Wayne Williams

In an effort to drum up awareness about its Surface Pro 3 slate, Microsoft has been dishing out devices free to every TV show and broadcaster going, often sponsoring shows (aka filling them with incongruous product placement) and handing over cash to get the message out.

Unfortunately the message that seems to be coming across a fair bit lately is that the recipients prefer iPads. The CNN news team has certainly found a good use for the promotional Surfaces that Microsoft paid them to use -- the devices apparently make a good wall, behind which it’s possible to use Apple’s tablet surreptitiously on air. And as one newsreader discovered, Microsoft Surface also makes a wonderful stand to rest an iPad against.

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If you’re considering buying a 27-inch monitor, you really need to be looking at one which offers WQHD resolution (2560 x 1440), rather than the standard Full HD (1920 x 1080) found in a lot of models. The pixels per inch difference (108.79 PPI vs 81.59 PPI) will result in a much greater level of detail and clarity which, if you’re working with images, you’ll definitely notice and appreciate.

The problem with buying a 27-inch WQHD screen is cost, but AOC’s offering is a lot more affordable than most -- just £360 from Ebuyer including VAT and delivery -- and it offers an awful lot for the money, including a fully adjustable stand, so you can use the screen in both landscape and portrait modes.

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If you’re desperate to get your hands on a consumer version of Oculus VR’s flagship virtual reality headset, there’s good news and bad.

Speaking at the Web Summit technology conference in Dublin on Tuesday, Brendan Iribe, founder and CEO of Oculus VR, said that it would be "months, not years" before the highly anticipated product is made available to buy. But before you get too excited, Iribe clarified his statement by adding he meant "many months" -- so not any time soon.

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TuneIn is the world's largest mobile radio app with over 50 million monthly users. The company works with the likes of ESPN, BBC and Wall Street Journal, and now it will also be providing audio versions of BetaNews stories.

If you’re a regular visitor to our site, you may have noticed some stories have had an audio player at the top of the page (like the one above here). We’ve been trialling the service for a while, and now it’s ready to go fully live.

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Brackets is an open source text editor built with web technologies for web designers and developers. Adobe created the tool three years ago, and has been contributing to it ever since. Now, after 45 minor releases, Brackets finally hits the long awaited 1.0 milestone.

The program blends visual tools into the editor, making it easier to design in code. Recent additions include multiple cursors, split view, theme support, and more. The latest release also comes with a preview version of Extract for Brackets, which is a new Creative Cloud service that speeds up the process of pulling design information like colors, fonts and gradients out of a Photoshop file, and turning it into CSS.

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Not worried about malware? Provided you take sensible precautions when on the web, and have decent anti-malware installed, your chances of getting infected are relatively low, but the threat still persists and isn’t to be underestimated.

According to PandaLabs, a total of 20 million new strains were created worldwide in the third quarter of 2014, which works out to 227,747 new samples being identified every day.

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If you’ve been following the sales of Microsoft and Sony’s next gen consoles, you’ll know that the PS4 has been outselling its rival each month. However, a year after they went on sale we finally get to see the scale of the sales difference between the two.

In the last quarter, Sony shipped 4.1 million PlayStations globally, of which 3.3 million were PlayStation 4s. Microsoft on the other hand shipped 2.4 million Xbox units. Now we don’t know how many of those were Xbox Ones, and how many were Xbox 360s (Microsoft doesn’t provide a breakdown), but given the older console still sells very well, it’s safe to assume the PS4 sales were double that of the Xbox One in that quarter. Now, let’s look at the bigger picture.

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Hands up if you saw that coming? We’ve been so used to Windows 8 and 8.1 losing usage share month on month, that any kind of move in the right direction -- i.e. growth -- seems almost an anomaly. And when Windows 8.x does gain usage share, it’s usually pretty minimal.

Not in October. According to the latest usage share figures from web analytics firm NetMarketShare, Windows 8 use grew in that month, and Windows 8.1 (finally) took off like a rocket. In fact, Windows 8.1’s growth in that month is so impressive you’ve got to imagine the number crunchers at NetMarketShare spent a long time checking and re-checking their findings to make sure there wasn’t a mistake at their end.

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There are days when I get absolutely swamped with email -- my work and personal inboxes are frequently filled to bursting -- and I’m not alone in struggling with the never ending deluge of demanding messages.

Unroll.me, a service which helps users keep their inboxes under control, has put together a Halloween-themed infographic detailing some of the most frightening facts about email. Did you know, for example, that the average person in the US, spends four hours a day reading, composing and replying to messages?

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Aurélio "Baboo" knows what he wants to see in Microsoft’s next operating system, and has put together his own vision of Windows 10 "build 9928", spending over 50 hours on creating images in Photoshop that show the changes he thinks Microsoft should implement.

Top of his list, and that of many Windows users, is the return of Aero. Flat might be where it’s at right now, but there’s no question that adding some transparency effects to windows looks good, and I’d be happy to see Microsoft include this option in Windows 10. "I’m honestly not worried about the extra cents in energy consumption Aero that costs me when I’m using my desktop or laptop, because Windows is much more enjoyable with it", Baboo says.

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Yesterday, Ed Oswald wrote a story about the retailer-backed payment network CurrentC, describing it as a threat to iPhone and Android users alike. In the article he spoke about the security of the system, saying "CurrentC is overly complicated, and just leaves too many opportunities for something to go wrong, or a hacker to make their way in".

He turns out to have been spot on, as today MCX admits its service has already been hacked, with email addresses of participants in the pilot program and other interested individuals being stolen. Hardly the most auspicious of starts. The following email was sent to those affected:

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As my colleague Brian Fagioli said yesterday when reporting on the launch of Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick, there’s no shortage of streaming devices available to choose from, and knowing which to go for can be tricky.

If you use Chrome, have an Android phone, and love YouTube, then Chromecast is probably for you. If, on the other hand, you are an Amazon Prime member, then the Fire TV Stick is a good choice, especially as it can currently be had for just $19. The Roku Streaming Stick has over a thousand channels to choose from and loads of options. Still not sure which to go for? Let’s take a look at what they all have to offer.

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At the moment, when you want to charge your smartphone or tablet you have to either plug it in, or (if it supports the technology) place it on a wireless charging mat. That's all set to change though, as soon you’ll be able to charge your electrical equipment simply by being near a fridge or washing machine.

It sounds like crazy science fiction, but it’s just very clever science. Energous today announces a partnership with Haier Wireless, the world's largest appliance manufacturer, that will see its WattUp wire-free charging transmitters embedded in a wide range of home appliances including refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, microwaves, stoves and more.

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Amazon didn’t have a good third quarter, reporting a net loss of $437 million, which is up significantly from the $41m loss it reported for the same quarter last year. Contributing to that loss is the abject failure of the Fire Phone.

My colleague Brian Fagioli described Amazon's handset as Android done differently in his review, and although he liked it, he said it wouldn’t be for everyone. It turns out it’s for hardly anyone.

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Bluetooth speakers can be a mixed bag, audio-wise. I have a Cambridge Audio speaker which I’m very happy with, but I may be tempted to stray now that B&O PLAY has launched the BeoPlay A2.

The stylish new speaker is designed be carried and has a leather strap/handle on the side. It features Bang & Olufsen Signature Sound and delivers 180W power, with True360 omni-directional performance so the audio should sound good no matter where you are in the room. It has two speaker drivers on each side -- a 3/4-inch tweeter and a 3-inch full range driver.

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