The fat lady sings for Microsoft, thanks to Google Apps
The office suite battle is really starting to heat up. Last week, Microsoft released Word, Excel and PowerPoint for the iPad, signaling a sea change in the company's focus. However, Google is still pushing forward with its attempt to sway users with its web apps. While both are good, no one can deny that Microsoft's offers more features.
With that said, more features does not always equate to better. In other words, if Google's offering meets a user's or business' needs, then it may be more cost effective. Quite frankly, too many features can be seen as noise when unused. One such company, the Glyndebourne opera house, switched from Microsoft to Google with great results.
Roku adds Qello Concerts channel to its digital lineup
Competition in the set-top box market just caught Fire -- hopefully no customers have the Nest Protect smoke alarm. With the challenge thrown down by Amazon, Roku is answering by adding another channel to its lineup, this time allowing customers to rock out in their living room.
Qello will bring concerts and music documentaries right into your home, on-demand. "Whether you’re in the mood to discover something new or want to enjoy a serenade from your all-time favorite band, Qello Concerts and Roku have you covered to stream all genres -- from Beyoncé, B.B. King and Queen to Nirvana, Mumford & Sons and Barbra Streisand", says Roku’s Ziba Kaboli-Gerbrands.
LightShot: capture, edit and share your screengrabs online
LightShot is a simple free tool which makes it very easy to take, edit and share your screengrabs online.
The program doesn’t force you to learn new hotkeys, for instance. To launch it you’ll just press PrtSc, as usual.
Best Windows 8 apps this week
Seventy-five in a series. Microsoft announced the Windows 8.1 Update officially at the BUILD 2014 developer conference two days ago. It will roll out on April 8, 2014 as part of patch Tuesday to all users of the Windows 8 operating system.
The update introduces improvements for keyboard and mouse users, including options to right-click on the Start Screen to manage tiles, a title bar for apps, and app icons on the Windows Taskbar.
Automatically move, copy, upload or download files with LimagitoX FileMover Lite
Moving a few files around your system is simple, and you’ll probably just do it yourself: drag/ drop, copy/ paste, whatever it might be.
When you regularly need to process a lot of files, though, it might be quicker to automate the task with LimagitoX FileMover Lite.
Best iOS apps this week
Thirteenth in a series. Apple has confirmed that its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), will be kicking off on Monday June 2, at San Francisco’s Moscone West. The five day event will give developers (and the press of course) the chance to "learn about the future of iOS and OS X". At last year’s conference Apple unveiled iOS 7, Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks, a new MacBook Air lineup, iTunes Radio, iCloud Keychain, and much more.
In other news, Microsoft says its newly released Office apps have been downloaded 12 million times since launch.
jAlbum 12: adds embedded web browser, drops ad-supported free build
jAlbum AB has released jAlbum 12, a major update of its popular web album builder.
A major interface revamp sees the program now include an embedded web browser (Chromium), enabling you to preview changes as soon as you adjust your project settings.
Here's a Samsung Galaxy S4 look-alike running Windows Phone 8
Just like the ATIV S which came before it, the Samsung ATIV SE is a rehash of the South Korean maker's previous Android flagship, the Galaxy S4 in this case, running Windows Phone 8. Even though Windows Phone 8.1 was just announced, the company is sticking to the release dating back to 2012.
The ATIV SE, which is only available at Verizon at this stage, is likely to be Samsung's Windows Phone flagship for quite some time, if the ATIV S is of any indication (it was released nearly 18 months ago). Luckily, the hardware does not disappoint.
Detect and monitor Wi-Fi networks with Homedale
Homedale is a straightforward portable tool which detects local wireless networks and tells you more about them: name, channel, MAC address, encryption type and so on. It’s great for troubleshooting various wireless conflicts, or just finding out more about what’s going on around you.
The Homedale interface is, well, basic -- just a single tabbed dialog box. Click "Access Points" first and you’ll see a table with details on all your network neighbors, including their name, MAC address, vendor, signal strength, encryption, country ID, mode, frequency, band, first and last seen times, supported bitrates, model and adapter.
Hulu details its Amazon Fire TV app
Yesterday, Amazon unveiled its Fire TV set-top box, and while the announcement came as little of a shock, given the information being rumored around the web, what was left were details. Now those are in place and the box is shipping to customers. Since the announcement, other support information has emerged, including Plex, and now Hulu.
The streaming video service was already included on the new Amazon box -- we knew that when it appeared during the announcement -- but what it would offer was not discussed.
Brendan Eich steps down as Mozilla CEO after equality controversy
Brendan Eich is no longer the CEO of Mozilla. Effective today, he has stepped down. This news is rather bittersweet for me. While I disagree with Eich's perceived stance on marriage equality, I defend his right to express it. However, I also support the rights of others to boycott and call for his removal.
Today, showed, in some measure, that the Internet and freedom of speech still work as intended. In other words, one person expressed a view, others expressed an opposite view. Brendan Eich's stepping down was not the result of violence or negativity, it was the result of shared ideas and communication. But was his leaving necessary? Mozilla thinks so. Do you?
Nest halts sales of smoke and carbon monoxide alarm amid safety concerns
When people invest in a smoke alarm, it is done with the intention of making the home safer. Should a fire start during the night, for instance, it's good to know that there's something there to alert you. While most smoke alarms are fairly basic affairs, there are some more advanced models available, including from Nest Labs -- the company behind intelligent thermostat controls and the Nest Protect smoke alarm. But there are safety concerns about the device which could mean that the sounding of an alarm is delayed, leaving owners to burn to a crisp in their beds. Perhaps.
In a message on the Nest website, the company's CEO Tony Fadell explains that a feature of the smoke alarm is being disabled and the sale of units is to be stopped. Nest Protect -- which has the tagline "Cares for your family as much as you do" -- includes a feature called Nest Wave. The idea is that should you accidentally set off the alarm by burning the toast, you can shut it up by waving your hand in front of the device. The problem is that the feature can be, to use Fadell's words, "unintentionally activated".
Microsoft is back, baby! 5 things the company finally gets right
Microsoft is a lot like Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears, and the tech news community has been acting like trashy paparazzi. You see, Lindsay and Britney were at one point the darlings of the entertainment business. They were well respected and people enjoyed following their rise to fame. However, once on top, those same people took joy at their self destruction.
Microsoft is the same; its Windows product was a huge reason why the personal computing explosion occurred. Without that operating system, the world would be a much different place -- likely for the worse. It too was celebrated, but once on top, many people bashed the company for its policies and business practices. Windows 8 was perhaps the apex though, with many news publications claiming that the operating system was a failure and that the company's best days were behind it. Well, I am here to say that Microsoft is finally doing some things right! Here are five things that prove it.
CryptoDefense could be a bigger threat than CryptoLocker
Only a couple of days ago we reported on the CryptoDefense ransomware conveniently leaving behind its decryption key.
But today Stu Sjouwerman CEO of security training specialist KnowBe4 is warning that, flawed though it is, CryptoDefense represents a serious threat.
Amazon Fire TV: Business model motivations
23 percent -- That figure alone explains Amazon's goal for Fire TV. In 2013, it was estimated that the Kindle ecosystem was responsible for 11 percent of Amazon's revenue, but 23 percent of its operating profit. However, the revenue numbers also include $4.5 billion in Kindle device sales (6 percent of Amazon's revenue) which were sold at breakeven. This means that 23 percent of Amazon's operating profit came from a business that accounted for just 5 percent of its annual revenue.
Given the figures above, it is no surprise to see Amazon double down on its "razors and blades" strategy. By selling a low-cost ($99) box to consumers, Amazon gains access to a distribution channel for high-margin content sales. Amazon seems to have realized that this box would only appeal to consumers if it also provides access to third-party services like Netflix, Hulu, etc. (much like Kindle Fire tablets and third party apps). But more importantly, it also seems to be expanding its presence in the digital content business via Amazon Game Studios.
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