Best Windows 8 apps this week
One-hundred and two in a series. Two weeks to go and we have reached the two-year milestone.
Last week was rather slow in terms of new apps and games that found their way into store and this week continues the trend. The popular VLC Media Player app for Windows 8 was updated this week introducing support for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. The developers resolved several crash issues on top of that which should improve the stability of the app significantly. Then again, still no sign of a Windows RT version.
Symantec to follow HP and eBay and split in two
There must be something in the air at the moment -- everyone seems to be splitting up. eBay and PayPal decided that it would be better to go it alone, and then HP announced it would be splitting into consumer and enterprise companies. Symantec now reveals that it plans to divide into two independent companies, one focusing on security, and the other on storage.
President and CEO, Michael A. Brown, says that the two markets face their own sets of unique challenges and by splitting in two, each business will have the flexibility needed to respond accordingly.
Flashback Friday: How two Stanford University whiz kids accidentally built Google
Second in a series. Google is everywhere. It's behind the world's most popular mobile operating system and map, one of the most successful email services ever, and has even expanded into the finance, wearables and transport sectors. What's more, it probably still serves as your browser home page (or just a means of finding out whether you're connected to the Internet or not).
The still-relatively-young company has come a hell of a long way since its inception in the late 90s, and looks well capable of dominating each and every avenue it decides to enter. However, the company had very humble, and indeed slightly odd, beginnings.
Is it the end of the line for the password?
In an era of increasing security threats the password is often the weakest link that allows attackers a way into a system posing as a legitimate user.
A new infographic from security company Ping Identity looks at the problem of poor passwords and how in the future they may give way to more sophisticated forms of authentication.
Sony Xperia Z3v launches at Verizon
For a well-known and longstanding smartphone manufacturer, Sony has an unusual strategy in the US. Its presence is limited, and few of its devices make it in the country officially. And when they do, they are about to be superseded. Proof is Xperia Z2. Unveiled at CES 2014 in January, it went on sale shortly after, but only made it to the US in late-July. Its successor, Xperia Z3, was announced at IFA 2014, early last month, and went on sale just weeks later.
However, Xperia Z3 must be the smartphone that breaks the pattern for Sony, and finally show us that the Japanese maker can get its US strategy right, as it will soon be available at two of the largest mobile operators in the country. Yes, while it is still a hot device! After T-Mobile, Verizon was just revealed to also carry Xperia Z3, albeit in a slightly tweaked version called Xperia Z3v. Here are the details.
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact: Small and perfectly formed [Review]
There's a trend these days for handset makers to stick everything but the kitchen sink in their flagship phones and make those phones large, then make their smaller phones a bit less feature rich. This can backfire. We've previously reported about 'mini' versions of handsets not selling as well as the full-fat ones.
Sony doesn't do that. The Xperia Z1 Compact was a small version of a full-fat handset, and the Xperia Z3 Compact is the 4.6in companion to the full-blown 5.2in Xperia Z3. In case you are wondering, there wasn't a Z2 Compact.
To stop data theft, pull the plug
Back in the 1980s, when I was the networking editor at InfoWorld, one of my jobs was to write profiles of corporate networks. One of those profiles was of the Adolph Coors Brewing Company of Golden, Colorado, now known as Molson Coors Brewing. I visited the company’s one brewery at the time, interviewed the head of IT and the top network guy, then asked for a copy of the very impressive network map they had on the wall.
"Sorry, we can’t give you that," they said. "It’s private".
How many times a day does the average person check their phone? 221, apparently
A new piece of research has looked into the amount of times that British smartphone users check their handset and carry out a task on it every day -- and the answer is 221 times, on average. Which begs the question: how many times a does a true smartphone addict check their device?
At any rate, the survey of 2,000 UK smartphone users, courtesy of Tecmark, found that most folks first look at their phone at 7:30 in the morning, to check emails and then the Facebook app (no surprise there). Early morning tasks which are still carried out in bed by many are reading recent news updates, and looking at the weather forecast -- as well as sending a couple of texts.
Skype for Mac 7.0 and Skype for Windows 7.0 Preview sport radical new look
Microsoft has released Skype for Mac 7.0 and Skype for Windows 7.0 Beta, unveiling a major redesign of its Skype desktop client in the process.
Version 7.0’s new design mirrors closely that found on Skype’s mobile platforms, and is designed to provide users with a more unified experience across all devices they use it on.
Google's new Hangouts Chrome app delivers the chat experience we've been waiting for
I recently vented my frustration at Hangouts and Google, but today I am extremely elated. Google has released a true Chrome desktop application for Chrome. It runs outside your browser, and you get a pin-able icon in your app drawer so you are not forced to open up Chrome.
But most of this could be handled by the Hangouts extension they had previously, so what's the difference? This one doesn't suck. It actually takes advantage of being outside of the browser and has a great workflow.
Lenovo unveils Yoga 3 Pro, ThinkPad YOGA 14, Yoga Tablet 2 and Tablet 2 Pro
There are quite a few computer manufacturers nowadays, and many of them release products of varying quality. However, there is one that seems to consistently produce computers that are extremely well-built and functional -- Lenovo. Not only do the manufacturer's laptops and tablets have great build-quality, but the designs seem well thought-out and innovative.
One of my favorite product lines from Lenovo is Yoga -- multi-mode computers that can be transformed into different form factors. Today, the company unveils the Yoga 3 Pro, ThinkPad YOGA 14, Yoga Tablet 2 and Yoga Tablet 2 Pro.
How to protect your business from Internet phone hackers
Once considered an alternative telephony solution, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is now a mainstream technology used by an increasing number of businesses due to its superior features and competitive pricing.
However, with VoIP technology comes a far bigger price for your business to pay should your phone solution remain vulnerable to potential security risks from clever Internet hackers.
Microsoft: Surface is here to stay
In a post on the Surface blog, Microsoft has moved to assure businesses that the Surface line is here to stay. We've already heard that the Surface Pro 3 is a success -- although there are no figures to back up this claim -- but Microsoft's failure to launch a third generation RT-based version of the Surface, as well as the disappearance of the long-rumored Surface Mini, raised fears that the line of tablets may not be long for this world. Microsoft is keen to allay these concerns, pointing out not only that Surface is here to stay, but also that it is particularly suitable for businesses.
The post points out that the Surface Pro 3 is a device that's "great for getting things done". There's almost an air of desperation to the blog post in which Microsoft extols the virtue Surface and confirms its commitment to the brand. The selling point is still that the device is a laptop and tablet in one, and post author Brian Hall, General Manager for Surface, is quick to mention a number of big names who have adopted Surface Pro 3.
New public cloud backup cuts the cost of protecting data
Backups have traditionally involved removable media, whether tape or disk, to allow copies of essential information to be held off site for safety.
The cloud has changed all that but companies still have concerns about security and retention of data, as well as expense. A new product released today by Druva is aimed at delivering a long-term storage solution with less complexity and lower cost.
Mobile devices now outnumber people across the globe
There are now more mobile devices than people in the world, according to the latest statistic released by GSMA Intelligence.
According to the stats, there are now 7.229 billion mobile connections across the globe -- a growth of 6.1 percent year-on-year -- compared to a world population of 7.197 billion (going by the US Census Bureau's world population clock).
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