So your Windows 8 Preview expired -- now what?
I really should heed my own advice. Yesterday I warned you that all preview versions of Windows 8 would expire. You had two choices -- upgrade to gold code or deal with a computer that reboots every two hours. Hopefully you went with the former, but I chose the latter with a desktop PC that I rarely use. I had the nerve to say to myself that "I will get it tomorrow".
Well, I did get around to it today. I had purchased the license -- two months ago in fact, but I just did not get around to doing anything with it. Well, guess what? Microsoft punished he who procrastinates.
Microsoft Surface Pro arriving very soon - time to get excited?
In late November, Tami Reller, Windows and Windows Live Division chief marketing officer, revealed that Microsoft was planning to launch the Surface Pro tablet "in January" 2013. However, seeing as the second half of the month is already underway, that doesn't give the tech giant long to get its product out there.
Fortunately prospective purchasers will be pleased to know they won't have long to wait now. Panos Panay, general manager of Microsoft Surface, tweeted yesterday that he was on his "way to the factory to check out Surface Pro", and that the Redmond, Wash.-based corporation will release the Windows 8 Pro tablet "in the coming weeks". Presumably that could mean either a late January or early February launch.
UK mobile owners will soon be able to send cash payments by text
When I need to make a payment or send money to someone, I use a bank app on my smartphone. It’s quick and easy, and I can check my balance beforehand to make sure I’ve got enough cash in my account. The app does require me to know the other person’s bank details though, and so isn’t particularly handy for making swift payments to just anyone.
Fortunately the Payments Council is working on a project that will make it possible for anyone living in the UK to send secure payments via text message. You won’t need to worry about account numbers or sort codes -- all you’ll need is the recipient’s mobile number.
iPhone Mini will be evolutionary, not revolutionary
First in a series. Has Apple peaked? Yes and no. I think the company still struggles somewhat to find its path following the death of former CEO Steve Jobs. But there’s still plenty happening and room for growth in Cupertino. So let’s start a discussion about what’s really going on there. I thought this might be possible in a single column, but looking down I see that’s impossible, so expect a second forward-looking Apple column.
The catalyst for this particular column is word coming over the weekend from the Wall $treet Journal that Apple is cutting back component orders for the iPhone 5, signaling lower sales than expected. I’m not saying this story is wrong but I don’t completely buy it for a couple reasons.
Phrozen Safe USB protects your stick
There’s no doubt that USB keys are compact, portable and a very convenient way to transfer files and documents. Unfortunately, they’re almost as good as transferring malware, and allowing snoopers to steal information, which is why you might want to control them with a copy of Phrozen Safe USB.
After a simple installation and a reboot, launching the program will add an icon to your system tray. By default this will leave USB devices working just as they did, but right-click the icon and you can choose a couple of alternative settings: “USB Mode Read Only” (drives show up in Explorer, but you can’t write to them), and “USB Mode Disabled” (USB storage devices no longer appear in Explorer at all).
The PC is far from dead
This week, my colleague Joe Wilcox wrote about the popular catch-phrase these days -- the "post-PC era". The only problem: this concept is wrong. Yes, he included lots of analyst information, fancy numbers and predictions, but none of it is realistic to the vast majority of computing users.
Yes, tablets are popular. There is no denying that. The iPad, despite not being the first tablet, brought the concept into the real world. Amazon and Google made the devices affordable. Sure, tablets make a great solution for checking email, weather and answering a question about that movie or show on your TV -- the one that occurs while sitting on your sofa.
What's rotting Apple?
I'm not an investor or financial analyst. But I do have a measure of commonsense. Lots of people are asking about Apple's falling stock price and why it is. You don't need a MBA or ponder price-earnings ratios to, by commonsense, see what's happening. Apple is undergoing a long-overdue course correction. It's the new normal, baby, get used to it.
Analysts making wild-eyed predictions just months ago about $1,000 a share or bloggers banging keyboards about $1 billion market capitalization are nutty fruitcakes. Apple cofounder Steve Jobs is gone, so they made their own Kool-Aid and spiked it. They're the only thing getting high here. Apple is laid low.
Samsung surges as US consumers pull back from iPhone
ChangeWave has new data out today showing an expected, but dramatic, decline in iPhone buying intentions over the next 90 days and unexpected jump for Samsung smartphones -- two models particularly: Galaxy S III and Note II. One-half of US consumers say they'll buy Apple's handset, but that's down from 71 percent three months earlier. Interest in the South Korean manufacturer's devices surged to 21 percent from 13 percent during the same time frame.
"Consumer buying intent for Samsung smartphones has been extraordinary to start the year", Paul Carton, ChangeWave's vice president of research, says. "Considering the Galaxy S III has been out for several months we'd normally expect a slowdown by now, but it’s still red hot. We’re also seeing strong interest in Samsung’s large-screen phone -- the Galaxy Note II. Super-sized smartphones are taking the industry by storm in 2013". Among those planning to buy a Samsung smartphone, 69 percent say Galaxy S3 and 23 percent Note II.
Bitdefender tops AV-TEST, Microsoft Security Essentials bottom feeds
Who offers the best antivirus protection? It’s not an easy question to answer, but independent testing labs AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives have just released their latest results and reports, and they make very interesting reading.
AV-TEST places Bitdefender Internet Security 2013 in first place, for instance, with 5/6 for usability, 5.5/6 for repair and an excellent 6/6 for protection. But F-Secure Internet Security 2013 and Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2013 also rate 6/6 for protection, while Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 and Norton Internet Security 2013 rating well all round.
Carbon syncs apps with data among Android devices and backs up straight to the cloud
Usually when users wish to transfer apps with data between Android devices, a fairly cumbersome process is involved. There's an easier way though. Koushik Dutta, the developer behind popular modding tools such as ClockworkMod and ROM Manager, unveiled Carbon, an app that can get the job done by itself after touching a few buttons.
But who actually needs it? While Carbon may present a limited appeal to most Android users, it actually makes sense for those running apps grabbed from third-party sources such as Interweb forums, a common occurrence for modders, beta apps that are unavailable to download from the Play store (a good example is the Dropbox preview build) or for users that simply wish to have the same app data across several devices. Think of game saves and you get the picture.
HP adds 8,000 Walgreens locations to its mobile print service
With the growth of the mobile market in the form of smartphones and tablets, the ability to print from anywhere has become increasingly important. In this new generation of computing a whole new genre of software has been born, giving users the ability to print while on the go. My favorite has been Breezy, but HP is making big strides in the market as well with its ePrint service, which allows users to send any document or photo to a printer in the home or to other locations where they can stop and grab the printout while on the road.
Today the company announced the addition of 8,000 Walgreens locations to its service, bringing the total number of places available to more than 30,000.
Speedtest.net app finally comes to Windows Phone
What's the go-to app for testing internet data speeds on mobile devices? Undoubtedly Speedtest.net is one of the most obvious answers coming from Android and iOS users, but not from those rocking Windows Phone 8. For some time, Ookla, the company behind the app, has turned a blind eye to Microsoft's smartphone operating system but, starting Monday, Speedtest.net is finally available for those who prefer tiles to icon grids.
As you may expect, the app carries over much of the existing functionality from its Android and iOS siblings but, unlike them, Speedtest.net for Windows Phone 8 is dressed up in a much nicer looking package. The app displays ping (latency in miliseconds) as well as the internet connection download and upload speeds. Per the usual tradition, it continues to display the speedometer with the live indicator in the foreground.
IBM looks into the future: Says steampunk will be the next big thing
IBM’s Social Sentiment Index is a tool designed to aggregate and gauge public opinion from a range of social media. It crunches its way through blogs, online forums, Facebook, Twitter and other social media postings, discovers what people are talking about, and then uses the results to predict the next big trends. That is, trends with actual staying power.
And the next big thing in clothing, furnishings and accessories? Steampunk apparently.
Converting an LG Optimus G into a Google Nexus 4? It can be done!
When Google unveiled the Nexus 4 in late-October, the resemblance to the LG Optimus G was quite obvious. Both smartphones are manufactured by LG and share mostly the same hardware specifications (bar the full-blown 4G LTE chip, different camera module, and extra internal storage found on LG's device). So why can't the Optimus G run software designed for the Google Nexus 4? Well, as of late, it can.
The advantages of "transforming" the LG Optimus G into a Google Nexus 4, in the software department that is, are quite clear. First and foremost, users can install various custom distributions such as AOKP Jelly Bean MR1 Build 1, CyanogenMod 10.1 or even light AOSP-based builds. Second, the LG Optimus G can actually be purchased from different carriers as well as online shops, whereas the Nexus 4 even today is out of stock at Google's Play Store -- which makes the former a suitable alternative to the latter's lack of market availability.
Stop Procrastinating: Windows 8 pre-release versions expire today
I jumped into Windows 8 way back at the first opportunity -- the Developer Preview. Then moved to the Consumer Preview and finally the Release Preview. But, because I’m something of a procrastinator, I haven’t yet got around to updating my computer to the full version, despite purchasing a copy of the new operating system as soon as it was released.
If you’re anything like me, and are still running the Release Preview, I’ve got some bad news. Today is the end of the line. All preview versions of Windows 8 expire on January 15, 2013. Worse, you will have to do a clean-installation because Microsoft has no upgrade path from the Release Preview to RTM. Note also that the final version of Windows 8 will not support upgrading from any prior Windows 8 Preview releases, though the migrate option will still be supported, according to Microsoft MVP Andre de Costa.
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