Latest Technology News

After Microsoft announced that it was acquiring substantially all of Nokia's devices & services business, the stock market painted a fairly accurate picture of what this deal means -- Nokia investors were relieved as the stock surged by nearly 35 percent, while Microsoft investors responded by driving the stock down by 5 percent. Based on my prior experience in technology M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions), I wanted to take a look at the motivations for the transaction and the viability of Microsoft's long-term consumer strategy.

Let's begin by taking a look at the deal terms. Microsoft will be paying Nokia €3.79 billion for its handset division (including 8,500 design patents) and another €1.65 billion in patent licensing. As a part of the deal, Microsoft will gain rights to the Lumia and Asha brands, but Nokia will retain the rights to the "Nokia" brand. However, Microsoft has licensed the "Nokia" brand, exclusively for use on low-end S30/40 feature phones.

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A good friend of mine called Microsoft buying Nokia "two stones clinging together trying to stay afloat". I wouldn’t go that far but I don’t think the prognosis is very good. On the other hand, I’m not sure it has to be good for Microsoft to achieve its goals for the merger. Huh?

This is why you come here, right, for my lateral thinking? I don’t think Nokia has to succeed in order for Microsoft to consider the acquisition a success.

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AVG has announced the public availability of its 2014 product range, including AVG AntiVirus FREE 2014, AVG AntiVirus 2014, AVG Internet Security 2014, AVG Premium Security 2014 and AVG PC TuneUp 2014.

All the security applications now include a File Shredder, which allows users to securely delete files or folders so that they can't be recovered at some later date.

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When I was in elementary school, I thought I was pretty cool. You see, I wore the Nintendo Tetris watch. Sadly, I have not been cool since. I have patiently waited over 20 years for a watch to match the epic-awesomeness of that game watch. The rumor-mill has been churning out a lot of smart-watch news this year, pointing to Apple and Google.

Today, Samsung beats both of those companies to market and announces the Galaxy Gear smart-watch. The company describes this new watch as "a perfect companion device that further integrates the Samsung Galaxy experience into everyday life. Samsung Galaxy Gear combines smart device connectivity, tailored technological features, and stylish design as a single premium accessory".

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On March 11, 2011 a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, but despite the extremely high intensity of the tremor itself, it was the resulting tsunami that caused the real damage. Most notable, and scary, was the meltdown of three reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Now, two years after the tragedy that cost more than 15,000 people their lives, Google Maps, through Street View, takes users back into the teeth of this disaster.

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At IFA in Berlin, Samsung takes the lid off its giant screened smartphone -- the Galaxy Note 3. It use to be the case that as technology developed, devices became smaller -- colossal Walkmans were replaced by more svelte models, chunky Discmans by portable players barely bigger than the disc they were playing. There was a time when the fashion for cell phones took a similar route, but the current propensity for larger screens shows that this no longer rings true.

Samsung's Note range has long taken the idea of a large screened smartphone to the extreme, but the third generation pushes things even further. Equipped with a whopping 5.7 inch screen, the third iteration of the phone is thinner than its predecessor at just 8.3 millimeters, and also lighter at a mere 168g. The Super AMOLED display, boasting a resolution of 1920 x 1080 risks being something of a power sucker, but it's backed up by a 3,200mAh battery.

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Ever since consumers flocked to HD flat-screen television the manufacturers have been busy hatching plans for the next get-rich-quick scheme. With 3D pretty much in the toilet, the next scheme to get consumers to all fork over their money yet again is 4K. Also known as ultra HD, the spec has twice the horizontal and vertical resolution of the current 1080p format, with four times as many pixels.

Today that vibrant 4k future moves a step closer with the official announcement of HDMI 2.0. The specifications bandied about in the announcement are eye-popping. "This latest HDMI Specification, the first to be developed by the HDMI Forum, offers a significant increase in bandwidth (up to 18Gbps) to support new features such as 4K at 50/60 (2160p), which is four times the clarity of 1080p/60 video resolution; 32 audio channels; as well as dynamic auto lip-sync and extensions to CEC".

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I still remember buying my first 64-bit processor -- the AMD Athlon 64 3200+. I bought it a decade ago for a system built in 2003. At the time, home computers were still mostly using 32-bit processors and running 32-bit software. However, one of my favorite Linux distributions, Ubuntu, has been offering 64-bit versions since 2004 with the Warty Warthog release.

Even though Ubuntu has offered a 64-bit version since then, Canonical has always suggested the 32-bit variant as the recommended or default download option -- even today. However, things are about to change. According to Dmitrijs Ledkovs of Canonical, "on the download pages starting from 13.10 release the messaging will be adjusted to direct users by default at the 64-bit image, and hints will be given as to when users should select a 32-bit option instead."

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VMware today announces VMware Workstation 10 ($249, $119 upgrade), the latest release of its virtualization software, as well asVMware Fusion 6.0 and VMware Player 6.0.

If you’re thinking that a virtual machine is probably the best way to trial the upcoming Windows 8.1, then VMware Workstation 10 comes ready to help. The regular Easy Install feature has been updated to recognize Windows 8.1, as well as the latest Linux distributions, automating the installation process. And physical Windows 8.1 systems can now be converted into virtual machines in a few clicks.

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I have a bit of a confession to make: I rarely get excited by new tech products. It's not because they are bad (well, in most cases they are not), but rather due to their inability to make me see myself using them. A handset can't really get my heart racing when it looks almost exactly as every other similar device on the market (and, no, I'm not taking a stab at the iPhone here), no matter how hard I try to see the light.

There is, however, a genre which appeals to me -- ultrabooks. Why? Well, manufacturers are so desperate to get people's attention away from the traditional product in this segment -- Apple's MacBook Air -- that they go to great lengths to make their products stand out from the crowd, like a color arc in a rainbow. And that is a good thing. Just look at Acer and its dazzling Aspire S7 or ASUS and its striking Zenbook lineup, the latest member of which is the UX301 that was just teased at IFA. (They're appealing and inviting.)

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Summer is over, the nights are getting cooler and thoughts turn to... holiday shopping season, of course. 2013 promises to be a big one, with Windows 8.1 devices on the market and a new round of console wars ready to heat up consumers in overcrowded retail outlets around the globe.

Sony plans to launch its competitor, the PS4, on November 15, and today we learn that Microsoft will follow its rival into the market, albeit one week later, on November 22. Both consoles will be awaiting shoppers on Black Friday -- providing there is any stock left by that point.

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Orpalis has released PaperScan Free 2.0, a major new build of its cleanup and optimisation tool for scanned and PDF documents. The free version, which is limited to batch scanning and optimization of 10 pages at a time, adds a number of new features and options, plus promises improved performance with specific file types.

PaperScan Free 2.0, which is also available in paid-for form as Home or Professional Editions, opens with the promise of dramatically faster file saving using the TIFF format, along with improved performance of all document imaging filters.

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In time for the release of Windows 8.1, Norton has announced new versions of Norton 360, Norton Internet Security and Norton AntiVirus. In addition to Windows 8.1 compatibility these include some under the skin changes to improve protection, performance and usability.

Gerry Egan, senior director, product management, Symantec says, "According to Symantec research, Web attacks increased 30 percent in 2012, driven by the easy availability of malware toolkits and the high frequency of unpatched vulnerabilities on websites. As a result, consumers can be attacked even when they visit a legitimate website, an attack that puts their devices and personal information at risk. With the latest Norton releases, we are delivering the comprehensive security required to protect today's devices against new and evolving threats, without impacting performance".

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The Kindle Paperwhite is the most successful e-reader ever, and Amazon is updating the range with the sixth generation of the Kindle family. It's the "All-New" prefix that aids identification, but aside from the name, there's a new display, faster processor and a raft of new features for readers to use. In terms of appearance, there are few differences to its predecessor, but the display is where things are most noticeable.

New display technology gives a higher contrast ratio and Amazon claims that pages are "virtually indistinguishable from a physical book". No new version would be complete without an extra turn of speed, and the latest Kindle Paperwhite doesn't disappoint, offering a processor running 25 percent faster than in the previous model. The touchscreen has been upgraded with a tighter grid to help improve sensitivity and accuracy.

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If you've ever felt like you needed an easier way to manage your Office 365 installation then you're not alone. Tech Data Corporation and MessageOps have had the same thought and joined forces to offer an easy to use cloud management platform called 365 Command.

The tool offers a fast, accurate and cost-efficient way for solution providers to manage their Office 365 clients. Bharath Natarajan, director of product marketing, TDCloud and software services at Tech Data says, "Available through Tech Data's award-winning Solutions Store, powered by StreamOne, 365 Command will bring profitable success to solution providers' cloud businesses, creating a continual revenue and profit stream".

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