Briefly: VM benchmarks, iPhone battery death

In brief: Virtualization software benchmarks, IOGEAR gets USB-IF certification, an estimator for when your iPhone battery will die, two effects plug-ins for the price of one, Cocktail Panther edition is now freeware, and a social networking app for the iPhone debuts ... VMWare is spearheading an effort to develop reliable, accurate benchmarks for virtualization environments like its own, offerings from Parallels and others. Dell and Sun Microsystems have already published results based on the beta version of the benchmark. The reason normal benchmarks cannot be used is that they were designed to test how one application performs on a single server. With virtualization, several applications can run on the same physical piece of hardware. eWeek reports "the final score, according to VMware, is based on the performance of the workloads at a given number of tile."

IOGEAR gets USB-IF certification

IOGear has received wireless USB certification by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) and FCC certification for an end-user solution, its Wireless USB Hub and Adapter Kit. As a Certified Wireless USB product, it is guaranteed to be backward compatible with wired USB devices and interoperable with future Certified Wireless USB offerings. The product makes use of Alereon's PHY Chipset and the Intel(r) Wireless UWB Link controller, both of which completed compliance and certification testing from the USB-IF and are designated Certified Wireless USB building block solutions.

When your iPhone battery will die

PC Magazine has established a crude estimator for when your iPhone's battery will die. "Like most things in this cruel world, your iPhone's battery must die someday. Unlike most things, it is easy to predict the exact date and time it will permanently crap out. To help you panic, er, prepare, try the iPhone Death Watch; simply enter the date you purchased your phone, and, based on scientific calculations, the calculator will provide an estimate for the day your precious device's battery will bite the dust."

Two effects plug-ins for one.

From July 1st to August 31st, customers who purchase and register any effects plug-in from IK will receive another free. Eligible plug-ins include AmpliTube 2, guitar amp and fx modeling software; Ampeg SVX, a bass plug-in with the signature sound of Ampeg; Classik Studio Reverb, studio reverb; or T-RackS, the mastering suite. If you already own any other IK full-version or bundled software (such as SampleTank 2 SE, AmpliTube LE and T-RackS EQ), you'll be able to purchase two plug-ins for $250.

Cocktail now freeware, iRovr: social networking for iPhone

Cocktail 3.7 (Panther Edition) for Mac OS X 10.3 has been released as freeware. The new version fixes miscalleanous bugs discovered in the previous release and requires Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server 10.3 - 10.3.9 ... iRovr is a unique social experience for the iPhone that allows users to create a profile, blog, share photos, bookmarks and videos.