Latest Technology News

I am a big fan of music -- it is my passion and hobby. While the MP3 music-revolution has allowed us to fill our smartphones and tablets with tunes, the speaker quality on those devices tend to be poor. Conversely, on my home desktop, I use the wonderful Logitech Z-2300 2.1 speakers. I have owned these for many years with amazing results and, therefore, I view Logitech favorably for audio quality.

Today, the company announces "a major upgrade to the popular Logitech UE Mobile Boombox with UE MINI BOOM, a surprisingly small speaker that delivers unexpectedly huge sound in stylish and vibrant color options. The UE MINI BOOM takes the Ultimate Ears expertise in filling small speakers with big sound to a new level, with a personal speaker with clear highs and deep bass, giving you great stereo sound wherever and whenever you want it".

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Today Google releases Chrome 30 FINAL for Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome Frame and the latest build includes a new search option -- right-click an image, select "Search Google for this image", and you'll get a list of web pages containing matching graphics.

The Chrome Releases blog reports that version 30 also includes "a number of new apps/extension API's" and "lots of under the hood changes for stability and performance". The technical details are available in the SVN Log, if you happen to be interested.

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There’s not long to go now until Microsoft unleashes Windows 8.1 upon the world. In my view the operating system refresh is Windows 8 done properly, but whether it does enough to win over the masses remains to be seen.

Certainly Microsoft will be hoping for a change in fortunes because the tiled operating system's market share is currently pretty poor -- at least when you factor in how much of a push the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant has put behind it.

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Avira Operations has released the final editions of Avira Free Antivirus 2014, Avira Antivirus Suite 2014 (the new name for Antivirus Premium) and Avira Internet Security 2014.

If you’ve tried a beta then you’ll already know that the packages look and feel much as they always did. The best news is probably reserved for Avira Free users, who’ll find that the "notifier", the pop-up nag screen which appeared daily if you didn’t install the Avira toolbar, has been dropped.

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Google has unveiled the first public beta of Google Web Designer, its HTML5 web coding tool for Mac and Windows. Although geared towards advertisers looking to build rich interactive web ads using HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript, Google Web Designer can also be used for a variety of wider applications too.

The app has been launched as part of Google’s drive to make it easier for advertisers to code content for a variety of platforms -- mobile and desktop -- using HTML5. The idea is that users can simply design the ad and it will work seamlessly across multiple devices with no additional tweaking required.

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Android is well known for its seemingly never-ending customization options and its permissive rooting credentials (well, among other things). Distributions that cannot be modified to enable elevated permissions are quite rare, as enthusiasts seek to have virtually every possible feature available at their disposal. But should you pursue that path? Does root provide what you need, or what you think you need?

There are a couple of good reasons why you probably should root Android. I've explained them in a past article. But, on the other hand, root is not for everyone, as the risks can far outweigh the benefits and you are likely to regret your decision once things get messy (and they can get messy). So here is why you should not do it.

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We are now just days away from the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear. If you're yet to be caught up in the hype and excitement, Samsung's first commercial for the two devices could help to whip you into a frenzy. There's a slight cinematic quality to the ad which is… well… take a look for yourself. "Different" is perhaps the word.

The advertisement finds us following an artist as she uses the two devices to help her prepare for a dance performance in the evening. We see the star of the ad flick through My Magazine whilst getting ready to leave the house before showing off the Air Command and Action Memo feature when making a note of an interesting event advertised on a poster in town.

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The Grammys and MTV Music Awards might be over for another year, but there's still a chance for your favorite artist to bag an accolade before 2014 arrives, as YouTube today announces its very own awards show.

Google wishes to pay tribute to the musicians who help to make the video service the popular destination it has become. "On Sunday, November 3, YouTube will host the first-ever YouTube Music Awards, a live-streamed event honoring the artists and songs that you have turned into hits over the past year", says Danielle Tiedt, Vice President of Marketing.

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IBM has announced that it's reached an agreement to acquire The Now Factory, a Dublin-based provider of analytics software that helps communications service providers (CSPs) deliver better customer experiences and drive new revenue opportunities.

Using The Now Factory’s software, CSPs can gain real-time insights into their customers by analyzing massive quantities of network and business data. With this type of insight they can provide an enhanced quality of service by better managing negative experiences and network outages.

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To say security and spying has been a hot button issue recently would be a mild understatement. Mostly we understand that if we are doing nothing wrong then we have no reason to worry about monitoring, though that certainly makes it no less a creepy feeling to some people.

Launching its first messaging service, file sharing organization BitTorrent points out "this year alone, more than six million people have been impacted by data breaches. The right to own your own conversations online: it’s not a given. It should be".

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Microsoft is going after Apple's number two spot in the European smartphone OS market as Windows Phone is steadily approaching iOS across five major local markets, according to a new report from research firm Kantar Worldpanel. Unsurprisingly, the dominant player is Google's Android, that has yet to show any noticeable signs of weakness against its less popular rivals.

In the five major European markets -- France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK -- Android handsets accounted for 70.1 percent of all smartphones sold between June and August 2013. In second place is iOS with 16.1 percent market share, followed by Windows Phone with 9.2 percent market share. Compared to the same period, last year, iOS and Windows Phone grew by 14.18 and 80.39 percent, respectively. The latter of the two is growing much faster than its main rival, which could lead to a different hierarchy in little over a year, assuming the same growth rate is maintained.

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Mobile development platform supplier Appcelerator has released the results of its latest enterprise mobility survey along with a Halloween-themed infographic.

The survey of 804 companies worldwide carried out in August this year looks at their current and intended use of mobile systems. Among the key points the study finds that ownership of mobile projects within companies is often unclear with only 15 percent having employed or planning to employ a single leader for mobile developments. This despite the fact that enterprise apps are growing fast with half of companies reporting plans for an enterprise store.

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While long-distance travel has evolved to the airplane, many people still "ride the rails" and use trains. People choose the old-fashioned train option for multiple reasons. Passengers may prefer it because it is less expensive, they have a fear of flying, or they simply do not like the TSA pat-downs (which some people say border on molestation). However, even though a train may be viewed as antiquated, Amtrak is aiming to bring modern technology to the classic mode of transportation.

Today, Steve Alexander, Creative Director of E-commerce at Amtrak announces that the company has partnered with Google Maps to bring tracking to its passenger trains.

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Your PC is misbehaving, but after hours of research you’ve found a solution: just delete a particular Registry key, reboot, and all should be well. Sounds great, until you find Windows won’t let you delete the key, and just displays an "Error deleting…" message whenever you try. Frustrating, isn’t it?

Problems like this often occur because you don’t have the necessary privileges to access a file or Registry key. Even if you’re already running as an administrator, you may still be blocked, and only using ETS to access the more powerful Local System account will get the job done.

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Seattle-based ACDSee Systems International has released both ACDSee 17.0 and ACDSee Pro 7.0, major new releases of its photo tools for Windows. The new releases come less than 12 months after the last major updates, but offer competitively priced upgrades that are less than half the price of the full versions at $29.99 and $59.99 respectively.

The new releases include a number of additional editing tools and filters in addition to a tweaked user interface and enhancements to key areas such as image management.

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