Latest Technology News

Hot on the heels of the release of Firefox 22.0 FINAL, Mozilla has released Firefox 23.0 Beta 1, a preview version of the next release that will ship in around six week’s time.

Version 23.0 implements mixed-content blocking for greater security, plus allows plugins to be evoked only when specific websites require them. New consolidated search default preferences have also been implemented that could prove controversial.

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Finnish manufacturer Nokia announced, on Thursday, that improved aerial imagery is now available for its here.com online maps service. The latest update, which arrives a week after the company refreshed the streets maps, will also make its way, "later this year", to smartphone apps.

The first regions that receive improved aerial imagery on here.com are United States, Europe and South Africa, covering a land area of 14 million square kilometers. "We’re providing clear, disruption free views on zoomed in levels with better resolution so that you can see more details and fresh maps with more recent images", says Nokia.

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Microsoft still wants everyone to use and love the Modern UI, but it accepts, finally, that a large portion of users aren’t interested in apps and the tiled interface. So it’s given desktop users the option to skip the Start screen on boot up, but then tucked it away, along with a bunch of other useful customization options.

If you want to have your own wallpaper displayed on the Start screen, or have Windows 8.1 show the Apps view when you hit the Windows key (or click the new Start button), that’s easily arranged at the same time.

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Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden triggered one of the largest privacy-related scandals, after he revealed information about a secret phone tracking program which targets more than 100 million Verizon customers. The implications are immense, and combined with subsequent leaks, have triggered a shift in privacy and data security approaches.

Following "recent events", CyanogenMod developer Koushik Dutta announced on Google+ that the popular custom Android distribution will receive an iMessage-like encryption feature that will allow users to securely send and receive texts between devices that run CyanogenMod.

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In today's busy world keeping things running smoothly is part of the key to business success. Downtime can mean lost customers and that’s especially true when it comes to IT services. However, traditional service desks haven’t really kept up with the need to respond fast and keep end users fully updated.

BMC Software believes it has the answer to this in the form of the MyIT app.  MyIT allows users to log problems via a self-service interface, they can then receive updates and check on the progress of the problem without having to call the help desk.

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Mobile malware is growing into a profitable business according to the latest Mobile Threats Report from Juniper Networks. Not only is mobile malware growing at a rapid rate its writers are behaving in an increasingly businesslike way when planning their attacks and distribution strategies.

Of the malware detected by Juniper's Mobile Threat Center, 92 percent is aimed at Android thanks to its large share of the market. This is a massive increase over the 24 percent Android accounted for in 2010. Attackers are also seeking to streamline their distribution by using loosely-regulated, third-party app stores. Some three out of five of these originate in China or Russia.

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If you're an avid SkyDrive or Office 365 user who happens to leverage Office Web Apps, Microsoft let loose information on a round of updates that will be hitting the browser based suite quite "soon" according to an official Office 365 blog video.

The posting was part of Microsoft's informal "Garage Series" set of video-blogs aimed at IT professionals who support Office. I happened to stumble upon this week-old entry and was quite surprised at what Microsoft has in store -- namely, hitting Google Docs where Office Web Apps haven't been able to thus far: rich real time co-authoring and collaboration.

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Developers, developers, developers! No Microsoft did not forget you today during the kickoff of Build. Windows 8.1 may have been the headline, but those behind the real development were not left out from the proceedings. Microsoft today rolls out the 2013 edition of Visual Studio in Preview mode.

The IDE software is used by developers on a daily basis to create console and graphical user interface applications. The software debuted back in 1997 and has progressed ever since.

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Today, the Build 2013 developer conference kicks off and the highlight is the release of the first Windows 8.1 preview build. Excitement ensued, as my colleague Mihaita Bamburic, immediately installed it. However, I have some reservations regarding this move.

I generally do the same thing and, in fact, did so with every build of Windows 8, but I'm on the fence as Microsoft offered no upgrade path between Release Preview and RTM versions. Lesson learned.

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Microsoft wants -- and needs -- users to embrace apps. The problem is many PC users don’t really care about them, and even tablet users don’t seem too enthralled. It doesn’t help that a lot of the apps on offer through the Windows Store are third party knock-offs rather than official releases.

At Build today, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced that the Windows Store has hit the 100,000 apps milestone (a figure which, incidentally, Keith Lorizio, Microsoft VP, U.S. Sales & Marketing promised to hit within 90 days of Windows 8’s launch) and that, finally, an official Facebook app is on its way to the Modern UI.

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The Xbox One comes with a new and seriously improved Kinect sensor. Windows users will be able to get their hands on the same sensor at some point in the future, but if you’re a developer you can register your interest now and get one in November, several months before it goes on sale to the general public.

The developer kit costs $399 (or the local equivalent) and comes with the sensor and all the tools you need to build your own applications. There’s limited availability so if you want to be among the first to have one you’ll need to apply now.

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On Wednesday, right after the start of the Build 2013 developer conference, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced that the Windows 8.1 preview is now available to download.

Early adopters can install the test build only by upgrading from Windows 8. Similar to Modern UI apps, the preview, which comes in at 2.44 GB, is installed though the Store. The software giant revealed that ISO files will also be offered, tomorrow, for those who wish to perform a clean install. Here's what you can expect from Windows 8.1.

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We take for granted that we can go to a search engine and get search results without pulling out a credit card. However, nothing in life is free -- including search results. When you visit most search engines, advertisements pay for your experience. While there is nothing wrong with using advertising to finance search engines, the FTC has warned that the line between advertisements and search results has become muddied. And so, it has sent a letter to Google, Bing, Yahoo plus several smaller search engine companies.

The FTC says “In recent years, the features traditional search engines use to differentiate advertising from natural search results have become less noticeable to consumers, especially for advertising located immediately above the natural results ('top ads')”. In other words, the advertisements listed on the top of the page, before the search results, can be confusing to users.

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On Wednesday, US mobile operator Sprint announced that the new HTC 8XT and Samsung ATIV S Neo will be the first Windows Phone 8 devices to join its portfolio. The two handsets arrive this summer in Sprint's online and brick and mortar stores.

"We know our customers are anxious to get their hands on these Windows Phone 8 smartphones, HTC 8XT and ATIV S Neo", says Sprint's Fared Adib. "Without a doubt, they will rival any smartphone on the market today". On a two-year contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate, the 8XT and the ATIV S Neo will be available for $99.99 and $149.99, respectively.

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Unlike Fox News, I make no pretense of being "fair and balanced" when it comes to Amazon Prime -- I am a subscriber and lover of the service. I also have children, which is why the latest announcement grabs my attention. The online retailer expands its relationship with the Public Broadcast System.

"Amazon.com today announced an expanded multi-year licensing agreement with PBS Distribution that will allow Amazon Prime members to instantly stream, at no additional cost, past seasons of PBS programs" the company announces.

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