Team Win Recovery Project releases TWRP 2.4
Little more than four months ago, Team Win Recovery Project introduced the last major iteration of the popular Android custom recovery TWRP. Now there is a new version available that packs features as well as bug fixes.
After switching from libtar instead of busybox's implementation, TWRP 2.4 can now create TAR files larger than 2GB. The popular custom recovery also introduces support for memory cards formatted as exFAT as well as support for decrypting internal and external storage on Samsung devices sporting a TouchWiz encryption.
Surface sales suck
Or do they? If you listen to some analysts, Surface, and other slates running Windows 8 or RT, started slow out of the gate. Considering how much tablets sapped PC shipments in Q4, slow forebodes trouble ahead. Or does it?
"There is no question that Microsoft is in this tablet race to compete for the long haul", Ryan Reith, IDC program manager, says. "However, devices based upon its new Windows 8 and Windows RT operating systems failed to gain much ground during their launch quarter, and reaction to the company’s Surface with Windows RT tablet was muted at best". He estimates that Microsoft shipped just 900,000 Surfaces during fourth quarter, which means to stores and not actual sales to customers.
Backup apps and data on non-rooted Android devices with Carbon
Little more than two weeks after the beta version debuted, the new Carbon backup app has made its way onto the Play Store. The biggest change comes for Android users with non-rooted devices as they can now also perform app and data backups, a feat previously exclusive to those running the little green droid with elevated permissions.
Carbon is the work of ClockworkMod and ROM Manager developer Koushik Dutta who, with the help of 12,000 beta testers, has managed to squash out most of the bugs from previous versions of the app. Dutta, however, warns that due to the way Motorola handles the adb backup functionality (also known as the built-in backup feature in Android) the Google subsidiary's smartphones are prevented from installing Carbon.
Microsoft attempts to woo developers with modern.ie
Microsoft has started paying much closer attention to Internet Explorer recently. The company pushed out both IE9 and IE10 in fast succession and has been trying to entice back past users with its retro ad and The Browser You Loved To Hate campaign.
Now it wants to try and lure developers to the platform and has rolled out modern.ie, a new service to help make sure websites display as they should. The .ie extension, in case you are wondering, is Ireland's top-level domain.
Google invites you to explore the Grand Canyon
Google Maps and Street View provide detailed coverage of much of the world, and today the search giant is adding the Grand Canyon to its list of fully explorable locations.
Captured as part of Google’s Trekker project, the 9,500 interactive -- and at times frankly breathtaking -- panoramic images cover more than 75 miles of trails and surrounding roads. If you’ve always fancied hiking along the canyon but have never had the time, money or stamina, you can now do it from the comfort of your own home.
EE's 4G now available to around 45 percent of the UK population
EE (formerly Everything Everywhere) was created by the merger of the T-Mobile and Orange businesses in 2010, becoming the UK’s largest mobile network operator in the process. It’s also currently the only provider offering 4G LTE connectivity in the UK, and has just expanded its 4G data service to cover an additional nine towns and cities.
This expansion means 4G EE is now available in a total 27 UK locations, making it -- according to EE at least -- accessible to nearly half of the UK’s population.
"As the first operator to bring 4G to the UK, it is important that we make it accessible to as much of the population as possible, as quickly as possible," Olaf Swantee, CEO of EE said, regarding the expansion. "To be ahead of schedule and covering approximately 45 percent of the population within just 90 days of the launch is a great achievement for our network team."
ScanNow for Universal Plug and Play warns if your network is vulnerable to the latest security flaws
Rapid7 -- the security company behind vulnerability scanner Metasploit -- has released details on three security flaws affecting some Universal Plug and Play implementations. And their research indicates that 40 to 50 million IPs are vulnerable to at least one of those vulnerabilities, which the company says is exposing users "to remote attacks that could result in the theft of sensitive information".
Could you be vulnerable? Fortunately Rapid7 has provided a free Windows-based tool, ScanNow for Universal Plug and Play, to help you find out.
Today is last chance to get Windows 8 Pro cheap, tomorrow prices rise 400%
Last day. Windows 8 Pro is $39.99 direct download from Microsoft Store online, or $69.99 for box with DVD. Tomorrow you'll pay $199.99. That's a 400 percent price increase. If you purchased a Windows 7 PC between June 2 and today, you are entitled to the OS for a mere $14.99 and have until the end of February to redeem the upgrade.
Windows Media Center add-on is free today, $9.99 tomorrow. In other words January 31 can be summed up using a phrase that should ring familiar to Microsoft -- Zero Day.
Apple's idea of innovation is premium-priced iPad?
Yesterday morning, when I rolled out of bed (West Coast time) and saw colleague Wayne Williams' headline on 128GB iPad, I thought: "Well, good for Apple! This should bring down the price and raise storage capacity of other models". But the details wiped away all enthusiasm. This thing sells for as much as $929. What the frak? Who will pay that much for a tablet in a market pining for considerably lower prices, like $199?
Apple's idea of innovation is to double storage and charge considerably more for it. Perhaps CEO Tim Cook and company read too many blogs about supposedly overpriced Microsoft Surface Pro, which iPad gangbangers insist competes with the fruit-logo tablet. Not so -- Microsoft priced against Windows ultrabooks and MacBook Air. But based on that faulty comparison, Apple can claim bragging rights. The new iPad ships February 5, four days before Surface Pro -- that's no coincidence -- and by comparison for less but with more. With 128GB storage, Microsoft's slate is $999, while the other isn't just $70 less but packs 4G LTE radio, too. Reasonable comparisons stop there, and no one should be fooled, although many will be.
Will you buy the BlackBerry Z10?
Today, the company formally known as Research in Motion, unveiled the BlackBerry 10 platform, and first two supporting devices -- the touchscreen Z10 and physical keyboard-packing Q10. The new products are quite literally a corporate relaunch, which includes ditching moniker RIM for BlackBerry.
While the Z10 and Q10 are officially launched, BlackBerry provides little information on the keyboard phone, while plenty on the other. The screen is smaller (3.1 inches versus 4.1 inches) and the battery is larger (but BlackBerry doesn't say by how much). So for today, I'll stick with what we know something about, and that's the Z10.
Google extends Exchange ActiveSync support for Windows Phone
In mid-December, as part of the "Winter cleaning" operation, Google announced plans to drop support for Exchange ActiveSync effective January 31. Microsoft condemned the decision, and quite vigorously.
Matters are changed. Windows Phone users will get a six-month reprieve, until July 31, to give Microsoft time to adapt. "The Windows Phone team is building support into our software for the new sync protocols Google is using for calendar and contacts -- CalDAV and CardDAV", Microsoft's Michael Stroh says. The company also will use IMAP for push support in order to fully replace EAS' functionality.
Office 2013 and 365 make inauspicious Windows Store debuts
In case you have not yet had your fill of Microsoft Office news then here is one more tidbit for you. The productivity suite, which launched yesterday, is now available in the Windows Store, which is really the Windows 8 Store, since it is not available on any other platform. Before you get too excited, let me temper your enthusiasm.
Yes, we already knew there was not going to be a "Modern UI" version of the latest Office -- known collectively, and confusingly, as Office 2013/Office 365/Office 15. Still, the debut in the Windows Store strikes one as an especially lame attempt. You see, FINDING the app in the store, does not mean you can GET it in the store.
Windows Phone 7.8 arrives, check your device NOW!
If you're one of the many jilted Windows Phone 7.5 users, your day has come. Version 7.8 is rolling out to Nokia phones as I write. "Notifications will begin to appear for Nokia Lumia 510, 610, 710, 800 and 900 owners with an unlocked phone or operator approved software during February", company spokesperson Boc Ly says. "Simply connect your phone to your computer via Zune for PC, or the Windows Phone app for Mac, and follow the onscreen instructions".
The update is long overdue, and in many ways unsatisfactory. For example, Nokia Lumia 900 debuted on U.S. carriers in March 2011. Three months later, Microsoft announced Windows Phone 8 with a bombshell: None of the current devices would support the OS. None. Those phones would get Windows 7.8, which lacks many of the features that make 8 great, by comparison. In the annals of dumb product development moves, I have to rank this one highly. Loyal customers rush to a new platform only to be dissed for it -- and people wonder about Windows Phone's slow start?
They're here! BlackBerry 10, Q10 and Z10 smartphones
Today is the big day -- Research in Motion finally took the wraps off BlackBerry 10 and two new smartphones. The Waterloo, Ontario, Canada-based company, which new name is same as the device, bleeds market share to Androids and iPhone. During fourth quarter, BlackBerry fell out of the top-5 smartphone makers, as measured by shipment share, according to IDC. The latest operating system and new handsets might just well be the last chance to regain lost ground.
CEO Thorsten Heins officially launched the much-anticipated platform during BlackBerry World. The BlackBerry Z10 comes with a 4.2-inch touchscreen display and 356 pixels per inch, whereas the BlackBerry Q10 sticks to a traditional layout featuring a physical keyboard. According to Heins, both the on-screen as well as physical keyboard provide the best mobile typing experience, but more on the two after the break.
YouMail unveils Business Edition premium service for demanding users
On Wednesday, popular cloud-based voicemail provider YouMail unveiled a new premium service aimed at businesses and professionals. Dubbed Business Edition, it comes with a host of exclusive features ranging from more customizable greetings to the removal of in-app ads.
YouMail Business Edition runs for $6.99 per user, per month, and builds atop of the currently available functionality. Subscribers can choose to implement "smart business greetings" which can accommodate the user's full name and company, as well as other information.
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