Alan Buckingham

Still shopping for the perfect Father's Day bargain? Amazon may have the answer to that, as the online retailer has taken two of its most popular products and combined them into one bargain-basement price that will satisfy any connoisseur of sales.

The Kindle Fire HDX 7, a tablet I previously called my favorite product of 2013, has been bundled together with the new Fire TV. If you aren't familiar (or live under a rock) the Fire TV is a set-top box designed to take on Apple and Roku in an increasingly crowded market. Today, Amazon marries the two together with one discounted price.

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We are not far off from the proverbial kickoff of the 2014 World Cup. The tournament takes place this year in the South American nation of Brazil, beginning in June. With a major sporting event comes web sites and apps, letting folks follow all of the action. However, in some cases, not all is what it seems.

Avast researchers uncovered an app that, while not actually dangerous, is designed to feed you only ads. "Some of the Android gaming apps we downloaded primarily displayed ads instead of letting us play. Let me just point out a few from many. We were unable to play Corner Kick World Cup 2014 at all because it displayed nothing but a white screen, with ads popping up now and then", says Flip Chytry.

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YouTube has become the defacto place to find just about anything and, while cat videos remain popular, music is also a big part of the service. Users seem to flock to the place to watch music videos by major artists that sometimes go viral, as well as unknown people who become memes.

YouTube spent some time reminiscing about its memorable past in an announcement of the birthday celebration. "To call out just a few highlights in YouTube history, there are more than 120,000 videos inspired by 'Let it Go' (based on videos posted with that title), half a million by 'Gangnam Style,' and a stunning 1.5 million videos by 'Harlem Shake' (that’s a lot of motorcycle helmets). These inspired riffs got us thinking about those magical moments when songs become bona fide trends—and people all over the world start remixing, covering, parodying, dancing, and lip-dubbing", says the company's Claire Stapleton.

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Last year we were somewhat amazed when HBO and the Game of Thrones producer went on record saying that piracy was not hurting the show, and they were just happy it was so popular. Now Wil Wheaton, who is famously a friend of geeks, is taking a similar stance.

Wheaton's new show, aptly named The Wil Wheaton Project, will require access to the SyFy network, which leaves out many potential viewers. Those who have cut the cord can still catch the debut episode via Hulu, but there is a catch to that as well -- it will not stream to the Hulu Plus service, blocking it from set-top boxes like Roku and Fire TV. You will have to watch it on your computer.

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Last year, in fact, almost one year ago, Google unveiled Chromecast. The tiny HDMI dongle was a surprise addition to the latest Nexus 7 announcement, but launched in the US only. However, over the course of its existence, the company has been slowly rolling it out across other regions.

Now Google is announcing its latest round of nations, telling us "these countries are home to some of the biggest fans of online content in the world, and the smartphone is one of the most popular ways for them to access it".

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Google's Chrome web browser has been actively attempting to protect its users since inception, which is a tall order given today's climate. While blocking certain things is easy, protecting customers from their own mistakes is much more difficult.

Now the company is announcing a new way to do exactly that, letting it be known that users will no longer be able to install extensions from any location other than the approved Web Store. "From now on, to protect Windows users from an attack, extensions can be installed only if they're hosted on the Chrome Web Store. With this change, extensions that were previously installed may be automatically disabled and cannot be re-enabled or re-installed until they're hosted in the Chrome Web Store", says Eric Kay, an engineering director with the search giant.

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Amazon Studios has been busy as of late, producing its own original content, running both Betas and Alpha House this past season. The studio arm has also been testing pilots for upcoming shows, most recently, ones for children.

Now the online retailer is debuting the first, titled Tumble Leaf. "A vibrant blue fox, whimsical friends, exhilarating adventures and discovery await all those who explore the stop-motion world of Tumble Leaf. Amazon’s first original kids series is available today, exclusively on Amazon Prime Instant Video at no additional cost for Prime members", is the description given by Amazon.

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Despite that I've owned an HP 11 Chromebook since its release, I've viewed it as little more than a novelty. I work from an office on the third floor of my home, which has a nice size desk, desktop PC and 15.6 inch laptop, both running Windows 8.1.

However, as the weather warms (finally!) I considered making the move out to my porch, something I did last summer as well. In that case I lugged the Windows laptop with me, not a difficult task, but the size is really more than I need for carrying around.

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The tiny Roku box has become a staple in many living rooms, bringing all sorts of entertainment goodness with it. The company continues to add new content, or channels as Roku refers to them. The latest is geared towards UK customers.

Roku is announcing that BBC Sport is landing on the set-top box, adding a load of new content, including Formula 1 racing, cycling, cricket, tennis, golf and others. Customers can also zone in on region specific content for England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

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Back in April, at the Microsoft Build conference, the company unveiled a music site called 22tracks. It was not designed to compete with its own Xbox Music or other rival services, but more as a concept to display the power of Internet Explorer.

Now Microsoft is announcing that 22tracks will be expanding to work across all browser platforms. The service was already designed to run on Windows from IE, Windows Phone and tablets like the Surface. However, this update is also expanding what the service can do.

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Google yn dod i ysgolion Cymru. Google continues to battle Windows and Office 365, trying to get its own products adopted in the market, focusing on education, business and governments. And Chromebooks have made inroads in this area.

Now the search giant announces it has scored a victory in Wales, bringing its platform to schools within the nation. "Around the world, schools are finding innovative ways to use technology to break down the traditional walls of the classroom, while overcoming the challenges of higher academic standards and tighter budgets. Today, we’re pleased to share the stories from two schools in Wales who’ve gone Google to help them meet the demands of a modern-day education system" says Liz Sproat, head of education at Google.

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Rdio is one of the fastest growing music streaming services on the market these days. The company is trying to keep pace with a number of rivals in the increasingly competitive field of internet and mobile entertainment.

Today Rdio is announcing that it's expanding to a staggering 60 nations. This is an additional nine countries being added to the existing regions, and puts the service on six different continents.

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Music services these days are a dime a dozen. New ones pop up all the time, and some make it, while others fail. It's a tough business, given the amount of choices available to customers. Now we learn of one more that failed to find the niche it needed to be a successful business.

Ex.fm has announced it will close up shop on May 19th. This didn't come as a major surprise -- the company had given warning signs previously, but managed to keep things afloat a few additional months. However, now a blog post from the company tells the tale.

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Where would music be today without Rock 'n' Roll Star or Supersonic? If you are of a certain age, then you likely remember the debut of the classic Oasis album titled Definitely Maybe. It was a landmark moment that introduced Liam, Noel and their colleagues to the world.

Things have been on a bit of a rollercoaster since then, but today marks 20 years since that album hit stores.

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Regardless if you are interested in the latest Marvel superhero movie, the scary new horror flick or an indie film that was raved about at Sundance, you'll want current news on the films. Now Yahoo, which has been in overhaul mode of late, is stepping up to try and provide that information to the cinema crowd.

Today the search company unveils its Yahoo Movies. Unlike the Netflix competitor that name may imply, this is a digital magazine aimed at bringing news to the enthusiasts. "Whether you’re heading out to the theater or looking for something to stream at home, our writers will guide you to the must-see films, both new releases and lost classics", says Yahoo's Josh Wolk.

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