Latest Technology News

Ever since a 2009 article in the Archives of General Psychiatry declared bullying may make kids psychotic, the topic of bullying online and in schools has become one of increasing interest among policymakers and parents.

Today, the Anne Arundel County Police Department in Maryland has rolled out an Android application called AACoPD Speak Out that lets county students and their families communicate directly with the Anne Arundel County Police School Resource Unit specifically about instances of bullying.

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Well, file this in the don't believe anything you read on the Internet department. Contrary to relentless rumors that Microsoft Surface would start at $199, actual cost will be $300 more. Rather than price against tablets selling for $299 or less, Surface competes with iPad, while offering more storage for less cost. But iPad has the way upper hand on screen resolution, which is a compelling feature.

At Noon EDT today, Microsoft started taking pre-orders for Surface, following a gaffe that temporarily offered the tablet and revealed pricing -- $499 to $699 for three models. The entry-level 32GB tablet is $499, same as new iPad, which is 16GB. The $599 Surface adds detachable keyboard cover, and the $699 model bumps storage to 64GB. Pre-orders are for the model running Windows RT. Microsoft hasn't announced pricing or started pre-orders for the Windows 8 tablet. As previously reported, Surface RT launches alongside Windows 8 on October 26. Yesterday, Microsoft kicked off the tablet's ad blitz.

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Earlier this year ASUS introduced Padfone, a smartphone-tablet dock combo designed as a solution to fit a market segment looking for a device capable of delivering the best of both worlds. Today, the Taiwanese manufacturer unveiled its successor, unsurprisingly named PadFone 2. The device comes with more power, 4G LTE cellular connectivity and redesigned tablet to compliment the smartphone part of the 2-in-1 device.

PadFone 2 packs a 4.7-inch Super IPS+ display with 1280 by 720 resolution, 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 2GB RAM, 2,140 mAh battery, and PadFone 2 Station that transforms the smartphone into a 10.1-inch tablet. The dock comes with a 5,000 mAh battery quoted to deliver up to 36 hours of 3G talk-time. As for cellular connectivity, the former delivers up to 100Mbps through LTE and 42Mbps for DC-HSPA+ compatible data networks. The usual suspects, Wi-Fi and NFC, are also thrown into the mix.

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Converting videos from one format to another can be an extremely complicated process, which is why most transcoding tools do their best to protect you from it. You might drag in a movie, choose the iPhone profile and click a button to begin conversion, say – all very easy.

If you have a good understanding of video basics, though, this handholding can become annoying, and you might occasionally wish you had access to something more powerful. Sounds familiar? Then you might want to take a look at the open source StaxRip.

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Almost a month ago I wrote "Steve Ballmer hints at Microsoft Surface costing $300-$800" and he was (obviously) right on the money as the Redmond, Wash.-based corporation introduced Microsoft Surface with Windows RT for pre-order today with delivery on October 26. No, it doesn't start at $199, nor at $300 either, but it's close. HOWEVER, while I wrote this post, the pricing page disappeared from the Microsoft Store and now redirects to its home page.

The base 32GB model without the Black Touch Cover, which is Microsoft's name for the OEM keyboard, comes in at $499 and at the time of writing this post is the only model available for pre-order (whenever it resumes). The keyboard can be purchased separately for an additional $119.99 or $129.99 for the white or black model, respectively. The 32GB model with the Black Touch Cover included runs $599, while the larger 64GB Surface with the same add-on will set you back $699. Again, like Steve Ballmer hinted, price range is $300-$800, though it comes closer to the upper end.

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That didn't take long. A day after debuting the first Windows 8 TV commercial, Microsoft puts out another -- this one for Surface. There's a theater of the bizarre quality about the ad spot, which features lots of folks dancing with tablets. I half expected to see digitally-inserted cameos with Fred Alistair and Ginger Rogers. No one could accuse Microsoft of copying Apple iPad marketing, that's for sure.

The commercial focuses on Surface's attachable keyboard and pop-out stand and the click sounds they make. There is lots of action centered around clicking. You won't learn anything about what Surface does from the one-minute jig or how much the tablet costs (oh, do we want to know). But people will remember the commercial, the slate and the colorful Modern UI. That's the whole point of advertising: get people to remember something.

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AT&T's hottest smartphone of the season (well, so far) arrives in 18 days, and it's not iPhone 5. America's second-largest carrier has queued up the LG Optimus G, which will be available for $199.99 on contract -- that means two-year commitment. Optimus G specs impress, particularly that quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor, but the software somewhat disappoints. The device ships with Android 4.0.7, not successor Jelly Bean unveiled in June. Upgrade may be months away.

Older software mars what otherwise is a beauty: 4.7-inch TrueHD IPS+ display, 1280 x 768 resolution, 15:9 aspect ratio; 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor; 2GB RAM; 32GB storage (internal and card, expandable to 80GB); 8-megapixel rear-facing and 1.3MP front-facing cameras, zero-lag shutter; 4G LTE; Wi-Fi; A-GPS; MHL; DLNA; near-field communication; Bluetooth 4.0; and 2,100 mAh battery. Measures 131.9mm x 68.9mm x 8.45mm and weighs 145 grams.

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CyanogenMod team introduced an in-house updater for its CM10 custom Android distribution, and while it may cover important functionality some users might desire a more comprehensive app. Addressed to more demanding modders, Team BBQ offers BBQTools, touted as an all-in-one tool for delivering updates, changelogs and more.

Just like BBQLog, BBQTools comes with the ability to display the changelog between CyanogenMod 10 nightly or stable builds, but can also download the essential Google Apps package needed by the installed CM version to offer access to Google Play store and other essential Android functionality, as well as stable or nightly builds for compatible devices and capability to install or update the CyanogenMod.

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Microsoft announces calendar third-quarter earnings in three days, and during the conference call, as usually is the case, some financial analyst almost surely will ask about the percentage of professional to consumer versions sold, since the former typically yields higher margins. But that question may soon be a thing of the past, as Microsoft seeks long-term gains from a little short-term pain. The Redmond, Wash.-based company is quietly, but quite deliberately, trying to put Windows consumer, once called Home, out to pasture (hopefully with a bullet in its bytes).

The signs are everywhere. In April, Microsoft reduced the number of Windows editions to three -- 8, Pro and RT -- or four when looking at volume-licensing-only Enterprise. Most people can't buy Windows 8 Enterprise or RT (which is preloaded only). They also can't buy the consumer edition -- yet -- and Microsoft makes it awfully damn easy to get Pro. Existing users of most any version of Windows going back to XP can, until Jan. 31, 2013, upgrade to 8 Pro for $39.99. That's a helluva bargain, and the lowest launch promotional price for a professional Windows edition ever. Meanwhile, buyers of new Windows 7 PCs starting June 2 get a $14.99 free upgrade -- to Pro 8. Last week, Microsoft and retailers started taking boxed Windows 8 Pro upgrade preorders for $69.99. Windows 8 "consumer" upgrade isn't available. Is the pattern clear enough?

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My hands plunge into a beaten-up cardboard box sitting atop a black flea market chest of drawers, pulling out one rarity after another…Tigervision's "King Kong," Spectravision's "Mangia," a prototype of Spy Hunter for paddle & keypad controllers, it's every rare game that ever existed and a whole lot of ones that have never been seen before. I am elated.

Then, of course, I wake up.

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Computing, and I use the term in the widest sense, has always been tribal to an extent. People have loyalties, and there’s nothing wrong with that. This year, tribes are called "ecosystems", but whatever the current label, looking around the Interweb it seems to me that tribalism is becoming more prevalent and more aggressive. It’s as if everyone stood on soapboxes with their fingers in their ears, shouting "LALALALALALALA", while at the same time (a good trick, this) yelling through a megaphone that theirs is the only way and anyone who doesn’t agree is just too stupid to be considered human.

Famously, way back in 1994, the writer and thinker Umberto Eco (The Name of the Rose) compared computing loyalties to religions: Apple followers were Catholics who believed that they would find salvation through following the One True Path. Conversely, PC users, like Protestants, were obliged to find their own way through the many paths open to them, and not all would be saved. And (I guess) Linux users are the hairy prophets who come out of the desert proclaiming, "It’s really easy. Honestly. And these days you only have to scourge yourself with thorns once a week …"

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With Softbank's majority stake acquisition of Sprint Nextel Corporation, the amount of foreign interest in the United States wireless market is greatly expanded. On the other side of the coin, wholly-American owned wireless companies are beginning to look like an endangered species.

The two largest US carriers, Verizon Wireless and AT&T are mostly owned by American companies, but based upon first quarter 2012 market share figures (source: Strategy Analytics) and corporate ownership percentages, we estimate that 45.3 percent of the United States' wireless market will be controlled by foreign multinational companies pending the regulatory approval of SoftBank's acquisition of Sprint. As the next four years fan out, we must turn our eyes to the smaller national competitors and regional carriers and see how they merge and change.

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Running an Android distribution means having a custom recovery installed, with Team Win Recovery Project being one of the most popular solutions. TWRP 2.3 is released, touting a number of speed improvements as well as other fixes.

It's now based on AOSP Jelly Bean source code, and to aid implementing new features and future AOSP recovery updates, TWRP 2.3 has undergone significant under-the-hood changes due to a core rewrite into C++. ADB Sideload, which is a Jelly Bean recovery feature, has been implemented allowing to push and install an Android distribution using a single command from the computer. Also added is the charging indicator that updates every minute. What else?

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IObit has released Advanced SystemCare 6 FREE, a brand new version of its freeware optimization tool. Version 6.0 debuts a new, streamlined interface, and comes with full support for Windows 8.

ASC 6 Free, which is also available in Pro form with additional functionality, also updates its Surfing Protection, Driver Manager and Privacy Sweep databases, adds support for additional languages and provides unspecified general bug fixes.

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Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner broke a number of records with his breathtaking edge-of-space skydive yesterday -- and not just the highest jump from a platform (128,100 feet), the longest distance free-fall, (119,846 feet) and becoming the first skydiver to break the sound barrier (with a maximum vertical velocity of 833.9 mph or Mach 1.24). He was also responsible for notching up the most simultaneous live views on YouTube to date.

According to Google, over eight million people (myself included) visited the live stream to watch Baumgartner jump from a capsule attached to a giant helium balloon some 24 miles (39km) above the Earth and land safely around nine minutes later, nonchalantly touching down almost -- as a friend described it -- as if stepping off a bus.

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