Samsung Galaxy S5 off to a good start, T-Mobile reveals record pre-registrations
The Galaxy S5 is Samsung's latest Android flagship, launching in April in 150 countries across the globe. Even though we are more than a month away from the official release, some mobile operators are already giving prospective buyers the option to register their interest in the new smartphone.
US mobile operator T-Mobile is among them. Its landing page for the Galaxy S5 gives folks the possibility to be among the first to find out "all the amazing details" on Samsung's new device, and, each day, the chance to win a Galaxy S5 with the S-View Flip Cover. The prize definitely adds to the appeal of filling those boxes, with T-Mobile announcing record pre-registrations.
Cray increases revenue and expands its customer base
Supercomputer maker Cray has reported record revenue for 2013 and is moving into new markets.
Moves towards big data, simulations, predictive modeling and other applications have increased demand for the company's products beyond its traditional base of large corporations and government bodies.
Microsoft giving 100GB of OneDrive storage to Bing Rewards members
When Microsoft was forced to change the name of its cloud storage from SkyDrive, many people thought it was unfair -- myself included. After all, SkyTV is an entirely different product. But oh well, what's done is done. Truth be told, I like the OneDrive name better; it was a blessing in disguise.
By default, the service comes with 7 GB -- more than enough for the average user to store documents. However, users can get an additional 3 GB for enabling auto-backup for pictures on their mobile device. Today though, Microsoft announces a way to get a 100GB for free, with Bing Rewards. That is a lot of space!
Microsoft's attempts to persuade XP users to switch to Windows 8.1 are wide of the mark
On April 8, 2014, Microsoft will officially end support for Windows XP. After that date, users of the aging OS will no longer receive new security updates, hotfixes, support options, or online technical content updates.
Obviously the tech giant is worried about the dangers than might befall XP users who continue to cling on to the decade-and-a-bit old OS after that date, and that’s the reason for all the blog posts that have been appearing lately. I mean, sure, it looks like Microsoft is cynically using the death of XP support purely to try and persuade people to upgrade to Windows 8.1 but that’s not the case, honestly. Oh, okay, maybe it is. A bit.
Canonical announces third edition of Ubuntu App Showdown contest
Chickens and eggs are pains in the butt. No, not the actual bird and its ovum, but the causality dilemma. The old argument asks if a chicken or egg came first. Of course, both answers are a dilemma as you need a chicken to lay an egg and you need an egg to get a chicken.
This applies to computer platforms and apps too. People may choose to buy an Android or iOS device because there are a lot of apps. Developers make the apps because a lot of people choose the platform. So, how can a new platform get apps if no one develops for it? In other words, if you don't have users, you wont get apps and if you don't have apps, you won't get users. In an effort to get developers interested in its mobile platform, Canaonical announces the third edition of Ubuntu App Showdown contest.
Chameleon virus spreads between wireless access points like the common cold
The latest breed of virus is airborne. We're not talking about a 24 hour bug that does the rounds at the office, but a computer virus. A team of researchers at the University of Liverpool, UK, demonstrated how a virus known as Chameleon was able to spread undetected over Wi-Fi by exploiting vulnerabilities in access points.
For town and cities where there are large numbers of routers and access points in close proximity, this represents a serious security risk as there is potential for a terrifying number of infections to be made in very little time.
Google becomes the official voting platform for American Idol
Music is my biggest hobby and passion. Whether happy or sad, it helps enhance my moods. When I am feeling good, I may put on some Ben Folds Five and conversely, Radiohead when feeling blue. Believe it or not, I also like Hip-Hop and Country.
Even though I love music, I have never been a huge fan of American Idol. This is surprising, as it is a wildly popular singing competition. However, I am a fan of one aspect of the show -- the voting. I love being empowered to pick a winner, regardless of the competition. Today, Google announces a partnership with FOX and American Idol to make voting even easier.
Worldwide server shipments up in 2013 but revenues in decline
According to new research by Gartner worldwide server shipments were up 2.1 percent in 2013 whilst revenues declined by 4.5 percent.
Most of this shipment growth has taken place in the Asia/Pacific and Japan regions whilst the North American market has remained relatively flat. Vendor revenue declined everywhere except the Asia/Pacific region where it grew by just 0.6 percent.
Is 2014 the year you cut the cord to cable and satellite?
Cord-cutting is a popular phrase these days. The act of getting rid of the overpriced cable or satellite subscription bill is certainly appealing, but is it practical for most people? Many of us no longer watch shows live -- we've become a DVR generation. But there is a catch to that, as live sports are still the biggest draw on US TV.
Recently Fox Sports streamed the Super Bowl, and it did so without restriction. In other words, you didn't need to prove you were a customer of Dish, Comcast or any other money-pit. You just tuned in, dealt with the ads, and watched the game.
What's new in Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1?
Microsoft has unveiled the first Service Pack update for Microsoft Office 2013 with the release of Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1 (32-bit) and Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1 (64-bit). As expected, the SP1 is primarily a collection of previously released security patches and bug fixes, but does include some compatibility improvements as well as new apps for Office capabilities and APIs for third-party developers.
The update comes with the promise of improved compatibility with Windows 8.1 as well as Internet Explorer 11. It’s also optimized to work better with newer hardware, such as high-DPI screens and precision touchpads.
US House of Representatives approves bill legalizing phone unlocking
Do you rue the day you signed up with your phone provider? Maybe you've found a better offer elsewhere and want to take your cell phone to another company. Now, if you're in the US, you are able to -- legally -- unlock your mobile and take it to whatever network you like. The bill was approved yesterday, having been brought about by a massive petition that gathered over 100,000 signatures. A 2012 ruling made unlocking illegal by closing a DMCA exemption loophole that had been permitted in 2006 and 2010.
In other parts of the world it is common practice to unlock phones and move them between providers, so it's understandable that US residents felt they were getting a poor deal. Now the bill has been approved, handset owners are able "to legally unlock their cell phones so that they can use it on other cellular networks." But this does not mean there is going to be a free-for-all; unlocking must be carried out "without violating anti-circumvention provisions".
Find and uninstall junk programs -- from a batch file
As you’ll probably guess from its name, Crap Killer is a tool which scans your PC, trying to find browser toolbars and other junk, then offers to help you remove them.
This is all extremely basic, though. There’s no special detection of spyware here; if a program doesn’t appear in the Add/ Remove Programs applet then Crap Killer won’t find it. And there’s nothing to remove unwanted programs, either. All you can do is launch their official uninstaller.
Plan to buy Samsung's Galaxy S5? Get a microSD card too (or the 32 GB model)
The amount of storage that is advertised in a product's specifications sheet never matches the user-available capacity when software is preinstalled on the device. That is to be expected, but there comes a point when customers may be getting too little space to store some content and install a few apps. With just a couple of games, that are growing in size nowadays, there might be nothing left available.
That is what upcoming Galaxy S5 buyers will have to deal with, as the preinstalled software on Samsung's new flagship takes up more than half of the advertised storage on the 16 GB model. Yes, that is roughly 8 GB occupied out-of-the-box.
Are you reading this when you should be working?
A study of 2,500 people in the UK shows that 68 percent have been distracted from completing work by browsing the web, checking emails and engaging in social media.
In addition, 63 percent said they had lost their train of thought while working on a report or long piece of written work because they responded to an email or social media alert.
Samsung details Galaxy S5's new octa-core processor (Yes, there is one)
In keeping up with tradition, there will be two processors available in the Samsung Galaxy S5. The international version gets Qualcomm's quad-core Snapdragon 801, while another model -- that will most likely be available in non-LTE markets -- ships with the company's own octa-core Exynos chip, that Samsung just unveiled at MWC 2014.
Samsung is increasingly reliant on Qualcomm processors for its flagship Android devices, like the Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note 3 and, most recently, Galaxy S5, as the Exynos chips that arrived in 2013 have failed to live up to expectations. Even though those were octa-core designs, the Qualcomm-made, quad-core, solutions performed similarly and came with a very competent LTE modem as well. Samsung is not giving up (yet), as the new Exynos 5422 still aims to turn the tables in the company's favor.
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