Latest Technology News

IObit has released Advanced SystemCare Free 6.1 (build 6.1.9.215), a major update of its all-in-one Windows maintenance and optimization tool. The build, also available with more features as Advanced SystemCare Ultimate, debuts a brand new Action Center module.

The new release also extends its cleaning capabilities to the latest builds of various tools, plus promises improved monitoring, performance and an "easier and simpler use" user interface.

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So you bought a Samsung Galaxy S III (or maybe even received one for Christmas) but find the skinned TouchWiz experience too "crowded"? Fret not, you don't have to go down the custom ROM route and lose useful functionality along the way, as PalaTool makes it easy to cut down on gimmicky features, and even add some of the Android 4.2 flavor into the mix as well.

Before you get all excited by the prospect of chiseling Samsung's TouchWiz skin there are two important prerequisites to consider. First, PalaTool requires Android rooting rights, which straight off the bat involves extra work that may include voiding the warranty if something goes terribly wrong (in most cases that never happens). Secondly, the tool must be installed using a custom recovery such as ClockworkMod or Team Win Recovery Project. That out of the way, let's take a look at what PalaTool can really do.

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When you’re carrying out some important PC task -- researching a big topic on the web, say -- then it’s easy to become totally immersed. And so, once you start looking at the display, you might not look away again for a very long time.

If this only happens occasionally, it may not be a problem. But if you’re always engaged in lengthy PC sessions then you may find it leaves your eyes feeling very tired. Which is why you could need a little help from the free Eye Pro 2.1.

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Even though the perennial platform has passed its peak and is slowly replaced by more modern standards, Microsoft actively supports Flash in Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 8/RT. The browser can display Flash content, albeit on a limited number of websites. For those people who wish to enable it in non-supported locations, the Windows RT Flash Player Tool comes to the rescue without having to manually edit the whitelist.

Windows RT Flash Player Tool is designed for the Modern UI version of Internet Explorer 10 found in Windows 8 and Windows RT as well as the desktop variant for the tablet operating system. The tool, a BAT file with the necessary commands to automate the process on behalf of the user, goes about its business of enabling Flash support on non-supported websites by modifying the included whitelist that comprises of only Microsoft-approved entries by default.

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Google has released Chrome 25 to the beta channel for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and while the previous release wasn’t too surprising this one has some particularly important changes.

Perhaps the most significant will see external extension deployment disabled by default, which means if you install an application on your Windows system, for instance, the author will no longer be able to silently add a Chrome extension as well just by manipulating the Registry. They’ll normally have to ask your permission to install any add-ons within Chrome itself.

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We don't often write about other news sites, but the drama unfolding at CNET today is simply too hard to ignore. Your opinion means something, and I ask for it. Or, keeping with Betteridge's law of headlines, you can answer "yes" or "no".

During last week's Consumer Electronics Show, CNET editors voted DISH Hopper with Sling best of show. But parent company CBS stepped in and nixed the choice, citing on-going litigation. Editors disqualified the device, but not indicating that it had actually won. Today, The Verge editor-in-chief Joshua Topolsky broke the story, and long-time CNET reporter Greg Sandoval resigned in protest. Since, CNET reviews editor-in-chief Lindsey Turrentine posted "CNET's story".

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Patch Tuesday came and went last week without Microsoft addressing a glaring error -- a zero-day flaw in Internet Explorer versions 6 through 8 that attackers use to gain control of a computer. The defect did not affect IE versions 9 and 10, which have been called more secure by some experts.

Now the company is rolling out an uncharacteristic out-of-cycle patch to fix the bug. This follows a manual fix the company released earlier to help users of these legacy browsers protect themselves from attack.

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So much for that Windows 8 pick-me-up. The PC market got no 5-Hour Energy lift during fourth quarter. If anything, the personal computer is out of shape and out of breath, and no Microsoft personal trainer can change that. Gartner calls the current crisis -- and it is for the WinTel and MacTel folks -- a "structural shift". The tablet is the slimmer and shapelier alternative, and it kicks the PC's ass all over the work-out floor.

"Tablets have dramatically changed the device landscape for PCs, not so much by 'cannibalizing' PC sales, but by causing PC users to shift consumption to tablets rather than replacing older PCs", Mikako Kitagawa, Gartner principal analyst, says. "Whereas as once we imagined a world in which individual users would have both a PC and a tablet as personal devices, we increasingly suspect that most individuals will shift consumption activity to a personal tablet, and perform creative and administrative tasks on a shared PC. There will be some individuals who retain both, but we believe they will be exception and not the norm. Therefore, we hypothesize that buyers will not replace secondary PCs in the household, instead allowing them to age out and shifting consumption to a tablet".

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Oracle has issued an emergency fix for its cross-platform Java software. Java 7 update 11 for Windows, Mac and Linux, and Java 7 Update 11 64-bit for 64-bit versions of Windows and Linux, aims to plug a number of alarming security holes that were being used for phishing attacks and other crimeware.

While update 11 should be considered an essential update for all Java users, researchers have warned that the new build is little more than a sticking plaster for the problem, and recommend users actually disable Java from running inside web browsers.

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Verizon and AT&T are closely watching how consumers respond to T-Mobile's move to end smartphone subsidies. However, a look at their comments gives me the impression that they haven't had a detailed look at T-Mobile's value plans.

In recent comments, CEOs of both companies stated that they were ready to follow T-Mobile and offer non-subsidized plans if they prove popular with consumers. However, both CEOs caution that consumers don't "like paying upfront for the phone" and are used to getting "low-cost phones". Based on these comments, I'd have to believe they were misquoted in some way because I find it hard to believe that the CEOs of the two biggest carriers in the United States could be so misinformed.

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The U.S. government, which usually is very slow to adopt new technologies, signed an agreement to move much of the Department of Defense to Windows 8. The three-year, $617 million deal for up to two million seats is a good proxy for where American business users are headed. Or is it? Microsoft of course hopes it is, but I think that’s far from a sure thing.

This isn’t just trading Windows XP for Windows 8. The U.S. Navy, which isn’t (yet) included in this deal, only recently signed its own agreement with Microsoft to take the fleet to Windows 7. But Windows 8, being touch-enabled and running all the way from smartphones to super-clusters, is something more. It represents the U.S. government’s best guess as to how it will embrace mobile.

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After its "non-appearance" at last weeks Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas the company Microsoft is front-and-center at this week's National Retail Federation (NRF) Annual Convention & EXPO in New York to show off Windows Embedded 8 Handheld. The operating system a version designed with the retailers in mind.

According to Barb Edson, Microsoft's General Manager of Marketing and Business Development, the company is "introducing our device hardware partners, and showcasing the next generation of mobile line-of-business application experiences with one of our launch customers, showing how Windows Embedded 8 Handheld devices help them deliver on the promise of intelligent systems".

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If CES 2013 and other major trade shows are of any indication, a plethora of Android devices are launched on a frequent basis, sporting different display configurations. For consumers that may not mean much (aside from which device to get next), but developers have to verify if apps are rendered properly across different resolutions and pixel densities. But buying all available smartphones and tablets is not a financially-sound decision, when a Google Nexus 10 gets the job done by itself.

The Samsung-made tablet sports a large 10.1-inch display featuring a whopping 2560 by 1600 resolution and a 300 ppi density. As a result, according to Adam Powell, working as Android framework engineer at Google, the Nexus 10 can be used by app developers to test user interfaces in "pretty much all environments". The question is: "How?"

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If malware somehow manages to penetrate your PCs defenses then it’s easy to assume you’ll simply download some other antivirus tool to remove it. But life may not be so straightforward. Once installed, some malware will try to prevent you from reaching big antivirus sites, and downloading or running their tools, making the problem much more difficult to tackle.

Unless, that is, you have a copy of Malwarebytes Chameleon to hand.

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While other file sharing sites have come and gone, closed down by the authorities or voluntarily removed by the owners, The Pirate Bay remains a constant. Sure, if you live in the UK your access to it is now blocked by court order, but the site is still up on the web, still serving links to infringing content, and seemingly unstoppable -- even though plenty of people have tried to stop it.

A forthcoming documentary, TPB AFK, charts the "away from keyboard" true-life story of The Pirate Bay and is set to be released this spring, timed to coincide with a "major film festival". The new trailer for the film, up on YouTube, has already racked up over 1.3 million views, and its success has spurred Simon Klose, the director, into trying to make a little money from it.

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