The Amazon Fire TV has become a solid competitor in today's set-top box market, competing with Roku, Apple TV and others. It works especially well for those who are Prime subscribers, as the service is completely integrated into the tiny box.

But Prime is not all you can do with Fire TV, other apps, like Hulu and Netflix, were available at launch and Amazon promised more on the way. That time has arrived, and the company is celebrating in its usual manner. That is, offering discounts on the device.

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USB 3.0 Promoter Group announces that the much-awaited USB Type-C connector, which can be plugged in both ways, is now finally ready to enter mass production. It makes way for faster transfer speeds, courtesy of the USB 3.1 standard, increased power delivery, more compact device designs and, arguably, fewer moments of frustration thanks to its reversible orientation, which is similar to that of Apple's Lightning connector which launched in 2012.

"Interest in the USB Type-C connector has not only been global, but cross-industry as well", says USB 3.0 Promoter Group chairman Brad Saunders. "Representatives from the PC, mobile, automotive and IoT industries have been knocking down our door anticipating this new standard. This specification is the culmination of an extensive, cooperative effort among industry leaders to standardize the next generation USB connector as a long-lasting, robust solution". Here is what else you should know.

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It's been heralded the as future and celebrated as a beacon of technological advancement, but now analysts are branding the Internet of Things (IoT) as the most over-hyped technology in development today.

For the uninitiated, the concept of the Internet of Things is that one day the world will be completely connected on the web. It has been predicted that within five to ten years every object -- whether a fridge or a bed -- will have its own online presence.

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It is well known that Samsung has often been criticized for giving its premium smartphones a not-so-premium look and feel. But, in spite of all this, in the land of upscale Galaxy handsets, an all-plastic body, with a bland design, has always prevailed. Until now.

Today, Samsung finally shows us that a premium Galaxy smartphone can break away from the norm, as it reveals the new Galaxy Alpha boasting a metal frame and an attractive design. The device's main rival is likely to be Apple's upcoming iPhone 6, which is expected to ship with a similarly-sized display.

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Google's Chromebook is on the up and up, according to the latest report published by analyst firm Gartner.

This year, Gartner estimates that total Chromebook sales will hit 5.2 million, which is up 79 percent from 2013. Looking further out to 2017, the number of units sold should reach 14.4 million, in other words we're looking at a near tripling of sales inside three years. Which has to be music to Google's ears...

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SanDisk has unveiled a new super-fast tiny USB flash drive designed to appeal to media savvy customers that want top performance inside a small package.

The Ultra Fit USB 3.0 Flash Drive comes in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB incarnations and is designed to offer transfer speeds that are up to 10 times as fast as the current USB 2.0 flash drives on the market.

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Both businesses and home users now utilize server technology, it's a great way to backup files and keep things safe. But, perhaps it isn't quite as secure as many unsuspecting customers had thought. Synology, one of the leaders in the market, is now dealing with a Crytolocker-like threat, this one aptly name "Synolocker".

Much like its namesake, the software is ransomware, prepared to extort money from unsuspecting NAS customers. While this sounds like doom and gloom, it's actually only compatible with older versions of DiskStation Manager.

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Ninth in a series. User experience is an ongoing series of surprises -- discovery of something unexpected and useful when positive and discovery of annoying glitches when negative. Both evoke emotional responses. The latter is devastating as little frustrations build to crescendo. That's the state I near with my "Microsoft All-In" experiment. Dissatisfaction grows.

I started this journey on July 1, after buying Surface Pro 3. The tablet-hybrid promised so much, and my overall experience with the hardware is excellent. I can't say the same about the operating system, web browser, or supporting services. Clunky is good word. Think old car that runs well on the highway but sometimes stutters and stalls at stoplights. The overall UX is nowhere as smooth as Chrome OS or OS X.

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Although Windows XP’s end of life date was set in 2007, many firms failed to completely remove all trace of the aging OS by the time the deadline arrived. In fact, it’s claimed that around 53 percent of businesses still have XP running somewhere in their organizations.

End of support for Windows 7 is set for January 2020 (some way off still, and Microsoft may push it back further), but Gartner says firms need to start planning for it now if they want to avoid finding themselves in a similar situation as many did with XP.

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Much of the malware in circulation now focuses on using exploits in popular applications such as browsers and office packages in order to remotely execute code. Security suites and specialized anti-exploit tools are aimed at blocking these but how well do they work?

A new study by testing lab PCSL commissioned by Malwarebytes has set out to find the answer. It looks at the exploit mitigation capabilities of 12 different products: Avast Internet Security, AVG Internet Security, Bitdefender Internet Security, Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit from Microsoft, ESET Smart Security, HitmanPro.Alert3, Kaspersky Internet Security, Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit Premium, McAfee Internet Security, Norton Internet Security, Panda Internet Security and Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security.

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One of my favorite idioms is "Change is Constant". No group has had to embrace that motto more than IT Operations, especially in recent years. As if the daily changes weren’t enough, we all have one more big item to deal with, the End-of-Life for Windows Server 2003.

The official End-of-Life date for Windows Server 2003 is July 14, 2015 (that’s Bastille Day for you history buffs). For IT Operations teams large and small, the date looms like a doomsday clock. Why does this particular platform end-of-life and pending migration seem so ominous? The answer, in a single word, is "Applications!"

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Recent figures from Gartner put the value of the CRM software market at $20.4 billion. But does it really make a difference when it comes to converting leads into sales?

Sales software specialist Velocify has been trying to find out by using secret shoppers to submit requests through online contact forms to see how quickly companies would respond. The companies included in the study were picked from the customer section of CRM vendors' websites.

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Gamescom 2014, Europe's largest gaming event and tradeshow is taking place in Cologne, Germany right now, and Sony’s PlayStation Briefing will, like Microsoft’s Xbox press conference, be one of the highlights.

The PS4 is currently ahead of the Xbox One in terms of sales, but can it keep that momentum going? We’ll find out what games will be coming up for the console later today. Expect to see some gameplay footage for upcoming role-playing game Bloodborne (a PS4 exclusive), and interesting sounding horror game, A Million Ways To Die. We’ll also hopefully see some footage from Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.

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IObit has launched the first public pre-release version of its forthcoming system and security suite, IObit Advanced SystemCare 8 Beta. The new build launches with a number of new tools, including brand new Protect Module.

It also showcases another redesigned user interface and introduces support for themes, allowing users to customize the program with photos.

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Seeing Android apps requesting various permissions in order to install can be disconcerting for inexperienced users. How can one know if there is a valid reason to trigger them, or if an offering will maliciously use those permissions? Those are valid concerns, after all, as a third-party, that we have little control over, is entrusted with access to critical features, like the microphone or contacts list. In this day and age, you can never be too cautious.

Facebook has decided to drop the chat functionality from its Android app, asking users to turn to Facebook Messenger to message their friends. And, naturally, quite a few of its users, who are likely new to the offering and find themselves forced to use it, are voicing their concerns over its permissions, as they allow it to do some potentially dangerous things.

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