How about an Android flip phone with high-end specs?

Samsung G9198 flip phone Android high-end

Flip phones are nowhere near as popular nowadays as they used to be a few years ago, but they are much more interesting as manufacturers introduce new models that try to keep up with the times. A great example is Samsung's new G9198, which comes with high-end internals and runs Android.

Basically, it is the flip phone for people who love the form factor but not its typical shortcomings. And, yes, in case you are wondering, there are still lots of consumers interested in buying a flip phone in 2015. Understandably, they are just not your typical smartphone buyers.

Continue reading

Explore mystery files with Detect It Easy

DetectItEasy200-175

You’ve been emailed a strange attachment, downloaded something dubious, or maybe just found a file that’s lost its extension. You need to find out more, and Detect It Easy is the ideal tool to help.

It’s portable, cross-platform, and -- initially, at least -- very easy to use. Just drag and drop your target file onto the program and it’ll tell you more about it.

Continue reading

Office 365 vs Google Apps: Who wins on pricing? (Part 1 of 4)

gapps and office

If there's one common request I get from readers via email, it's that they want an updated deep dive on my thoughts regarding the whole Office 365 vs Google Apps debate. It's a topic I've written about on numerous occasions in the past -- dissecting the facts, wading through the FUD, and piecing together my honest opinion on who comes out on top.

But it has been years since I dove into the crux of the debate, honing in on why one suite beats another in the important aspects that set them apart. And in the world of IT, years is an eternity.

Continue reading

Bring Your Own Device and Windows 10

BYOD key

Over the last decade and particularly in the tablet age, business and academic organizations have slowly transitioned to a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model, where employees/students buy their own IT and then link it to the network. This has never been a security friendly way of doing things but the cost benefits have usually won the day. With Windows 10, this may well change

We have all been reading the stories about the new End User License Agreement (EULA) in W10 that gives Microsoft the right to view huge reams of your personal information, including information in private folders. This may be a non-event for some home users but in an age of BYOD, where company and academic data may be copied or synchronized onto private IT, it should be seriously considered as a business threat. I have no doubt that Enterprise licenses will be locked down fairly tight but a BYOD is not an Enterprise license.

Continue reading

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 vs Apple iPhone 6 Plus: Which is best?

iphone-6-plus-vs-galaxy-note-5

Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Note 5, the newest phablet on the market. With a few new changes, can the Galaxy Note 5 stand up to the extremely popular iPhone 6 Plus?

Samsung and Apple are arguably pushing out the most well designed smartphones in the industry. After a slump for a few years, Samsung has found its stride with the dual-glass design and metallic frame.

Continue reading

New video ads highlight Apple Music's superior 'Discovery'

am

It can be quite the polarizing topic, but make no mistake -- streaming is both the present and future of listening to music. You can desperately cling to your shiny compact discs and backups of digital music downloads, but eventually, you will be no different than a person still using floppy disks. It's time to evolve with the rest of us.

Selecting a streaming music service can be an ordeal, as there are many quality offerings from which to choose. Spotify, Google Play Music All Access and Groove are all solid, but Apple Music, the newest of the bunch, is already the best. What it offers beyond its competitors, is superior discovery. Without a way to discover new music, you will end up never leaving your comfort zone. Apple's service helps you to expand your artistic horizons. Today, the company unveils three new advertisements to highlight this.

Continue reading

Two decades in the making... was Microsoft Edge worth the wait?

point_and_laugh

Today marks the twentieth anniversary of the launch of Internet Explorer. First making an appearance in the Windows 95 era via the Microsoft Plus! Add-on pack which featured the excitingly-named Internet Jumpstart Kit and version 1.0 of the browser people love to hate and hate to love.

Two full decades later we have slowly but surely worked up to Internet Explorer 11 -- Chrome, for comparison has hit the 40s in less than half the time -- and now IE has been all but retired. With the launch of Windows 10, Microsoft Edge is the new kid on the block. Twenty years is a long gestation period. Was it worth the wait?

Continue reading

KaOS 2015.08 Linux distribution available now

KaOS

Whether or not you are a KDE desktop environment user, you should have an interest in the project. In other words, whether you prefer GNOME, Xfce or something else, KDE's success is good for the overall Linux community.

While Kubuntu is probably the most popular distro based on KDE, there are many others. One of the he most exciting such operating systems, KaOS, announces a new 2015.08 ISO that is available now. If you haven't tried the OS before, I suggest you give it a try -- you may come away impressed.

Continue reading

AdwCleaner 5.0 ships with new engine, Windows repair tools

Adwcleaner200-175

Popular adware hunter AdwCleaner has hit version 5 with the addition of a new and improved generic detections engine.

The program can optionally reset a range of Windows settings -- proxies, winsock, TCP/IP, firewall, IPsec, the BITS queue -- as well as IE and Chrome policies.

Continue reading

Samsung shows us what's new in Android Marshmallow [Infographic]

marshmallows

OK... for now it's still Android M, but there have been sufficient rumors and hints for us to safely guess that the follow up to Lollipop will be called Marshmallow*. Google has started to tease us with videos, and Samsung has unveiled its Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ which will be in line for an Android M update in due course.

But it's not just handsets that Samsung has produced. The company has also put together a handy infographic that highlights some of the new features of Android. Just what is in store? Quite a lot, actually.

Continue reading

Apple Watch welcomes fat wrists... for a price

fat_wrist

Not everyone has svelte wrists -- some hand hinges are as thick as thighs. Apple has decided that those with chunkier wrists no longer need to develop anorexia to be able to strap on an Apple Watch, releasing larger bands for the larger customer.

As well as a Sport band that comes in that all-important L/XL sizing, there's also an extender kit available for the metal bracelet. If you over-estimated the size of the Link Bracelet, or under-estimated the size of your wrist, you can slip in a few extra links to up the size to 245mm.

Continue reading

New Snowden documents show AT&T helped the NSA spy on internet traffic

att_logo

The NSA has been helped by AT&T for decades in spying on huge quantities of internet traffic new-disclosed documents reveal. The astonishing relationship between the National Security Agency and the telecoms company goes far beyond any sort of arrangement or co-operation that came from other firms.

Evidence published by the New York Times shows that the NSA had arrangements in place with AT&T and Verizon, but the partnership with AT&T proved particularly lucrative. The communications giant added surveillance equipment to at least 17 of its web centers and was used as a testing ground for new spying technologies and techniques. All this is revealed in a new batch of documents provided by Edward Snowden.

Continue reading

Why would Dell sell a business Chromebook that competes with Office and Windows 10?

huh what

The strangest, and largely overlooked news, coming out of the tech sector this week is Dell's Microsoft betrayal. This isn't the first time that the PC maker strayed. Linux joined the product stable long ago, and last year an educational Chromebook debuted. But this newer and larger model, which will be available September 17, raises question: WTF?

Dell's core PC market is business—small, large, and everything between. Windows, and that smattering of Linux, is core, and longstanding loyalty to Microsoft's application stack. But the Chromebook 13 announcement, as positioned by the OEM and Google, is all about the competing cloud app stack. Interestingly, selling prices rival Windows laptops, which is another head scratcher: $399 to $899, depending on configuration.

Continue reading

Microsoft stands accused of deleting Windows 10 Insider feedback it doesn't like

woman_with_fingers_in_ears

With Windows 10, Microsoft asked for an unprecedented level of feedback. The Windows Insider program not only provided keen users with access to preview builds of the operating system, but also gave a direct line to Microsoft to point out problems, make suggestions, request features, and so on.

In fact, the Windows Insider program is still running as Microsoft continues to ask for feedback. But the company faces accusations of not only failing to listen to the feedback it asks for, but deleting from the Feedback app and forums any suggestions it does not like. Highlighted for particular attention are suggestions about tabs in File Explorer, and requests to remove email addresses from Windows 10's lock screen. We decided to take a look and find out what is going on.

Continue reading

President Obama arrives on Spotify and creates playlists for everyone

Obama

Do you want to hear music chosen by President Barrack Obama? If you use Spotify then you'll be in luck. The company is one of the leading music streaming services in the increasingly competitive market. Now it has scored a big win, landing one of the world's most well known leaders.

Spotify announces the arrival of POTUS and seems quite excited about the arrival. You can't really blame them, it's not everyday that the President adopts your service.

Continue reading

Load More Articles