

Ultrasnow is out. Click here to download Ultrasnow and Unlock iPhone 3G on OS 3.0.

Though it won't be the first time for Microsoft to work on a Windows-based security solution, but we certainly hope that Microsoft does it right this time. Earlier, Microsoft has provided security solutions like Windows Defender and Live OneCare for Windows users but failed to deliver a competing standard.

The new security tool by Microsoft is being dubbed as Morro and is most likely to compete with other anti-virus and security software such as Symantec Norton, Kaspersky and McAfee.

Rumors about Morro have been on the lose since November last year when Microsoft announced that it would discontinue support for Live OneCare and instead plans on providing a much better security solution to the users in the future.

This will not only help the consumers in terms of choice but will also save them from paying off extra money to 3rd part security software as Morro will be totally free.

A beta version of Morro is already under testing internally at Microsoft and will soon be available for download by the users. Perhaps this year, its time for Microsoft to reinvent each of its technologies into something that is better and useful.

They give away one iPhone per day and the contest runs till July 7, 2009. Continue reading for details on how to enter the contest.

The contest is open to anyone around the world. All you have to do is to tweet about anything (on Twitter of course) with the #squarespace hash tag -which is already the most trending topic on Twitter.

You can tweet as much as you like, gaining you more than one entry in the contest. The winner of the contest would be chosen by a random draw each day, and would be contacted by SquareSpace. To keep things fair, if you happen to win, you wont be able to participate in the subsequent draws.

Even though the contest is open to everyone around the world, you may still not be able to get the 16GB iPhone 3GS if its not officially available in your country. Though you can still redeem the $199 gift certificate towards any other Apple product, or if you are creative enough, find a way to get that iPhone 3GS (probably via a friend/relative in another country).

You can get more details on the contest along with the official rules and regulations here.

Without a doubt, its the clean URL that we get to choose for our Twitter profile. Facebook, on the other hand, does not let you do so and forcefully assigns an ID to your profile which is not only very ugly but also lengthy and forgetful.

But a recent post at the Facebook blog suggests that it's soon going to offer clean URLs to users and it's calling it as Facebook usernames.

So as you see above, Facebook username is going to be nothing but a clean URL for your Facebook profile which includes your username, making it easy for you to advertise your profile with vanity and will also let other Facebook users remember the URL to your profile, in case they have a recommendation.

This will also give the users an edge in search engine results for their name as the keyword, especially users like me who are very concerned about their web presence.

The feature will be live on June 13, so make sure to grab the URL for your profile as soon as possible as it will served on a first-come, first-serve basis. Let the countdown begin.

Given that, it is definite that people might have already started to line-up outside the AT&T store.

So, to save people from any sort of trouble, Apple has made a deal with AT&T to allow people to pre-order the new iPhone 3GS online. Customers would still have to walk-up to the AT&T office on June 19, the launch date for the iPhone 3GS, but those who already pre-order it will be given all sorts of priority.

Watch the video below to get instructions on how to pre-order an iPhone 3Gs with AT&T.

For a note, the new iPhone 3GS will be available in 16GB for $199 and in 32GB for $299 in contract with AT&T. Head over to Apple to pre-order an iPhone 3GS now, conditions apply.

However, this didn't keep Apple from showcasing some of the new features of the upcoming most advance OS, the Snow Leopard. As already discussed by Apple, Snow Leopard is more like a refinement to Leopard than a feature upgrade.

The actual focus of Snow Leopard would be to refine the user-experience on Leopard and make it more powerful and efficient than before. So here is what's new in Snow Leopard:

• A new Finder - It has been rewritten in scratch and is more powerful, better and efficient than before.
• Better stacks - The signature feature of Mac OS just got much better and useful than ever before.
• Dock Expose - Much like the original Expose, this new tool is meant for productivity.
• Quicktime X - A new video tool for Snow Leopard that does everything from editing to composing.
• More accessible - People with disabilities can now use their Mac with much ease and comfort.
• Exchange Support - The new OS comes with built-in support for Microsoft Exchange Server.
• 64-bit Power - Apps would now be able to make greater use of the multi-CPU.
• OpenCL - More power to enhanced graphic applications and utilities.

Thats it! perhaps more will come when Apple actually launches the OS to the users in September this year.

It will be available at a cost of $29 for users already on Leopard. Apple here provides a detailed insight into the features and technologies used by Snow Leopard.

The major change in the notebooks is a newer battery with a 40% more battery life, more memory and processing power along with a cheaper price tag.

Most notebooks got a slight bump in their specs, along with a minor redesign for the 15" MacBook Pro, which can now go as far as Intel Core 2 Duo 3.06 GHz processor with 6MB of L2 cache, and 8GB of DDR3 1066 MHz memory. You can also take the hard-drive up to a 500 GB or opt in for a 256GB SSD. A new introduction is a non-removable battery with over 40% more life and an SD Card slot. The base version retails for $1699.

The 13" MacBook just got upgraded to a 13" MacBook Pro, with the newer 7 hour long battery, SD Card slot, and a maximum of 8GB RAM. The Firewire 800 port also returns here, and the base version retails for $1199.

The MacBook Air also saw a refresh, with the high end version getting a price cut of $700 to $1599 with a 256GB SSD. The 17" MacBook Pro got a price decrease to $2499, with no other major alterations, like a 2.8 GHz C2D and 4 GB of RAM.

All the notebooks get a greener body and battery with a display supposedly providing 60% more color gamut. If you already own one of the new notebooks revealed in late 2008, then you probably shouldn't upgrade. For others, if you are Mac Savvy, then this is your cue.

The stable version retains all the features previewed in the beta, while fixing numerous bugs.

The browser beats all the competition in the JavaScript testing conducted by Apple. Based on the Webkit engine, like Google Chrome, it gives a big competition to the likes of Firefox 3 and Internet Explorer 8. Apple however didn't use the most recent builds available for the other browsers like Firefox 3.5 beta and Google Chrome 3 alpha, which have a lot of performance improvements.

Major features of Safari 4 include ultra fast browsing, panoramic home screen with previews of favorite sites, and even Cover Flow in history along with a huge memory footprint. For more complete list of features, check out our previous review.

Download Safari 4 for Windows and Mac.

This time, it is the new 3rd Generation of iPhone called as the iPhone 3GS where S is for Speed. The new iPhone 3GS overtakes the iPhone 3G not only in terms of speed and performance but also in terms of features and functionality.

The new iPhone 3GS comes in the same form factor and design as the previous iPhone 3G but takes mobile computing to the next level by introducing smart-video capabilities and a low-price factor. Here is what's new in the iPhone 3GS.

• Faster in performance - This new generation of the iPhone is faster in performance than any of the previous generation of iPhones.
• A better battery life - Everyone demanded for it and Apple has done it's best to make the battery-life of iPhone 3GS better than any of its predecessors.
• Video capability - With a 3.0 auto-focus camera, Apple guarantees that you won't need a spare camera as long as you have the iPhone 3GS.
• Eco-Friendly - Much like all other Apple products, this one comes to save the nature right out-of-the-box.
• Signature form - Just like the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3GS comes with the same design to make all your apps work right from the start.
• Digital Compass - Great for the explorers, now they won't need to carry nothing else as soon as they have the iPhone 3GS.
• Powered by 3.0 - Thats right! the new iPhone 3GS comes loaded with iPhone 3.0 which brings over 100+ exciting new features.

Other new features include Voice Control, Accessibility and a Nike+ app.

The new iPhone 3GS will come standard in black 16GB model for $199 and white 32GB model for $299. And interestingly! the price for iPhone 3G goes down to only $99.

The new iPhone 3GS will be available in the U.S. market starting June 19th. Go for it.

Now with months of anticipation, speculation and rumor highlights for the 3rd generation iPhone, it has become almost impossible for one to keep a tab on whats really authentic and whats not.

That's where the folks at The Green Room help us out with their graphical representation of the dozens of rumors that have been in circulation over past couple of months. The key in the rumor sheet helps to identify which of the rumors, as compared to others, are more likely to turn out to be true on the launch of the new iPhone.

Click to Enlarge

As you can see, the green labeled rumors are the ones with the highest probability of turning out to be true. This indicates that the new iPhone will most likely (with a probably above 80%) have the following set of features:

• Ability to send, upload videos.
• Video editing capabilities.
• An improved camera, 3.2 megapixel.
• $199, $299 price points.
• Better performance and RAM.
• Up to 32GB of storage.
• Digital compass and app.
• Percentage battery indicator.

Interestingly! another rumor highlighted in green says a July 17th release date.

As some reports on the web are suggesting that Steve Jobs might soon return to work after WWDC '09 so there is a good chance that the release date rumor is quite true. Apple might just focus on iPhone OS 3.0 and apps during the WWDC '09 and have plans to launch the new iPhone right after the event along with the return of Steve Jobs.

Keep your fingers crossed and ears open. There is a lot to look forward to this Monday. Meanwhile, just enjoy reading the Palm Pre vs iPhone, face-to-face.

Now in such a situation, its better for one to most closely keep an eye on the actual facts and figures of a product instead of paying attention to any rumors about it.

Therefore! keeping in mind the need of our users, we have come up with a detailed comparison of the features and specifications of the Palm Pre and iPhone side-by-side. In this case, we will assume to compare the Pre with an iPhone loaded with the 3.0 OS and all data will be based upon facts we already know about both the devices. So here it is:

Thats most of the facts about the Pre and the iPhone that we know as of now. If there is an error or we missed out an important piece of data, be sure to point it out. Most of the features discussed for the iPhone in this table are for the current model of the iPhone.

As you can see that the iPhone has an edge over the Pre at some areas while the Pre seems to be as competitive in terms of features and functionality. Now we will leave the rest for you to decide on which one is better and why.

Also don't forget to take a look at the comparison of Nokia N97 vs iPhone.

Until now, the only way to use Google Chrome on either Mac or Linux was to try out CrossOver Chromium which was accompanied by a lot of bugs and lacked most of the key features of Chrome.

Good news is that according to the Chromium blog, early developer channels of Google Chrome for Mac and Linux have been setup and anyone who takes a great pleasure at trying out incomplete, full-of-bugs, and always-crashing builds is welcome to download and test the port of Chrome for Mac and Linux. Though it's not recommended for the users to download it until it has reached a stable milestone.

Currently, the build is quite incomplete and unstable and the users won't be able to watch videos, change privacy settings, change the default search provider or even print web-pages.

However, this new brings a smile a smile to the face of users like me who mostly use Mac and Linux based workstations. A much stable beta build for Chrome on Mac and Linux will soon be available for download.

It is therefore that we have been keeping a close-eye on anything Pre and even though it is not possible for us to write a hands-on review of this device, we are still managing to share everything that we know about the Pre and how it will or will not succeed in the mobile market as compared to the the Highness of phones, the iPhone.

From much of what we have read and seen, the WebOS will be something really to look forward too. Its quite responsive and user-friendly as the iPhoneOS and yes, it does support multi-tasking.

Everything from multimedia, web browsing, photo viewing to contact synchronization seems pretty mature considering that its the first generation of the WebOS and we are sure, it will give a tough competition to the iPhone though the Pre might lag behind in popularity when it comes to availability of more apps but perhaps that gap will eventually be bridged as well.

The Pre is pretty small and also light-weight. Of course it is not possible for us to give out a thought on the feel-of-hand for this phone without actually testing it but from what we assume about it, it will definitely fit in your pockets and still leave room for the other stuff.

As compared to the iPhone, we give the Pre an edge over being light, easy to handle and also being the most suitable candidate for pocket-resting.

Now comes the hardware part, which makes us drown into oceans of disappointment considering the Pre runs on such a brilliant OS.

Palm might believe that it has done a fine job at incorporating a physical keyboard in the device but the fact is that now a days users are more inclined towards using a keyboard that comes with corresponding functions to the apps they use and that can only be done with a virtual keyboard like the iPhone has. Also, the slide-out fashion is kind of getting old and annoying in phones where you have to pop-out a keyboard whenever you need to type something.

Thats all from here. Our verdict believes that the Palm Pre might turn out to be a consumer-friendly device but it will still be hard enough for Pre to surpass the iPhone in terms of features, form and functionality.

Perhaps we will get to see more about the Pre on June 6th. Don't forget to check back for more launch reviews.

The idea was to build a Full-touchscreen Tablet computer that would be affordable enough for any average tech enthusiast and would also compete with the industry-leading Tablet devices not only in terms of its affordability, but also its design and usability.

The project is labeled as the CrunchPad and after months of prototype-testing, the device is actually coming to reality and let me tell you honestly, its sleek, its sexy and its brilliant.

From what we assume looking at the launch-prototype of the CrunchPad, it has definitely evolved from a mere touchscreen piece-of-nothing into a full-featured Tablet computer that will be the ultimate requirement for a 24-hour web surfer.

The device basically runs on a light-weight Linux distribution which directly boots into a web-kit based browser which integrates all web services and allows you to surf websites, watch videos and do anything on the Internet.

From where I see it, the launch of the CrunchPad might kick Kindle in the balls as CrunchPad seems to provide more than just e-reading capabilities and probably at a much cheaper price.

The price for the device, along with the complete technical specifcations, will be officially annoucned next month. Go watch a demo of an earlier prototype and decide whether this device will really make a buzz on its launch or not?