The holy grail of marketing is to be able to understand what your customers want and then to adapt your communications accordingly to make them more effective.

Achieving this of course isn't easy so companies are always on the lookout for ways to learn more about their customers. Boston-Based QuickPivot (formerly called Extraprise) is launching a new marketing platform to allow marketers in any industry to derive customer insight, listen to brand interactions and then adapt campaigns with highly optimized messages and offers.

Continue reading →

Modern programs are so complex that bugs are pretty much unavoidable, but Microsoft is looking at ways of reducing coding errors as much as possible, including trialling an experimental approach that involves monitoring developers as they work.

The idea is to track eye movements and other mental and physical characteristics of the developers, in order to spot when their alertness levels drop or they are struggling with a task -- which is when errors are most likely to creep into their work.

Continue reading →

Home entertainment has been in the news a lot lately. This past week Microsoft, which positioned its new Xbox One as an entertainment device just as much as it is a games console, announced it would be killing off its own entertainment studio. While that takes original content off the table, there are many choices still available, giving Xbox One owners plenty to watch.

With Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, and the recently announced Android TV, viewing choices abound. What would once have been thought of as a computer, now resides in an entertainment center, sometimes in very small form factors -- Chromecast is nothing more than an HDMI stick that resembles a thumb drive. Roku, Google TV, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV are incredibly small boxes.

Continue reading →

The official Twitter app may be good enough for casual Windows Phone use, but only a third-party client has all the right features for the social network's power users. While there already are a couple of good picks available in Store, the arrival of Tweetium, best known as one of the most fully-featured Twitter clients for Windows 8.x, just beefed-up the selection.

The developer, B-side Software, has released Tweetium as a beta. It is meant to be tested just by "select" existing "customers", according to its Store description, but we can still take a look.

Continue reading →

Microsoft might have seen sales of the Xbox One more than double in June, but the games console is still being outsold by Sony’s PS4, according to industry-tracking firm NPD Group.

While the uncoupling of the Kinect and introduction of a $399 base model has caused a clear sales spike it will likely be some time before we see whether that's enough to help the Xbox One catch up to its rival.

Continue reading →

When it comes to productivity, no tablet is as good as the Surface Pro 3. Of course, that tablet also comes at a very high price. While the price is justified for a laptop or desktop replacement, it wouldn't make financial sense to purchase it as a companion to an existing Windows computer. Sure, you could go with a small-screen Windows tablet, but currently, app selection isn't too great (it is getting better though). In the mean time, an Apple or Android tablet would serve as a better companion.

In my testing, I have found the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 to be the current king of companion tablets, beating out the iPad Air. However, Samsung's tablet is very capable of creation too. In theory, you may be able to use it as your main computer. Logitech wants to help with that -- its Type-S keyboard cover turns the Galaxy Tab S into a mini laptop. But is it good?

Continue reading →

It was quite a coup for HOPE (Hackers On Planet Earth). At the 2014 hacker event, Hope X, in New York City this weekend, Edward Snowden delivered a speech to those in attendance, advocating the use of encryption online. The former NSA analyst was not at the event himself -- he's still holed up in Moscow -- but he called on those present to help to protect privacy online. Speaking via a video link Snowden said: "You in this room, right now have both the means and the capability to improve the future by encoding our rights into programs and protocols by which we rely every day".

It was a great piece of work keeping the presentation a secret. There were, of course, fears that Snowden's appearance would somehow be thwarted: "We had to keep this bombshell quiet til the last minute since some of the most powerful people in the world would prefer that it never take place." There were certainly risks involved, but it was a risk worth taking. "[Snowden's] revelations of the massive NSA surveillance programs confirmed the suspicions of many and shocked those who haven’t been paying attention".

Continue reading →

It has taken a little while, a surprising amount actually, but Amazon has released the first TV ad for its new phone. The Fire Phone is the retailer's great hope to compete against the likes of iPhone and Android -- though it does technically run the latter OS. However, customers would be hard-pressed to know this, given the extensive customization made to the mobile platform.

The new video runs half a minute, the perfect length for a quick television spot. It features children using the device and saying the usual array of cute things to endear adults to them.

Continue reading →

In February, I foolishly spent 50-odd bucks for QPlay, the streaming TV player for iPad, which I used with the Air. The user experience was terrible from the start and never got better over the miserable months that followed. Slow. Stuttering. Stopped.

Today, the startup sent me email that the service bustup. Doors close July 25, so lend your QPlay to your worst enemy while you still can for some streaming mayhem and frustration.

Continue reading →

BitTorrent has been branching out over the past year, introducing new products such as Sync and Chat, both being encrypted and with a promise that user data is protected. Now the organization is looking to test a new product, but information is scant.

BitTorrent posted a short and mysterious blog post asking for testers to try out a new product, which it claims is for web browsers.

Continue reading →

In the second of our (hopefully) regular competitions, we have quite a treat for you. You've read the headline so you should know what's up for grabs, but if you missed it, the prize is a year's subscription to Office 365 Home worth $99.99.

Microsoft has very kindly donated a full subscription for us to give away, but this is more than just one copy of the world-famous office suite -- you can install Office 365 Home on up to five PCs or Macs, as well as five tablets. Enough for all the family!

Continue reading →

There are a lot of weird people on the internet, into all sorts of bizarre fetishes, interests and behaviors -- I wont judge. Well, maybe I will condemn Bronies. However, I too have a very strange fetish -- PC hardware. Yes, I love drooling over pictures of PCI cards, power supplies and motherboards to name a few.

Today, ASUS' "Republic of Gamers" enthusiast brand announces a beautiful piece of hardware -- the Maximus VII Formula. What is it? A super-sexy motherboard. If you are a tech nerd, this should definitely get your motor running.

Continue reading →

In a lengthy interview with the Guardian, NSA whistle blower Edward Snowden spoke with editor Alan Rusbridger about his extraordinary rise to infamy. Currently in exile in Russia, he talked about how he disseminated documents about the activities of the NSA to numerous countries: "Once you start splitting them over jurisdictions and things like that it becomes much more difficult to subvert their intentions. Nobody could stop it". He remains defiant. He may be an outlaw but "it’s been vindicating to see the reaction from lawmakers, judges, public bodies around the world, civil liberties activists who have said it’s true that we have a right to at least know the broad outlines of what our government’s doing in our name and what it’s doing against us".

He explains how during his time working as an NSA analyst, he learned about previous surveillance programs run under George W Bush. Programs that were deemed unconstitutional and, having been closed, forced the US government to assume new executive powers that were then used "against the citizenry of its own country".  For Snowden the power of the state is worrying:

Continue reading →

Google has started to roll out Google Maps for Android 8.2, focusing its attention of cyclists with the addition of some handy new features.

The app also introduces voice control for vehicle navigation, effectively turning the user’s Android mobile or tablet into a GPS navigation system.

Continue reading →

Dashlane, Inc has released Dashlane 3.0 for Windows and Mac, a major new build of its secure password management tool. The new release is joined by Dashlane 2.7 for iOS, which has been updated to work with version 3.

Version 3 sports a completely redesigned user interface, adds a number of new tools, including a Sharing Center, Emergency Contacts section and a simpler way of viewing password histories.

Continue reading →