Latest Technology News

Taking center stage at Computex 2013, ARM's Cortex-A12 architecture and Mali-T622 GPU (Graphic Processing Unit) are setting their sights on the mid-range mobile device market.

According to an ARM spokesperson, there will be at least 580 million mid-range mobile devices hitting the competitive mobile space over the next two years -- with the mid-range market projected to exceed the number of high-end smartphones and tablets beginning in 2015. As such, it comes as little surprise that ARM is bolstering its mid-range portfolio, with the UK-based company looking beyond the high-end market which is currently dominated by Apple's wildly popular iPhone and Android handsets like the Samsung Galaxy S4. Both devices are powered by ARM-based silicon.

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The war for the hearts and minds of potential cloud email users at organizations worldwide is far from over. Both Microsoft and Google are winning small field skirmishes for their respective corners over the past few years. Most recently, Microsoft won huge contracts with the State of Texas and the City of Chicago moving to Office 365's vision for the cloud. Conversely, Google Apps chalked up big converts in the form of CBC Radio Canada and the US National Archives.

UK business technology website Computing.co.uk has published the results of a survey it ran across 160 IT decision makers from organizations of all shapes and sizes. While the survey sheds light on numerous opinions surrounding the major cloud email platforms, its most shocking finding is that a whopping 37 percent of organizations moving to the cloud for email are opting for Office 365 over all the major players. Other cloud vendors included in the survey results were Google Apps, Apple iWork, and QuickOffice.

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As the Twitter social network steadily tries to overtake the world, its Vine video sharing service is now spreading like a kudzu vine -- even if you are miles above the Mason-Dixon line! Today Twitter announces that the service is spreading to Android, the largest mobile operating system around.

"Starting today, [Android owners] can begin to shoot, share and watch short looping videos. We’ve been looking forward to this day, and we’re excited to get the app into your hands", says Twitter's Sara Haider.

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Today, over at all AllThingsD, Kara Swisher reports that a major Microsoft makeover is imminent. Reorganization is bloody well overdue, and timing makes sense. The company's fiscal year closes June 30, and the final quarter is when employees, product groups and future plans are evaluated and rewarded and when internal changes occur.

I strongly expect the new structure to mesh with CEO Steve Ballmer's mandate Microsoft is now a "devices and services" company. His larger challenge is surmountable: Enabling a stronger siloed Microsoft that disables a power structure that resembles "A Game of Thrones" -- too many fiefdoms fighting cross-purposes to the kingdom Bill Gates created. Under the current structure, Ballmer deals with only five kingdoms, rather than book and HBO series' seven.

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On Monday, Finnish maker Nokia rolls out an update for its Music Windows Phone 8 app which now allows users to pay for the optional premium service using the mobile operator bill. The feature is currently offered for a select number of carriers.

The company says that mobile operator billing is available only when the "service provider and the content publisher support this payment method". This implies that, at least for now, users in certain regions might be stuck with the traditional purchasing option -- either a credit or debit card which must be added to their Nokia account.

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Microsoft used the TechEd North America conference in New Orleans to unveil a raft of new and updated Windows 8.1 features aimed at businesses. Many of these are targeted at the world of cloud computing and connected devices, with enhancements for bring your own device (BYOD) connectivity, enhanced mobility features and security enhancements.

Key features include Workplace Join, allowing administrators to control access to corporate data even if employees are using their own devices. This goes hand-in-hand with Work Folders, allowing users to sync their device with a folder in a data center. Mobile Device management will let administrators create a company portal to give all users a consistent interface without the need to install a separate client management package.

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South Korean manufacturer Samsung unveiled, on Monday, two new tablets as part of its Galaxy Tab 3 lineup. The fondleslabs, available in 8-inch and 10.1-inch display trim, run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and feature mid-range to low-end hardware specifications.

Despite touting them as offering  an "exceptional reading and entertainment experience", both the 8-inch and the 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab 3 tablets come with TFT displays sporting a resolution of 1280 by 800 (the ppi -- pixels per inch -- density is 189 and 149, respectively). That's on par with other 8-inch devices like the Galaxy Note 8.0 but significantly behind 10.1-inchers like the Google Nexus 10 (2560 by 1600 resolution and 300 ppi).

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We all thought that smartphones would become smaller and more portable with the passage of time. However, the opposite seems to be true as smartphone manufacturers are all creating devices with bigger and better displays.

Today at Computex 2013, Taiwanese manufacturer Acer reveals its first phablet, the Liquid S1 running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and boasting a 5.7 inch HD display with 1280 by 720 resolution.

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The clock is very much ticking for anyone still working with Yahoo Mail Classic. As of today, an upgrade will roll out forcing users to switch to the newest version. This in itself might not seem like earth-shattering news, but it is Yahoo's handling of the upgrade -- and the hidden payload -- that has users up in arms.

There are few forced upgrades that are welcomed unreservedly -- as changes to Gmail prove -- but this one is rather more sinister. Put simply, if you want to keep using Yahoo Mail you have to make the switch to the latest version or your inbox will become inaccessible. Sounds reasonable? Possibly not.

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We have not seen a Firefox OS phone hit the market yet, though there are developer handsets out there. However, Mozilla continues to move forward with its mobile platform and you can check it out now with a browser simulator if you just cannot wait. Today the organization grabs its first victory, and it is a major one, scoring one of the largest tech manufacturers in the world.

Mozilla officially announces that manufacturing giant Foxconn is adopting Firefox OS. The organization tells us "the Foxconn Technology Group today announced at a press event in Taipei a wide-ranging partnership with Mozilla to collaborate on the use of the Firefox OS open platform, based on HTML5 and open Web technologies, on Foxconn devices".

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On Monday, at Computex 2013, Taiwanese manufacturer Acer officially took the wraps off the 8-inch Iconia W3 tablet and unveiled two ultrabooks -- the refreshed Aspire S7 and the new Aspire S5. Each device features Intel processors and runs Windows 8.

The Iconia W3, which was quietly unveiled two weeks ago, packs an 8.1-inch display with a resolution of 1280 by 800. Power comes from an Intel Atom Z2760 processor, similar to a number of other Windows 8 tablets on the market. The device also sports 2 MP cameras on the front and rear and 32 GB or 64 GB of internal storage depending on the trim.

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At Computex 2013, Asus unveiled the Transformer Book Trio or what it calls "a three-in-one mobile device" that can be a Windows 8 notebook when connected to the keyboard, a Windows 8 desktop PC, or a standalone Android tablet.

The Transformer Book Trio runs two operating systems -- Android (Jelly Bean) and Windows 8 -- and is designed to switch between the two seamlessly, giving users access to over 700,000 apps from Google Play and Windows Store.

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Looking not unlike a prop taken from the set of Star Trek, the VivoMouse from Asus takes the humble mouse in something of a new direction. Bringing together the traditional wireless mouse and the trackpad more usually found nestling at the front of a laptop, the peripheral harnesses the best of both worlds and delivers them in a single, sexy-looking device.

The VivoMouse -- which Asus claims to be a "world first" -- can be used in exactly the same way as a regular mouse, but the integrated trackpad means that there is support for Windows 8's full range of multi-touch gestures. This is something that is sure to prove popular with users who have battled with Windows 8's interface; while touchscreen displays are increasing in popularity, they are still far from the norm.

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Antivirus company McAfee's latest threat report, covering the first quarter of 2013, highlights comebacks for a number of older threats as the growth of newer malware goes into decline. Recent trends towards Android malware, and ransomware are slowing with growth rates slipping back, although actual numbers still show a slight increase. The number of fake antivirus products detected also shows a decline in growth over the previous quarter.

Instead it seems the cybercrime community has served up a blast from the past by resurrecting some old friends. The report shows a global increase in spam volume for the first time in three years. It’s a big increase too with spam volume almost doubling globally in the first quarter of this year. There’s a twist to this though as spammers seem to be targeting specific regions in the hope of snaring new victims. Popular spam topics in this new wave are pump-and-dump stock schemes and growth hormone drugs.

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Today at Computex in Taiwan, Asus announced a lot of new products, including a new MeMO Pad HD 7 tablet.

The Android device is 10.8mm thick and weighs just 302g. It packs a 7-inch 1280 by 800 IPS display with 170-degree wide viewing angle. The device is powered by a Qualcomm quad-core processor, has 1GB of RAM, and features a 1.2 megapixel front facing camera and an optional 5 megapixel rear facing camera.

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