Latest Technology News

If you happen to be a runner then you have a plethora of choices these days for tracking every bit of workout information that you could possibly have wanted to know, and likely some you did not. There are websites, mobile apps and even watches that know more about you than, well, you do.

One of the most popular is called RunKeeper. The service falls into every category I named and even comes with Pebble Watch, in addition to its own watch. Now the service brings a major overhaul to the web side of things. "We created RunKeeper to be a powerful personal trainer in your pocket, but many of you look to our website to do things like drill deeper in your workout tracking, interact with friends, and connect with other partner apps" the company claims.

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Cloud storage solution SkyDrive is getting additional functionality. Microsoft is banking on the service becoming the primary storage method for those who are part of the company's ecosystem. The software giant has made SkyDrive a focus in both Windows 8 and Office 2013 / 365 Home Premium.

Microsoft's Omar Shahine announces that "starting today and rolling out over the next 48 hours, we're making it easier for you to see all of your photos in SkyDrive across all your albums and folders based on a timeline view". With timeline view you will be able to scroll down to navigate through all of the images. They are organized into groups by event and time.

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Azureus Software has released Vuze 5.0, a major update of its open-source, cross-platform BitTorrent client. Version 5.0’s improvements and changes have been focused on its "core functionality", making the locating, adding and downloading of torrents much easier with this release.

This has been achieved by tweaking the user interface, Sidebar and Library views to make these features more visible, and are joined by other changes, including better tools for accessing Vuze remotely and a new tagging system for managing torrents.

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Tomorrow is what is commonly known as Patch Tuesday in the lands of Microsoft and Adobe. It's the time of the month when the two software giants attempt to fix the bugs and security holes in their software by issuing a series of updates that are intended to benefit users. The practice of waiting to issue these updates is debatable, especially when exploits are available in the wild.

These updates, at least in the case of Microsoft, can also cause as much harm as good. Given that possibility, security company GFI issued an advisory in advance of the upcoming patches. "In light of the reboot loop problems resulting from the Microsoft patches issued in April, businesses need to have the ability to test patches, or have a trusted third-party test them, before deploying on corporate networks and PCs, in order to minimize potential downtime caused by a faulty patch"  says Cristian Florian, product manager at GFI Software.

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Tomorrow, Nokia will host a press event in London, where the company says it will unveil "the next installment". And, judging by a teaser released on Monday, it appears to be a new Lumia Window Phone. This comes just three days after the Finnish maker showcased the Lumia 928, which is coming exclusively to US mobile operator Verizon.

The teaser, posted by Nokia's UK arm on YouTube, reveals straight from its title -- "The new Nokia Lumia is coming..." -- that the company will announce a new Lumia device. Although there is no specific date provided (but when is there one with a teaser?), based on timing we can presume that the smartphone will be presented at tomorrow's press event.

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If you’ve created a website and want to test it properly, then you could get some web space, upload all your files and see how everything looks. But that’s not always too convenient, especially if you have to make several changes, as you’ll need to upload the tweaked files each time.

The whole development process can be much faster if you run a web server on your own PC, then. And while this can be complicated -- especially if you try to download and install each component individually -- it doesn’t have to be that way. Especially if you grab a copy of Uniform Server.

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With most of the mobile operators today relying on 3G underpinnings, and few actually using 4G backbones, the concept of yet another generation of cellular networks is unfathomable. After all, most of us still struggle to watch 1080p videos on YouTube without buffering and we know that developing, testing, approving and rolling out a new cellular technology doesn't happen overnight. If 4G is of any indication, it might not happen even years after vetting it.

But, on Monday, Samsung announced that it has developed "the world's first adaptive array transceiver technology operating in the millimeter-wave Ka bands", that is designed for cellular communications. That's a mouthful, but it is actually a device which paves the way for the fifth-generation networks. And if the speed part is true, count me in, whenever it arrives.

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Amazon wishes to confuse its Kindle Fire market in much the same way Microsoft does with Xbox Points. Today the online retail giant announces "Coins", a new form of virtual currency that tablet customers can use to make purchases both in the app store, as well as in-app.

"Amazon Coins is an easy way to purchase apps and in-app items on Kindle Fire, and for developers it’s another opportunity to drive traffic, downloads and increased monetization" Amazon claims. While this seems to add disorder, there is a silver lining. For one, customers will receive up to a ten percent discount when buying Coins to make purchases, as opposed to using good old fashion real currency.

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It takes an honorable person to support something that impacts them negatively (or conversely, be against something that impacts them positively). In other words, it is noble to support what is right rather than what is right for you. Some may view such an act as lunacy. For instance, I support the Internet Sales Tax Bill (Marketplace Fairness Act).

When it comes to Internet Sales Tax, you too should be honorable and support equality instead of looking out for your own interests. Anyone who is against the bill is simply selfish. Internet sales tax will impact your wallet. It will make you spend more money.

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Late yesterday, cloud storage provider Box released updated apps for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. The latest iterations come with new features which are designed to "give users and businesses better control and enhanced security over their content". Let's take a look at the changes.

The most noteworthy feature introduced on Box for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 is the ability to manage (add, change and remove) access permissions for any collaborator in any folder, which the user owns. This functionality is aimed at both users, like students working together on an assignment, and businesses, which need in-depth collaboration features to manage a project.

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Seventh in a series. When I reported the original iPhone launch in June 2007, there was sense of history among the people waiting to buy. Several shared similar sentiment: That we would all look back in five or 10 years and see the mobile as a defining moment in computing. They were absolutely right. I feel similarly about Chromebook Pixel, not that as many people appreciate what it represents compared to the larger number of folks rushing to purchase Apple's smartphone.

Google's computer is an acquired taste, and so delish you don't easily go back. But there's a Vegemite quality. Most people wouldn't eat the spread, but ask those who do -- they can't live without it. Likewise, Chromebook Pixel isn't for everyone, but is for me and possibly could be for you, if given a chance.

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The latest research commissioned by the UK telecoms regulator Ofcom shows that just a tiny proportion of the population is responsible for most online copyright piracy. What's more these digital pirates are predominantly male and most could afford to buy the content if they wanted to.

The research shows that just 1.6 percent of UK Internet users over the age of 12 account for some 79 percent of copyright infringements. Also that the top 20 percent are likely to be male and aged between 16 and 34. So much for what many people may have suspected already. More interesting is that the research has sought to create a sort of spotter's guide to illegal downloaders by dividing them into a series of categories:

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I was in Dubrovnik, Croatia (or King’s Landing for Game of Thrones fans) when Tami Reller, Windows division CFO announced that Windows 8 had sold 100 million licenses. Since I’ve been back in the UK I’ve had a chance to catch up on what the internet thinks, and it’s fair to say Windows 8’s accomplishments continue to divide opinion.

Some pundits claim the big number proves the doubters wrong, and shows Windows 8 is a roaring success. Others, like my colleague Joe Wilcox, argue 100 million is nothing. I have my own view, and it’s somewhere in-between.

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On Monday, Sony unveiled a new smartphone called the Xperia ZR. The handset shares some of its underpinnings with the company's current flagship, the Xperia Z, but according to the Japanese electronics giant it features "the highest level of water-resistance for capturing photos and Full HD videos underwater".

The Xperia ZR can be used to record 1080p videos and shoot stills in up to 1.5 meters of "fresh water" for up to half an hour. The smartphone is also dust-resistant and meets the IP55 and IP58 protection standards. This means that the Xperia ZR can survive the usual water encounters, including a drop in the toilet (as long as it doesn't crack at impact) and a coffee spill, as well as keep dust away from its insides.

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If you’re worried about your PC’s RAM or CPU usage, then installing a system monitor can sometimes be useful. This will usually give you an on-screen display indicating when there’s a high demand for your system’s resources, so alerting you to potential problems as soon as they happen, and perhaps helping you to figure out the cause.

Having this extra on-screen display can be a problem, though. Usually you either have to free up a little space for a desktop gadget, or you’re left to peer at some tiny system tray indicator. So it’s good to see RAM CPU Taskbar take a different route, by using your entire taskbar as a CPU and memory meter.

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