2015 Predictions: It's about the money, stupid!
It’s time, finally, for my long-delayed 2015 predictions. Things just kept changing so fast I had to keep re-writing, but have finally stopped. 2015 will definitely be the Year of Monetization, by which I mean it’s the year when the bottom line and showing profits will become a key motivator in almost every market. And while profit -- like beer -- is generally good, it isn’t always good for everyone.
So here are my 10 predictions in no particular order.
Silicon Power Slim S85 and Velox V85 SSDs are 'gaming-grade', up to 960GB
If you are into PC gaming, then you probably have a really sweet computer. I'm sure it has a powerful graphics card and a ton of RAM, but what about storage? If your operating system is running from a traditional spinning hard drive, your computer is lame. All the cool kids have solid state drives and if you do not, then you are truly missing out.
Don't worry though, there are plenty of SSDs on the market, and prices have been dropping lately. Today, Silicon Power announces two new such drives, with a big emphasis on gaming. If you are looking to achieve faster load times for games, or just an overall performance boost, you should definitely take notice.
CNN and MSNBC embrace Microsoft's Bing Pulse for Obama State of the Union
My feelings about President Obama are irrelevant, but one thing is very relevant; the issues. Regardless of whom is president, you should pay attention to what he or she says, so you can be knowledgeable about your country.
If you are someone that actually cares about issues, you are in luck. You see, both CNN and MSNBC are embracing Bing Pulse during Obama's State of the Union. What does this mean? Rather than just consume the speech, you can interact with it by digitally agreeing or disagreeing with the Commander in Chief.
Google has lost control of Apple
Maybe disposing of Android creator Andy Rubin was dumb. Maybe buying into the "Year of Chromebook" meme was dumber. Maybe making strategic decisions in anticipation of European Union trustbusters was even dumber. Maybe selling Motorola was dumbest. Take your pick, or add to the list, because all of the above apply. Google has squandered what should be in 2015 platform riches, ceding to Apple what shouldn't have been.
In October 2009, I asserted (before anyone else) that "iPhone cannot win the smartphone wars", as the stage was set for Android and iOS to mimic the platform battle between Windows and Macs during the PC era. By the large number of Android devices shipped that analysis is true today. But Apple's mobile platform wins the mindshare—and by other measures profit-share—wars, something Google could have, and should have, easily prevented. Time is overdue for course correction that requires smarts, not dumb-ass thinking.
UK man arrested for Christmas Xbox Live and PlayStation Network attacks
Cyber crime investigators have arrested an 18-year-old man in the UK for the attacks of the Xbox Live and PlayStation Network that took place over Christmas. This is something that Lizard Squad has claimed responsibility for, but at the moment it is not clear whether the man who has been arrested is associated with the group.
South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) worked in conjunction with the FBI and the UK's National Cyber Crime Unit to home in on the unnamed man believed to have been involved in the DDoS attacks. Thousands of gamers had their Christmases spoiled after the gaming networks were rendered inaccessible, leading Sony to offer compensation to those affected.
Frequent flyer miles no longer safe as American and United airlines get hacked
Those who travel regularly count on the frequent flyer miles that almost all airlines offer. Customers use these to build up for free trips or upgrades to a better class seating section. But what happens when these miles get swiped away from you? American and United airlines are finding out.
Both flight providers have experienced theft of these miles, carried out by hackers that got hold of access from customer account information. The miles were used to book free trips and upgrades.
SONICable promises to charge your iPhone, iPad or Android device twice as fast
To compensate for that bigger, higher-resolution screen, faster processor and other power-hungry components, manufacturers put larger batteries inside our smartphones and tablets. Batteries have evolved very little over the past couple of years, so increasing their size feels like a logical thing to do. After all, who wants a big and fast device that lasts only a couple of hours with light usage? It would be terrible.
However, having a bigger battery also means longer charging times, excruciatingly long if you charge your device using a PC. So what can you do about it? Well, you can get SONICable, a new charging cable which promises to charge your iPhone, iPad or Android device twice as fast.
IObit launches safe payment environment for mobile users
Perhaps best known for its SystemCare products for Windows, software company IObit is launching a new version of its Android app, AMC Security.
AMC Security is a combined security and device optimization app. Among the new premium features included in this release is Payment Guard, which is designed to protect mobile users' financial data and the mobile payment and banking process.
Best Windows 8 apps this week
One-hundred and fourteen in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8 in the past seven days.
Microsoft is expected to release a new version of its upcoming operating system Windows 10 on January 21 to the public which should shed more light on the company's plans in regards to its Windows operating system.
Android 5.0.2 Lollipop now available for 2013 Nexus 7, 10 -- here's how you can install and update
Android 5.0 Lollipop is far from perfect, arriving with nasty bugs that have affected battery life, performance, Wi-Fi and more. The first update that Google launched, version 5.0.1, managed to fix some of the problems users have reported, but some major ones persist even to this day. Personally, I am seeing my 2013 Wi-Fi Nexus 7 running excruciatingly slow at times, even with the first update in tow.
Fortunately, Google also launched a second update not long after the first, which fixes even more bugs, however it only launched it for the first-generation Nexus 7. Now, the search giant is making Android 5.0.2 Lollipop available for the 2013 Wi-Fi Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 as well, in the form of new factory images.
The cost of dealing with false positive malware alerts
False positives are often accepted as a fact of life with anti-virus programs but a new survey commissioned by breach detection specialist Damballa reveals that they have a significant cost for businesses.
The study produced by the Ponemon Institute reveals that enterprises spend $1.3 million a year dealing with false positive cyber security alerts, which equals nearly 21,000 hours in wasted time.
Build web galleries, slideshows with Arclab Thumb Studio
If you’d like to share a set of images then you could email them to a few recipients, maybe upload them to Facebook or Twitter.
But if you need more professional results then you might be interested in Arclab Thumb Studio, a powerful freeware tool for building HTML galleries, slideshows and more.
Fast forward to the 1980s as the cassette player makes a comeback
For anyone under 30 it may be hard to remember a time when you shared your musical tastes via mixtapes rather than playlists, when the top of every bus shelter was adorned by a broken cassette trailing yards of tape, and when loading a home computer program involved a tense few minutes hoping that you wouldn't suffer a read error before the end of the tape.
Well, prepare for a wave of hissing and clicking nostalgia as the cassette player seems to be making a comeback. According to UK catalog retailer Argos sales of cassette players over the past three months are 45 percent higher than the same period last year.
War is declared: US and UK to engage in cyber attacks
The US and UK usually get on pretty well, but plans are afoot for the two nations to stage cyberwar on each other. Later this year, Wall Street and the City of London will be subjected to a series of attacks that is being described as "unprecedented".
But this does not signal a breakdown in the "special relationship" that extends across the Atlantic, rather the "war games" are part of a venture between the two countries to help improve security. The aim is to expand information sharing in a bid to stave off real cyber attacks that could be launched by other nations.
Facebook's Internet.org delivers free online access to Colombia
Facebook’s Internet.org app, providing free online access in developing countries, has just launched in Colombia.
The service, which lets users access a number of web-based services such as Wikipedia, health and employment information, and Facebook without paying data-charges, had already launched in three African countries.
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