Latest Technology News

Windows 8.1 is finally here, and it’s a significant update. Sure, the Start menu isn’t coming back, but you do get a more customizable Start screen, much improved apps (and more options for running them side by side), enhanced Search with Bing integration, smart syncing with SkyDrive, Internet Explorer, and a host of new tweaks and customizations (including the ability to boot straight to the desktop).

Should you upgrade from Windows 8? Probably, although you’ll need to make sure that your most important applications are Windows 8.1-compatible. This isn’t likely to be a big issue -- low-level programs like antivirus tools are the most likely to be affected, and they’ve mostly been 8.1-ready for months -- but it’s still wise to check your main applications for updates, first.

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Windows 8.1 may be the big news of the day, but that does not mean Microsoft is sitting pat or off celebrating. The perceived vaccination for the Windows 8 illness is not the only product issuing forth from Redmond, Wash. today -- Visual Studio 2013, along with Team Foundation Server 2013 and .NET 4.51 are also now loose in the wild.

"You can download the trials and related products and MSDN subscribers can download the licensed product from the subscriber portal", announces Microsoft's Brian Harry.

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ESET has announced the release of its consumer security packages, ESET NOD32 Antivirus 7 and ESET Smart Security 7, both of which have been enhanced with some major new features.

New real-time memory scanning is a major plus, as it allows ESET to more reliably detect threats, no matter what packing or encryption tricks malware might employ.

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There is no denying that Windows 8.1 dwarfs Windows 8 in every single way that matters. The new operating system is more feature-rich, more suited for tablet use, more suited for PC use and far closer to what a modern OS should be like. The warm feelings towards it are reflective of how Windows 8 was like at first -- let's just say that the standards were low to begin with.

But for some strange reason, Microsoft still does not prioritize having a notifications panel in any of its consumer operating systems. This is an oversight that I thought the software giant would address in Windows 8.1, seeing as it has been a major known problem since Windows 8 arrived. However, once again Microsoft has decided to not include it. And, to be frank, it is one of the worst decisions that the company made this year. I bet not many will miss Steve Ballmer. I sure won't.

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You don’t want to save files locally on your hard drive -- you want to store them in the cloud, right? That’s what Microsoft thinks anyway. For that reason it’s baked SkyDrive into the heart of Windows 8.1 and made it the default save-to location for documents.

Although you can easily save elsewhere, one of the main save options, Libraries, has been removed from File Explorer’s sidebar. Another of those weird decisions that the Redmond, Wash. tech giant likes to make from time to time (like giving us a Start button without a Start menu).

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Business automation specialist Automation Anywhere has launched a new application aimed at helping businesses identify tasks and prioritize them based on the crowd-sourced wisdom of their user community.

Called Cumulus (could this possibly be using the cloud?) the application is launching via the Yammer enterprise social network. It will be available as a featured application via Yammer's app directory. Using Cumulus, anyone in an organization will be able to suggest a task to be automated, vote on the tasks that seem most valuable, contribute suggestions to existing initiatives, and track any active automation projects.

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Today, Microsoft officially launches Windows 8.1 to the public, after almost two months since its new operating system reached the RTM status. The latest release is packed with many new features and improvements over its controversial predecessor, Windows 8, including the revival of the Start button and the much-awaited option to boot straight to the Desktop and avoid the Modern UI.

Just like Windows 8, Windows 8.1 is available to consumers in just two editions: base and Pro. The former is aimed at home users while the latter also includes features such as BitLocker encryption and hosting Remote Desktop Connections that are suitable for business use. There are also pricing differences between the two.

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The old adage is, "when it rains, it pours". All of a sudden, it seems that it is raining 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablets. Yesterday, Lenovo announced a Bay Trail-powered tablet and today Acer follows suit with the Iconia W4.

The company says the tablet is "equipped with the Windows 8.1 operating system and a 4th-generation Intel Atom processor, offering faster tablet performance as well as battery life up to 8 hours for video playback and up to 10 hours for web browsing".

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Before you recoil, a brief disclaimer. I love Windows 8.1. In its own right, it is a great operating system, and a massive jump forward from Windows 8. There have been lots of little changes and additions -- and some not so small -- that have collectively transformed Windows 8 into something that can be taken seriously. But it's not perfect. Microsoft has taken steps to address the concerns of users moving from Windows 7 and earlier, but there is still room for improvement.

A gripe of mine -- and one shared by many people -- is the existence of the Modern UI. While it may make sense on dedicated tablets, for desktop users, it creates an odd, disjointed experience. Microsoft has seen fit to make it possible to boot straight to the desktop so you would think that if you were not a fan of the Modern UI, it would be possible to avoid this side of things completely. But no.

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You’ve probably never given any thought to exactly how much time you spend gazing, gawping, glowering and glaring at screens on a daily basis -- but with TVs, computers, tablets and smartphones being such a major part of our lives, you probably won’t be surprised to hear it’s a lot.

Virtual meetings specialist PGi was curious to find out exactly how much time the average person spends a day looking at various screens and has created an infographic which reveals the shocking (or, depending on your viewpoint, not so shocking) results.

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Facebook fans running Microsoft's tiled OS need no longer turn to third party solutions -- the official Facebook app is now available in the Windows Store.

It has been a very long time coming, but the social network finally has its own official app, arriving just in time for the release of Windows 8.1. The app has the look and feel of Modern UI apps and includes a live tile that is used to display updates.

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Independent testing organization AV-comparatives has released the results of its 2013 Business Software Review. This looks at security software for smaller and medium businesses, taking as its basis a single site network with a Windows Server 2012 domain controller and 25 client PCs running a mix of Windows XP, 7 and 8.

The key thing here is that this is the type of business which may not have its own IT manager so the report considers the management and monitoring of the software from the viewpoint of someone who isn't a specialist in IT and only looks after the system part time.

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Vizio Co-Star has remained one of the more popular set-top boxes for those looking for a Google TV experience. The tiny device brings along all of the features found in more expensive cousins from the likes of Sony, but with less of the big-name price. While rumors persist of an impending name-change for the search giant's foray into the living room, details of an updated media OS have been tough to come by.

Vizio, leaving nothing to chance, is hedging its bets with a new model of that Co-Star box that shuns Google TV...ah, Android TV...you get the picture. Instead, the television manufacturer is focusing on bringing its smart TV technology to, well, dumb TV's.

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The Android operating system and school of thought are undergoing a major change; a sea change brought on by the Motorola Moto X and its voice interaction. After using it, I remarked that specifications and benchmarks melted away and I was enveloped in the experience. However, not everyone wants to interact with their smartphone using voice. Some people, myself sometimes included, just want to touch a big beautiful display and have the best specs and most bragging rights... and that's OK. People are different as is their usage.

The LG G2 represents Android's old-school, previous school of thought. It is fast and flashy and will trounce the Moto X in speed. However, the phone infamously has a new trick up its sleeve by assigning the buttons to the rear. This feature stole the focus from the device in the media and rightfully so. After all, it is an out-of-the-box approach that people just haven't seen before. I have been using this smartphone for a couple of weeks now and I finally feel ready to share what it is and what is isn't. At the end of this article, you will find out whether I can recommend it or not.

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Over the years, I have been, first increasingly, then decreasingly, weighed down on my daily runs. A simple Ironman watch morphed into the first GPS watch, complete with a transmitter strapped to my arm, and then a chest strap for heart rate monitoring was added to the mix. Since then devices have become smaller and functionality has been rolled together. Now iriver announces ON, which takes that concept another step.

The ON is an exercise headset that does a bit more than just let you listen to your tunes to pass the miles away. "Powered by PerformTek sensor technology, the iriver ON accurately monitors more real-time fitness data from a single source than any other personal monitor, including heart rate, distance, speed, VO2 max (aerobic fitness level) and calories burned", the announcement explains.

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