Latest Technology News

Piriform has released the first beta for CCleaner 5.0, its popular system cleanup tool.

The only change so far is the move to a flat interface, and even that is largely cosmetic. Functions and features are organized just as they were before, but the toolbar icons are replaced by plain stencils, and the title bar is now also a stark-looking white, whatever your Windows settings happen to be.

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The Linux kernel is constantly evolving and adapting; there is a reason it has seen great success on servers and mobile devices. On the desktop, however, Linux-based operating systems hold a paltry amount of usage share; it is almost non-existent in the grand scheme of things. With that said, many modern Linux distributions are very usable, easy to install, and have great support communities.

While I am a Fedora user, there is only one Linux distro that I suggest to people -- Linux Mint. Why? Well, it is a very easy-to-use operating system, and for people coming from Windows, it can look rather familiar. The people behind Mint are very accommodating too; they actually listen to users! Since it is based on Ubuntu, there are tons of packages available, for which you can use the popular APT package manager when needed. Today, a release candidate (RC) of Linux Mint 17.1 'Rebecca' becomes available -- download it now.

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When Microsoft entered the console business, it was quite the perplexing move. An American company competing with Sega, Nintendo, and Sony? Crazy! Fast-forward to 2014 -- Sega has exited the console business, Nintendo's Wii U is a massive flop, but Microsoft is still going strong. While Sony's PlayStation 4 is the current leader regarding shipped consoles, the Xbox One is a close second. Based on recent sales and consumer interest, Microsoft's console can conceivably catch up.

Either way, the Xbox brand overall has been a runaway success that has exceeded the expectations of consumers and analysts alike. Hell, I bet Microsoft is surprised at how competitive its consoles have been. Today, Xbox celebrates a 13th birthday -- the video game brand is a teenager.

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Apple's Senior Vice President of Design, Jony Ive, used an interview at London's Design Museum to lash out at design copycats. He touched on many topics, including suggesting that design schools rely too heavily on computers, the "theft" of Apple designs, and explaining why the design of Apple's own products is formulaic.

In conversation with Deyan Sudjic, director of the Design Museum, Ive also said that Apple does not exist to make money. This will come as news to most people -- including, perhaps, Apple itself -- particularly as the company is currently the most valuable brand in the world. He insists that integrity is at the very heart of Apple, and that any money that may come rolling in is merely "a consequence".

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A month ago we reported that Apple is the most valuable brand in the world. This ranking was based on figures published by Interbrand, but things have been improving for the Nadella-led company in recent weeks. Since then, Microsoft is creeping up the charts when looked at in terms of market capitalization -- the number of company shares multiplied by the price of a share.

Microsoft now finds itself overtaking oil giant Exxon as it jumps to second place in the global rankings. Apple remains in the top slot. The move up the charts was helped not only by Exxon getting hit by a slump in global oil prices, but also by an increase in Microsoft's share prices.

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Advanced SystemCare 8 Pro is a comprehensive suite of tools which aims to clean, optimize and generally speed up your PC.

There's plenty of competition around, but SystemCare impresses immediately with its lengthy feature list. It doesn't just empty your temporary folders and display Windows startup programs: the package also removes malware, cleans and defragments the Registry, updates software and drivers, manages browser plugins, undeletes files, optimises internet settings, fixes common Windows problems, finds duplicate files, and a whole lot more.

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There is, perhaps, no place the Google Street View team will not go, including national parks around the US. The crew has traveled around the world, and even beneath the oceans. Now the team is honoring the IUCN World Parks Congress, which is taking place in Sydney, Australia this time around. The meeting happens only once per decade, so it's a big deal.

In celebration, Google has trekked 21 parks and 27 underwater spots in an effort to bring them to your desktop. There was some help, and this came about through a partnership with New South Wales National Parks and Catlin Seaview Survey.

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Facebook’s stable of apps lead the way in Western Europe and around the world when it comes to user engagement on social media and messaging apps.

Mobidia’s new "Social Media & Messaging Engagement: Chat, Social, Videoconferencing, Rich Media and VoIP Apps" white paper found that social and chat apps dominate the top end of the mobile app usage scale and Facebook is a huge part of why.

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Wearable technology is here, though not everyone seems to be on board with the 'trend'. Still, the market is growing and existing products are evolving to do more. Pebble has just released a new batch of updates featuring the ability to order Domino's pizza, new watchfaces and several other apps available to its customers.

Now Asus, known for its computers and tablets, is releasing its entry into the market, announcing the ZenWatch. The new model is utilizing AndroidWear and features a classy look, with a nice face and stitched leather band.

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Cloud computing is growing at such a pace that it is becoming the "new normal" with businesses and enterprises turning to it without giving a second thought to on-premise offerings.

Amazon Web Services [AWS], one of the world’s largest cloud providers, used its re:invent conference in Las Vegas to push the cloud’s popularity that has meant upwards of a million customers are using its cloud services -- a number that continues to increase by the day.

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I get it -- you own a tablet and don't think you need a dedicated e-ink based e-reader. While I respect your opinion, I must tell you that it is wrong. Sure, reading a book on a back-lit LCD display is passable, but hardly a good experience. Not only can this be fatiguing to your eyes, but most tablets are unusable as a reader in direct sunlight. If you read a lot, you want to go e-ink.

So yes, there are benefits in owning an e-ink based e-reader, and quite frankly, it is affordable. Amazon's entry-level reader is a paltry $79 -- a great value. Today, the value of the retailer's newest readers increase, as an update introduces many cool new features.

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Installed apps are becoming a thing of the past. Microsoft is just one of a raft of technology companies gradually moving to the cloud and the latest display of this is a new beta version of Skype for Web. The messaging tool has been designed to be used in a web browser without the need for plugins, extensions or other software. At least that is the aim. During the beta stages you'll still have to install a small plugin.

Work being carried out by the Internet Explorer developers should bring plugin-free Real-Time Communications (RTC) to browsers in the near future, and Skype for Web will be able to take advantage of this. The beta is not being made available to everyone straight away, so you'll need to check your account to see if you can try it out.

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Microsoft has released a couple of Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 builds for devices enrolled in the Preview for Developers Program. Virtually all changes have been made under-the-hood, as Microsoft has seemingly focused on refining the user experience and enabling, rather than introducing new features.

Now though, we have a new Preview for Developers build -- still Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1, version 14203.306 -- which adds a number of very useful user-facing features, some of which you might want to take advantage of right away.

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One-hundred and seven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8 in the last seven days.

Microsoft released a new Windows 10 preview build this week. With it comes an option to remove the Task View and Search buttons from the taskbar, new gestures, native MKV support and more. Check out Wayne's post on what is new and changed here. App of the week is Halo Channel, a new information app for all things Halo. It features video clips, movies, live streams, and lots of information about the Halo universe.

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We're now on the third public build of Windows 10 Technical Preview. Build 9879 addresses some of the concerns people had with build 9860 -- including the ability to kill the infuriating Search and Task View buttons without the need for hackery. One of the biggest changes (or at least the most obvious) in Windows 10 is the reappearance of the Start menu, although the Start Screen is still there as an option.

In presentations, Microsoft has made reference to Continuum (a new version of the Start menu), but we're yet to get hands on with it. This changes in Windows 10 Technical Preview build 9879 as it is possible to enable an embryonic (no, rudimentary -- I referred to Windows 10 itself as being embryonic) version of Continuum. Want to take a look at a new Start screen? Here’s what you need to do.

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