Year after year computers increase in power. Processors become faster and gain more cores, memory also speeds up and becomes more plentiful. But we're reaching the limits of what can be achieved with current technology -- a real sea change is needed to take things to the next level. Many futurists have set their sights on the possibilities encompassed in quantum computing.

Eschewing the binary states of 1 and 0, bits are replaced with qubits which can hold three states -- on, off, or both at the same time. This introduces the opportunity for much greater computing power, but also introduces more opportunities for errors to creep in. Now IBM engineers have found a new way to detect and correct errors, hopefully creating the building block on which future quantum computers may be built.

Early yesterday afternoon, LG Watch Urbane arrived from Verizon. Turnaround is quick for anyone who wants one right way, rather than waiting for Google to ship (now 1-2 days rather than by May 8). I am rushing a first-impressions review, and some comparison to the Moto 360 is mandatory. If round is your taste, consider one of these two smartwatches.

Meantime, to collect my thoughts for the review and for anyone considering the Urbane, I share something sooner. Overall, I am satisfied with the initial out-of-the-box experience. Urbane is gorgeous and looks like a traditional watch. The always-on, dimmed face contributes to the effect—without bleeding dry the charge. The watch is also more functional as a timepiece, as such. I mean, shouldn't it be?

Look, I know what you are thinking -- you are the next YouTube star, right? Of course you are. You have watched and studied Pewdiepie, iJustine and Barnacules, and you think you can get rich using Google's video service. While getting famous from YouTube is not probable, it can't hurt to try.

Unfortunately, your hardware probably sucks. Investing in a quality video camera or web cam seems like a no-brainer, but don't forget the importance of audio; you will need a microphone. Today, Razer releases the Seirēn Pro mic aimed at professional YouTube vloggers and gamers. An update to the standard Seirēn, this Pro model gains XLR and a High-Pass Filter Toggle.

Two thirds of UK companies will continue running Windows Server 2003, after Microsoft cuts the support for the service on 14 July, a recent report has shown.

The continued use of a program with no developer support leaves the user open to many risks, it says in the report called Windows Server 2003 (WS2K3) End-of-Life Survey, conducted by endpoint security specialist Bit9 + Carbon Black.

Microsoft has confirmed that it is buying "advanced digital pen technology" from stylus manufacturer N-Trig. The company is behind the Surface pen and the acquisition sees Microsoft bringing more of its hardware production in-house.

The acquisition follows on from rumors that surfaced earlier in the year, and Microsoft has already been working closely with the company for several years now.

Family photos, landscapes, animals, celebs, even live video: there’s no shortage of wallpaper options, or programs to help you change from one image to another.

While this seems like a good idea at first, there are potential problems. Really detailed images can be a distraction -- especially when they’re changing all the time -- and can make it harder to read icon captions.

Mozilla plans to phase out HTTP support in Firefox, in a push to make browsing more secure. The organization wants websites to go all-in with HTTPS, revealing that it will leverage access to some of its browser's features and make proposals to The World Wide Web Consortium to get the ball rolling.

Mozilla's move may be seen as a way to strong-arm lots of website administrators into supporting HTTPS, as, after all, Firefox is the third most-popular browser today, with a desktop usage share of 11.7 percent. The protocol requires the purchase of a certificate, increasing website running costs, which can become a problem for smaller businesses.

When Microsoft announced it was planning a summer release for Windows 10, there were some raised eyebrows. When AMD suggested the new OS would launch in July, there were a lot more raised eyebrows. Windows 10 is coming on nicely, but there’s still a lot of work to do to get everything done and dusted in time.

It turns out Microsoft agrees. While Windows 10 will be released in the summer (not "July", just "summer"), it will only be available for desktop PCs, at first.

Antivirus software produced by Qihoo 360 has been stripped of awards by three leading security testers after it was found to have cheated. AV‐Comparatives, AV‐TEST and Virus Bulletin discovered that Chinese company Qihoo 360 submitted one version of its software for testing, but then released a different one.

The publicly released version of the software had a key virus detection engine disabled, resulting in a lower level of protection for users. As a result of the findings, the security testing bodies are not only revoking any awards given to the software this year, but also calling for greater transparency so consumers know what they are getting.

Today electric carmaker Tesla Motors debuts into a new product category -- the second after cars -- called Tesla Energy. The company shows off new batteries designed to power homes, businesses, and even public utilities. The batteries called Powerwall will store solar energy and serve as a backup system during power outage. The batteries will be available for sale in US this Summer. It will eventually launch at other places as well.

At an event in Los Angeles, Tesla Motors Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk says that Tesla Energy holds the power to change the entire energy infrastructure in the world. "This is within the power of humanity to do," he says. "We have done things like this before. It is not impossible... In a lot of ways it's taking derivative technology from the car".

The new trend on mobile is anonymous messaging apps capable of hiding all personal information, while allowing thousands of people to converse on one platform.

It looks like not all of the apps are making a killing. Co-founder of Secret, David Byttow announced he would be closing the application and deleting all the content in the coming weeks, following the steady rise of apps like Whisper and Yik Yak, which appeal to the same demographic as Secret.

Microsoft has announced the first public preview of Visual Studio Code, a free cross-platform developer’s editor for Windows, Mac and Linux.

As you’d expect with this kind of tool, there’s syntax highlighting, autocompletion, bracket matching and similar support for a lot of languages: C++, jade, PHP, Python, XML, Batch, F#, DockerFile, Coffee Script, Java, HandleBars, R, Objective-C, PowerShell, Luna, Visual Basic, Markdown, JavaScript, JSON, HTML, CSS, LESS, SASS, C# and TypeScript, with more to come,

In the world of wearables, Microsoft Band may not hold the same gravitas as Apple Watch or the various Android Wear devices, but the company is still trying to get more developers on board -- today launching the Microsoft Band SDK, following on from February's preview release.

With support for Windows Phone, Android, iOS, and full-blown Windows, Microsoft is clearly keen to appeal to as many developers as possible. This full SDK release offers access to all of Band's sensors -- as part of a push to get more third-party apps on the device.

What if you manufactured a low-cost, underpowered laptop -- and the configuration suddenly turned into a massive marketing advantage? That may well be the opportunity ahead for Google and its Chromebook OEM partners; if they seize the opportunity.

As we reported Wednesday, Gartner predicts that currency devaluation will compel major computer manufacturers to raise prices by as much as 10 percent, particularly across Europe and in Japan. Higher prices mean more customers will do with leaner configurations, and choose sub-$500 systems. Meanwhile, PC makers will give purchasers less for more money, cutting back features to preserve margins while shifting sales priorities to markets where currencies are more buoyant. What is Chromebook already? A lean, low-cost PC in that price category but better optimized for hardware.

The older I get, the less aware I am of the current popular musicians. If I hear a pleasing song while I am at the store or chilling at Starbucks, it would be awkward to ask one of the younger and hipper people to identify it for me -- that is about as uncool as one can get. Luckily, thanks to technology, I can use my smartphone to discover name of both the song an artist.

Today, both Shazam and TuneIn announce a partnership with Google to integrate their app functionality into the Google app on Android. What does this mean? You can call upon Google with the familiar "OK Google" followed by "Shazam This Song". The Shazam app will then attempt to identify a song using your devices microphone. You can use similar functionality to play music with TuneIn Radio.