Latest Technology News

While consumer storage is trending towards the cloud, many people still prefer to store their data locally. Services like Dropbox are undeniably convenient and wonderful, but an internet connection is not always guaranteed. And so, a high quality flash drive is still a smart investment for any tech geek. However, a trip to Amazon or Newegg can leave your head spinning -- there are far too many choices.

Today, Lexar announces a flash drive that aims to grab attention in the crowded market. "The JumpDrive M10 Secure is designed for on-the-go executives, power business users, or anyone holding sensitive information who may want more data security than the average person", says Aaron Lee, director of product marketing, Lexar.

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A taste of the future of computing is available from the Physics department of the University of Bristol. The limits of traditional computers are being reached and new technology is needed if things are going to develop at any sort of reasonable pace in the coming years. Quantum computing could just be the way ahead, and the UK university has produced Qcloud, an online quantum computer that you can play with for free.

Mere binary is too limiting, but a quantum computer is not restricted to working with 1s and 0s. Rather than the two states associated with a regular bit, a quantum bit (or qubit -- not to be confused with the Brighton Rock character, Cubitt) is capable of being in multiple states simultaneously. Forget "on" and "off", each qubit can be used to hold multiple pieces of data at the same time.

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Corel has added 64-bit support to the brand new release of Corel PaintShop Pro X6, which should deliver major performance improvements on large-memory PCs running 64-bit versions of Windows. The new build also comes with a number of new selection tools, while the Ultimate build gains two new plug-ins.

The new 64-bit build comes with the promise of superior performance, with Corel claiming a 78 per cent performance increase when cataloguing JPEG files over the previous version. PaintShop Pro X6 also gains improved memory manage across both 32-bit and 64-bit builds, with the promise of accelerated file operations and effects application.

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Forty-fifth in a series. The application growth stayed below the 1,000 apps mark for the fifth week in a row.  A total of 924 new apps were published in the Windows Store this week, with the majority of them in the Lifestyle and Books & Reference category.

Many of the apps published in those two categories are audiobooks that you can purchase or copies of the same app published over and over again in the store.

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Apple says it will appeal against a court ruling that bans the company from entering into deals with publishers that could allow ebook prices to be fixed or inflated. The case was raised by the Department of Justice and judge Denise Cote's decision is very much in line with what they were seeking. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company is banned from entering into agreements with five named publishers in ways that might restrict ebook prices.

Having been found to have conspired with publishers to prevent retailers (rather than publishers or Apple) from setting ebook prices, Apple fell foul of antitrust legislation. The company is required to wipe out a controversial 'most favoured nation' clause in its contracts that effectively ensure that Apple's ebook prices would always match the lowest price available online. Restrictions are in place for different lengths of time for various publishers, ranging from two years in the case of Hachette, to four years for Macmillan.

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Microsoft's partnership with the National Football League has entered the spotlight recently, thanks to the software giant releasing details explaining what the marriage of technology and gridiron means, as well as a confirmed release date for the Xbox One. Now with the season officially underway (apologies to Ravens fans) the software maker launches a commercial to promote both the console and the deal.

A new 30-second ad for Xbox One features the football experience of using the console -- no, not Madden 25, though you can get that, but the real games, as well as the fantasy ones.

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HP yesterday revealed two reclining touchscreen PCs and in the accompanying press release Mike Nash, vice president, Product Management, Consumer PCs and Consumer Solutions, HP said: "Customers have told us that they want touch on their PCs", but do they? Really? Because the list of bestselling PCs on Amazon tells a different story. That suggests customers don’t want touch on their PCs.

According to the latest figures from NetMarketShare, just under eight percent of PC users are on Windows 8. What percentage of those use touch? I don’t know, but I could hazard a guess of no more than around 30 percent.

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Shortly after South Korean maker Samsung revealed the Galaxy Note 3, US mobile operators AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have announced important details related to the availability of the new smartphone in their respective portfolios.

The Galaxy Note 3 will first reach AT&T, where the smartphone is now available to pre-order, in Classic White and Jet Black color trims, for $299.99, alongside a two-year contract. The orders are expected to ship starting October 1. Alternatively, subscribers can also get the handset for $35 per month, through the AT&T Next program (it allows folks to switch to a new smartphone every year, instead of waiting the usual 24 months, by trading in the old one).

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Five years. That's how long it is since Chrome was unleashed on an unsuspecting world. Five years and we've already made it to version 29! There will undoubtedly be a few glasses charged in celebration, but Google is also taking this special date as an opportunity to reveal a "new breed of Chrome Apps". Head to the Chrome Web Store and you'll find a new section: For Your Desktop.

Working online with web apps has become increasingly common, but traditional desktop apps are still more popular. Now Google is looking to blur the boundaries between the two, making web apps much more like desktop software. The key thing to note here is that the apps that are found in this section do not -- after the initial download process of course - require an internet connection: they can be used in offline mode.

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I love frozen yogurt; particularly Red Mango. If you aren't familiar, the company offers multiple flavors of the tasty treat which you can then customize with the toppings of your choice. Basically, the variety is what makes the experience fun. For many users, the same can be said for Linux. You see, it offers many different desktop environments -- variety and choice are the spice of unix-like life.

There are many different flavors of the Ubuntu Linux distribution, all special in their own way. Today, many of those flavors have reached the beta-1 milestone of the highly anticipated 13.10 (Saucy Salamander) release.  This includes Kubuntu (KDE), Xubuntu (XFCE), Lubuntu (LXDE) and Ubuntu Gnome (Gnome3). Sadly, the standard Ubuntu version, based on Unity, is not included in the fun.

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Today Microsoft refreshes the look of Bing News, giving the site a modern makeover that’s more in keeping with the look of Windows 8 and Windows Phone. But the redesign is about more than bringing products in line with each other, the new layout is "built for touch" recognizing the ever-increasing popularity of touchscreen devices -- not just phones and tablets, but also the likes of the Surface Pro and Yoga.

The new look not only embraces touch, but also takes into account the fact that many people use different devices to access the internet -- switching between a phone, tablet and computer is far from uncommon these days. With this in mind, the site now better adapts to different screen sizes.

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In its continuing effort to thwart the evil Google (except when partnered with it) Microsoft announces another improvement to its search engine alternative, this time in the form of video. Microsoft terms this update "completely reimagined", but users can be the judge of that.

"We know there is more than one great video service out there and that’s why we showcase the best the web has to offer. On Bing you can not only find great videos from YouTube, Hulu and Vimeo, but also content from Dailymotion, Vevo, MTV, CBS, MSN and more", says the Bing video search team.

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Lenovo is making a lot of announcements at Berlin's IFA. After unveiling an impressive list of ultrabooks, the company went on to show that it has yet more to offer those in the market for a portable device. The S5000 is the latest tablet to be added to Lenovo's range, and size and weight are the interesting figures here. At 246g it is lighter than the Nexus 7 and at 7.9mm thick, it is also slimmer than Google's 7-inch baby.

Running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean on a quad-core 1.2GHz Media Tek 8389 processor, Lenovo claims the 7-inch tablet's 3450mAh battery will power eight hours of Wi-Fi browsing sessions or six hours of HD video watching on the 1280 by 800 screen. Storage can be expanded through the "On the Go" USB port and Wi-Fi-only and Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available when the tablet is released some time in Q4 2013.

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HP today announces two new All-In-One PCs with -- as is the fashion these days -- different positioning options. Available in 23-inch and 27-inch sizes, the HP ENVY Recline TouchSmart PCs have apparently been designed to allow “for a more comfortable experience and greater control than ever before”.

The press release accompanying the announcement states, "an HP study revealed that while using touch screens, an overwhelming majority of people preferred their screen in a low and close position for 100 percent of touch-related tasks". Seriously? HP needed to conduct a study to discover that?

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The wait is over! After thirty days and thirty ideas, Yahoo whips back the covers from its all-new logo. Despite the hype and build up, the final decision turns out to be something very safe and ordinary. Looking almost like something created using WordArt, the reverse-etched design looks like something that could be used on a gravestone. Were it not for the exclamation mark, that is -- that would just be strange.

The logo was revealed by Kathy Savitt, Chief Marketing Officer, on Yahoo's Tumblr blog where it is described as sticking to the company's roots. Savitt focuses on the words "whimsical" and "purple" as well as referring to the famous exclamation point -- ah, yes, the exclamation point that is a thorn in the side of any writer.

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