uTorrent adds smarter peer selection, integrated BitTorrent Bundle
BitTorrent has announced the availability of uTorrent 3.4, the latest edition of its popular file-sharing tool.
The most obvious change is the (optional) integration of BitTorrent Bundle. Click in the left-hand sidebar and you can browse licensed content from Moby, Madonna and more, downloading whatever you like for free (although you’ll probably need to provide your email address).
Google rolling out new Maps interface for the desktop
Google continues to enhance its Maps offering, combining it with Street View to bring comprehensive coverage of every possible area -- even trails in national parks. Now the search giant is announcing more improvements will be arriving on customers' desktops very soon.
"It’s now even easier to plan your next trip, check live traffic conditions, discover what’s happening around town, and learn about a new area -- with Pegman’s help if needed", states Brian McClendon, vice president of Google Maps.
Google needs to do something about Nest’s birdbrained support
I purchased four Nest Protect wired smoke detectors direct from Nest at the end of January. I live in the UK, they were shipped from Holland, and so took five days to arrive. No big deal. I got an electrician friend round to fit them, and he made an interesting discovery -- the power cables connected to my existing smoke detectors were dead (the devices still worked as they were running off batteries, and past false alarms showed they were linked together, so there was no safety risk). The only way to connect my new Nest devices was to do a massive rewiring job. I decided to speak to Nest and swap my wired models for wireless battery ones.
You’d imagine this would be a simple and painless task. But Nest, which was recently purchased by Google for $3.2 billion and produces intelligent hardware, has possibly the least intelligent returns policy in place. Four phone calls later, and I still have my wired Nest devices because the company has what has to be a contender for the worst support ever.
Nokia Lumia Icon is now available, but will you buy it?
The Nokia Lumia Icon is an interesting smartphone, and an interesting Windows Phone alike. It offers Qualcomm's top-of-the-line processor, plenty of internal storage, a good camera and a 1080p display, all in an attractive package. But it is not available for your carrier, unless it is called Verizon. Hey, you know Nokia, the company loves exclusives.
Microsoft's and Verizon's stores now carry the Lumia Icon, just a week after it was officially unveiled (but we knew the details long before the announcement). The smartphone can be had, in either black or white, for the usual, flagship-price of $199.99 when purchased on a two-year contract. It can also be had with a month-to-month contract, for $549.99, or an Edge plan, for $23.06 per month.
New threat intelligence platform speeds up investigation of security incidents
In today's complex cyber threat landscape it can be difficult and costly to investigate and respond to security incidents.
IT departments are often too focused on getting systems back online to spend time looking into the cause of the problem. With its new InSight platform AccessData wants to help enterprises better manage their data risks.
LG plays the miniaturizing game too, unveils G2 mini
Android vendors may like to announce bigger smartphones (because, bigger is better, isn't it?), but they also launch smaller versions of their flagships, to cater to a larger audience. Samsung has the Galaxy S4 Mini, HTC has the One mini and, now, LG takes the wraps off G2 mini. Heck, even the indicative has a small first letter.
The downsizing applies to the physical dimensions, as the screen is now a 4.7-inch unit with a resolution of 540 by 960, and also to the internals. LG has chosen not to severely underpower its new smartphone. Compared to its big brother, it still offers a quad-core processor in both the 3G and 4G trims, but those cannot compare to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 in the G2.
Back up all your browser profiles with Hekasoft Backup and Restore
Bookmarks, history, cookies, settings -- browsers store a great deal of valuable data, and backing this up occasionally could be a very good idea. But it’s not easy, as most browsers don’t provide any tools to help.
Hekasoft Backup and Restore provides a simple answer. It’s a straightforward free tool which makes it easy to back up and restore user profiles for all the main browsers, most of the minor ones, and a few other packages as well.
More people spend via their phones as the world goes "mobile first"
Mobile advertising company InMobi has announced the results of its 2014 Mobile Media Consumption Report.
Based on research covering over 14,000 respondents in 14 countries, the findings show that we’re increasingly living in a "mobile first" world with 60 percent now using a mobile as their primary or only means of going online.
96 percent of applications have security vulnerabilities -- and it's getting worse... or better
Publishing its Application Vulnerability Trends Report, Cenzic states that virtually all of the applications it tested had at least one security vulnerability. A staggering 96 percent of apps exhibited security issues, and it looks as though things are on a downward spiral.
In a similar report published last year, it was found that the median number of flaws was 13; this year it has increased to 14. So it appears as though things are getting worse... but is this the full story?
Office Online replaces the cumbersome Web Apps, Microsoft admits its mistakes
After launching SkyDrive replacement OneDrive yesterday, Microsoft announced, today, Office Web Apps is also out of its cloud lineup and, instead, Office Online is here to take its place. To prove that the change is not for change's sake, the software giant designed the new suite to be easier to find, with other new features also being offered.
Office Online takes a first step in the right direction, as it is available directly from Office.com, unlike the now-defunct Office Web Apps which users had to access via SkyDrive. The former's address is easy to remember and, indeed, makes it easy to find. And it is not just Office Online available there, but also Outlook.com and the complementary Calendar, People and OneDrive. More consumer-facing, cloud-based Microsoft services listed in one place is a clever strategy, especially when it is combined with a streamlined page design. Marketing starts there for the online version of Office.
As Seen on TV: ThreeDrive, from CringeCo
My e-mail inbox this morning contains 118,306 messages totaling about seven gigabytes. I really should so something about that but who has the time? So I keep a lot of crap around longer than I should. I have, for example, every message I have sent or received since 1992 when I registered cringely.com. Those obviously occupy a lot more than seven gigabytes, though interestingly enough the total is less than 20 GB. My storage strategy has been a mixed bag of disks and cloud services and probably stuff I’ve forgotten along the way. So I’ve decided to clean it up by standardizing on Microsoft’s OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive) cloud storage service, just relaunched with its new name. I need about 30 GB of storage right now but I don’t want to pay for anything.
No problemo.
Facebook to buy WhatsApp for 19 billion dollars -- but why?
WhatsApp messenger has gained quite the following. This is kind of surprising though, as services like Google Hangouts and iMessage already exist. I've never understood the allure of the service, outside the potential for "free" messages if someone does not have an unlimited text plan. I can't imagine that is too many people -- after all, many carriers offer inexpensive unlimited texting. The most glaring negative is that the other party has to install the app too. Why not just use Google Hangouts? Or Skype? Or Facebook Messenger?
Yes, Facebook already has a messenger protocol and a dedicated messenger app. It is pretty good too, it offers read receipts and locations -- I use it quite a bit. With that said, Facebook announces it is purchasing WhatsApp for a staggering 19 billion dollars. Wait -- what!?
Google Fiber explores expansion to more cities
You can't throw a rock without hitting someone who's fed up with their ISP. Services like Comcast are becoming an increasingly worrisome problem in today's world. Google provides its own ISP, but it is sadly only available in rather limited markets. And by limited, we are not kidding, there only three -- Kansas City, Provo and Austin.
However, those cities won't be able to feel special for much longer, because the search giant is considering more locales for its high-end ISP service. "We want to help build more ultra-fast networks. So we’ve invited cities in nine metro areas around the US -- 34 cities altogether -- to work with us to explore what it would take to bring them Google Fiber", states Google's Milo Medin.
Microsoft gets a Spice Girl on Skype -- ask her what you want, what you really, really want (to know)
If you wanna be my lover, you've got to...err, enough of that. If there is one thing that technology enthusiasts love, it's the Spice Girls. Yes, their girl-power pop is the soundtrack for computer programmers, gamers and IT professionals the world over. In the BetaNews newsroom, we often have arguments over which Spice Girl is best. While I am partial to Baby Spice, Mark loves Scary.
However, many people love Posh Spice, otherwise known as Victoria Beckham. After all, she is married to the dreamy soccer player, David Beckham. Besides being a great singer, she is also a fashion designer. Today, Microsoft announces that it has managed to get her on Skype to field fashion-related questions from fans.
FlightGear 3 improves scenery and aircraft models, now faster, easier to use
The FlightGear team has announced the availability of FlightGear 3.0, the latest edition of its powerful open source flight simulator.
A host of scenery enhancements mean the program looks better than ever. Smarter atmosphere rendering delivers more natural haze and fog, a global sea map ensures that ocean color now changes with depth, there are improved random building textures, and the new Scenery 2.0 delivers improved road and terrain data.
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