Latest Technology News

As Microsoft’s recent $1.2 billion Yammer acquisition proves, there’s a growing demand for enterprise social networks at the moment. Big name firms like Citrix and SalesForce have invested heavily in the popular communications trend, and Bitrix24 has seen some 10,000 SMBs sign up to use its cloud-based service since the May launch -- helped in no small part by the fact it’s entirely free for companies with 12 or fewer users.

Buoyed by its growing user base, Bitrix24 now targets startups with a $2.4 million program designed to popularize social intranet use at firms that might consider it out of their reach for one reason or another. The company plans to do this by giving away a thousand one-year subscriptions to its flagship Professional Intranet plan (worth $2,400 each) and all companies need do to be considered for one of these grants is to fill out the short application form on the company’s website.

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I'm having one of those "duh" moments this afternoon, actually it started in the AM. Gartner analysts today profess the obvious: Windows 8 is a gamble, but one Microsoft must make to stay relevant. Really? Like we haven't said similarly here at BetaNews, and others elsewhere, for months. Given, the only good news today seems to be iPhone 5, and we're all so tired here of promoting Apple's Jesus Phone (could the Second Coming really get this much press), anything Windows 8 is welcome.

Something more: Gartner analysts finally go on record clearly stating that the post-PC era -- what I call the cloud-connected device era -- is here; not coming someday, but upon us now. Well, the transition phase anyway. That's worth putting on record for your reference and our future stories.

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Weather apps consistently rank behind games as the second most popular class of mobile applications (Source: Nielsen) but does your weather app tell you where you're most likely to be hit by a bolt of lightning?

WeatherBug Elite for Android, which received a major version update today, includes that very feature, called "Lightning Alerts."

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I spent a long time chatting with prospective iPhone 5 purchasers at my local Apple store at the weekend. I wasn’t queuing up with them, just getting feedback on why they were so keen to buy a handset that isn’t, frankly, the most amazing or revolutionary device Apple has ever produced. The reasons I received ranged from: "I’m out of contract and need a new phone" to "I buy everything Apple makes".

I also got a lot of the "iPhone is the coolest phone", responses. Even when Apple messes up, people still love the company. Its phones may no longer be the fastest or arguably the best, but they still have a magical "cool" quality about them, as does Apple itself.

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I'm not locked in to any one company's ecosystem right now. I have a Windows 7 Ultrabook, a desktop I built myself running Mint Linux, an iPad, and my trusty Galaxy Nexus. Each appliance serves the purpose I purchased it for very well, and I feel no need to switch away from any of them for the moment. When I perform basic daily tasks, things run smoothly. I use Dropbox and Google Drive for sharing much of my content back and forth, and it's a great experience.

When it comes to purchasing digital content like music, movies, or books, it feels like I am punished for not being locked in to any one content system.

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On Friday, FedEx delivered a pair of his and hers iPhone 5s to my home, which was much better than waiting in line outside Apple Store.

Apple says it sold 5 million units over the launch weekend. I can claim two of them.

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One week after Apple announced two million iPhone 5s were pre-ordered in 24 hours, the Cupertino, California-based corporation claims even stronger iPhone 5 sales during the launch weekend.

iPhone 5 sales topped over five million units in the three days after the September 21 launch according to the press release issued by Apple on Monday.

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HTC promised, and Samsung delivered.

After a number of leaked beta builds surfaced, the official Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for the Samsung Galaxy S III is now available in select European countries.

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PhotoDirector 4 is CyberLink’s answer to the digital darkroom question. In this age where people regularly snap dozens of photos in a single sitting, digital photography tools have to offer more than just editing features. PhotoDirector follows in the footsteps of Adobe’s Photoshop Lightroom in offering organzation, adjustment, editing and sharing tools in a single package. In fact, with its editing tools, PhotoDirector goes beyond Photoshop Lightroom to venture into Photoshop Elements territory.

Version 1 debuted less than two years ago, yet thanks to its rapid pace of development, here we are with version 4. Not only does it debut some major new tools, including a stunning content aware removal tool and body shaper, but PhotoDirector 4 marks the app’s debut on the Mac platform too. With so many new features to check out, we took this brand new version for a test drive to see if it lives up to its new “Ultra” moniker.

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We live in a true video age, where it’s never been easier to shoot quality clips of your own, or find movies created by others.

Actually playing those videos on your preferred device can be more of a challenge, though, as the source footage won’t always be in a suitable format. But fortunately there are plenty of tools around which promise they can help, and VSDC Free Video Converter is the latest example.

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Apple's new iPhone 5 is now available, and I want nothing to do with it. Ever since the September 12 debut, I have wondered why anyone would want to buy the Apple smartphone, and quite frankly I could come up with only one reason -- because it's a new iPhone. For that privilege, on Friday, people queued up outside Apple Stores, from Australia to United States.

Some people started lining up days before miracle device that is known as the iPhone 5 went on sale, which makes no sense to me. I clearly expressed my disappointment a day after the announcement, and knowing what is in store (pun intended) I asked myself: "Why would I want to queue for it?"

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iPhone 5 is not a revolutionary device. Does it really need to be? No. Despite the geek freak-out that iPhone 5 isn't innovative enough, I don't doubt the handset will sell really well. What matters: Is it better enough? From my first impression, playing with one inside Apple Store, yes. More importantly, the device will be better enough for many people moving from feature phones to smartphones but shocked by the huge physical size of other devices.

Apple already has a successful post-PC product and supporting ecosystem of applications, cases, peripherals and other stuff. iPhone 5 isn't the be-all, end-all Apple cloud-connected device but the flagship in a platform continuum. Why else, for example, would the company also offer iPhone 4 (free) and iPhone 4S ($99)? iPhone 5's challenge is to be better enough, and if it's not for some buyers -- say, either the 4 or 4S is good enough -- older models are still available for less. To understand what iPhone 5 is not, you need to understand what Apple is and why the new handset actually is more than upgrade enough.

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Surely Apple is furious as not even a day after the iPhone 5 launched the device is jailbroken.

On his Twitter account Grant Paul posted a photo of an iPhone 5 with Cydia trumping on the screen, indicating that the device is jailbroken. But hold your horses, as the details are scarce at the moment and no date has been provided by the developer as to when or if the jailbreak will be publicly available.

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The Samsung Galaxy S III for Verizon Wireless comes with a locked bootloader, which is a no-go for installing custom ROMs. To aid modders the South Korean smartphone manufacturer released the Galaxy S III Developer Edition, which is still locked on the same United States carrier but has an unlocked bootloader.

The Galaxy S III Developer Edition for Verizon Wireless is available directly from Samsung for $599.99 or $649.99 in 16GB or 32GB capacities, respectively, in Pebble Blue; both sell for $400 more than the models Verizon currently lists and have 30-day parts & labor warranty. The only problem is that the bootloader of the Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III can already be unlocked without purchasing a new smartphone at a premium, that is still locked on Verizon Wireless.

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As I’ve written many times before, small companies and especially new companies are what create nearly all of the net new jobs in America, yet a new study released last week by the Hudson Institute suggests the rate of job formation by new firms is down dramatically in recent years, from an average of 11 new startup jobs per 1,000 workers at a peak in 2006 down to 7.8 new startup jobs per 1,000 workers in 2011 -- a 29 percent decline.  So is the startup economy losing its oomph and should we be worried? No the startup economy isn’t losing its oomph but yes, it’s time to worry.

The Hudson Institute study was written by the think tank’s chief economist Tim Kane. He notes with concern this downward trend in startup job formation but his study doesn’t attempt to explain it, leaving that for the future. He’s not above, however, mentioning the likely negative impact of increased regulation, especially from the impending Affordable Care Act, AKA Obamacare.

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