Latest Technology News

Since the advent of the mobile app store, consumer electronics companies have been trying to port that same app-using experience over to the television screen, with notable attempts being made by search engines Yahoo and Google with Yahoo Widgets and Google TV. According to recent figures by market research company In-Stat, a vibrant TV-based app environment is still just a pipe dream.

In-Stat, now a subsidiary of NPD Group, has published its second-quarter view of the digital entertainment ecosystem, and the app model is a very long way from being mainstream among TV viewers.

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Any Windows system degrades over time. The reason it becomes less effective is because it collects junk data. As you install programs, save and retrieve files and do all the things your computer was designed for, temporary files build up in hard-to-reach areas, data fragments get left behind and before you know it, you have a very messy system indeed. It's high time for a spring clean.

Instead of grabbing a mop and bucket, you'll need to strategically delete the unwanted data. Old programs don't just litter the place; they leave a mess in the registry and within some of Windows data folders. Eusing Cleaner 2 can help you to reclaim some speed by cleaning these out.

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I'm asking because of a poorly reported and likely misleading post at TechCrunch.

The headline is compelling: "Android's Dirty Secret: Shipping Numbers Are Strong But Returns Are 30-40%". The sourcing is pure BS. John Biggs writes "many return rates are approaching 40 percent said a person familiar with handset sales for multiple manufacturers".

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Do we really need another browser-based operating system? Chrome OS isn't enough? That's the gist of Mozilla's "Boot to Gecko" -- or B2G -- proposal.

"Mozilla believes that the web can displace proprietary, single-vendor stacks for application development," according to the B2G project page. It's similar to Netscape's goal in the mid- to late-1990s -- the browser should replace the operating system as development platform. Microsoft squashed Netscape like a bug, preventing that ambition, contributing to the browser developer's demise and setting off major antitrust cases on two continents.

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OK, Windows users, here's your chance to set the record straight. If you dare. The Mac Fanclub of bloggers is gaga today over the image you see above. It's supposedly McDonalds Australia's instructions for connecting Windows PCs and Macs to WiFi. The Windows setup is a whole lot more complicated than for Macs. What should you expect from MacDonalds?

I haven't roamed on Windows for awhile, but on my last trip I don't recall connecting to encrypted or open hotspots being anywhere as difficult as these instructions indicate. It's three easy steps for the Mac, and eight fairly complicated ones for Windows XP or Vista.

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ZocDoc, a web-based service for finding doctors and booking appointments without making a single phone call, launched its official Android app on Monday, and it is freely available for download in the Android Market.

ZocDoc is frequently compared to restaurant reservation service OpenTable because, well, it's really the same thing, but instead of booking dinners, the user is booking medical or dental appointments.

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Editor's note: Software developer Steve Lacey was killed in a tragic car crash on July 24th, reportedly when another driver accelerated in an unrelated road rage incident. In perhaps a sign of changing times, a number of notable geeks are writing their remembrances on Google+. Here, Robert Scoble shares about working with Lacey at Microsoft. More recently, Google employed Lacey.

When I first met Steve Lacey, back in 2004, he was working at Microsoft on the Flight Simulator team and I could instantly tell he was a geek's geek (e.g., a pioneer everyone looked up to). You can see the video we did together. (Silverlight required)

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Mobile security issues are no longer the next big thing. The threats are here, and vulnerabilities could be present in your pocket right now.

Apple has released the second security update to iOS 4.3 in just over a week. While the last update addressed a vulnerability to maliciously crafted PDF files, this update fixes a security issue with certificate validation.

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Program lockups are always annoying. But if the app in question has the text of an important document, which you've been working on for hours, and not actually saved to disk yet, then it could be a real disaster.

Don't shut down the hung program, though -- you may still be able to recover your carefully crafted words, just as long as you've a copy of DumpIt to hand.

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Some people find watching foreign films with subtitles hard work, but it's even harder if the movie in question has no subtitles at all and you're not fluent in the relevant language. It's not just those with an inability to speak in tongues who benefit from subtitles either; they also help the hard of hearing, and there's the added benefit of being able to watch a video with the sound muted to avoid disturbing others too.

If you've got a movie or TV show you're desperate to watch, but there's no subtitle track included, don't fret. Sublight is a program for searching and downloading subtitles, simplifying and speeding up the process of both finding the right file and linking it to your movie.

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The premier event on the software vulnerability research calendar is the Pwnie Awards ceremony (it's pronounced "pony"). The 2011 nominees include critical vulnerabilities in Microsoft ASP.NET, iOS, Google Chrome, Java, the Linux kernel, and an award for special achievement in insecurity to Sony.

Read the nominations page for the full list. Here are my selections:

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GestureTek, a company which we first noticed three years ago for its Wii-like motion controller technology for smartphones, has sold some of its motion control and gesture recognition technology patents to chipmaker Qualcomm. This acquisition is a signal of the importance of inputs in mobile devices beyond the touchscreen.

Qualcomm will integrate GestureTek's technologies into its popular line of Snapdragon smartphone mobile processors, giving equipment manufacturers the option to enable their devices with natural user interfaces.

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London-based ZABKAT Software has released version 2.0 of its Windows Explorer replacement tool. xplorer2 2.0 includes a number of notable new features and improvements, including support for dockable and floating panes.

xplorer2, which costs $29.95 and is also available as a 64-bit build, also utilizes the native preview handlers found in Vista and Windows 7 to deliver improved document previews, notably with PDF and Office files. Also new in version 2.0 are dual bookmarks, tab locking, context menu extensions and faster file browser operations.

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Google, don't cow before riffraff demanding that you allow Google Plusers to use pseudonyms or to be anonymous. The policy of using real names is sensible and best approach long term.

While I was at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend, there was a big row about suspended Google+ accounts -- so I'm playing catch up on this one. Well, thank you, Google! I mean that without the slightest hint of sarcasm. That's a sincere thank you.

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BlackBerry maker Research in Motion will be cutting nearly 10% of its global workforce as it struggles to keep its piece of the smartphone market against the avalanche of Android-powered devices.

RIM will be laying off a total of 2,000 employees globally, and layoffs will begin in North America this week. The rest of the reductions will happen at an unspecified later date due to "local laws and regulations." The company says all employees who lose their job will receive severance packages and job placement assistance.

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