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.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

According to Clayton M Christensen, author of The Innovator’s Dilemma, disruptive innovations are characterized by their ability to create entirely new markets rather than merely update existing markets with new products. They are black swans, rare events where new thinking and changing markets combine to create radical change.

A common example is the light bulb and Pearl Street Station -- a major gamble by Thomas Edison. Within years of its development the kerosene lighting industry was all but non-existent, and the world was a brighter place. (The kerosene industry had similarly put an end to the whaling industry -- thankfully -- a few decades earlier).

Continue reading →

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

The Xbox One is losing ground to Sony’s rival PS4, which is massively outselling it at the moment, but with the right games, Microsoft’s console could be right back in the running. At Gamescom we’ll get to find out what is coming up for the Xbox One.

Continue reading →

Almost all recent PCs have Absolute Computrace embedded in their BIOS. It's a product designed to allow companies to track and secure all of their PCs from a single cloud-based console.

But researchers at Kaspersky lab have revealed that it often runs without user-consent, persistently activates itself at system boot, and can be exploited to perform various attacks and to take complete control of an affected machine.

Continue reading →

The Sony Xperia T3 updates the Xperia T2 which, er, was an update to the Xperia T. Except that's not quite how it is. When the T came out early last year it was the flagship phone for Sony. It even had a much talked about spot in a James Bond movie. The flagship handset line from the Sony range is now the Z series, and the Z3 is due very soon. The T series is now the mid-range in Sony's stable, and the Xperia T3 is priced at £299 online at Sony's website.

Sony has worked hard to consolidate design across its handset range, and that's evident with the Xperia T3. The monolith appearance with squared-off corners and distinctive button design and placement is carried through from the Z range, though the price differential has had a clear effect on materials. Where the Xperia Z2 has a glass back that I found rather too reflective and slippy, the T3 has a more usual rubbery finish on the back that's easier on the hands and doesn't act like a mirror for the narcissists among us.

Continue reading →

Today's IT managers are under pressure to deliver the sort of agility that's offered by the public cloud but with the security and cost benefits of using existing infrastructure.

California-based startup Platform9 has today unveiled an answer to this problem with its SaaS platform that transforms an organization's existing servers into an AWS-like agile, self-service private cloud within minutes. It significantly reduces the operational complexity for IT and offers a single point of management for Docker, KVM and VMware vSphere.

Continue reading →

There are plenty of browser extensions around which try to block web trackers, but most have at least some issues: they’re complicated to set up, need custom configuration, use bulky blacklists, maybe there are some questions over the developer’s business model.

Electronic Frontier Foundation is trying to change all that with Privacy Badger, a trustworthy Firefox and Chrome extension which blocks tracking ads and cookies entirely automatically, no manual intervention required.

Continue reading →

The Blackphone, billed as a super-secure consumer alternative to standard smartphones, has been successfully hacked.

The hack comes not long after Blackphone sparred with BlackBerry after the latter called the secure device "unacceptable" for enterprise and petty customers.

Continue reading →

IBM has developed a technique that should help enterprise firms manage where their cloud data is stored.

The technology could help businesses to comply with regional legislation regarding cloud content.

Continue reading →

A lot of news recently has swirled around Netflix and its problems with ISPs, especially after the Comcast incident, where the service was forced to pay a premium simply for customers to get reliable service. However, Netflix is not shy about reporting the winners and losers on a monthly basis.

Today it announces its report of ISP streaming speeds. Despite the fee now being paid, Comcast still failed to finish at the top, coming in at fifth place. The giant of the US market ranked behind, in order, Cablevision, Cox, Suddenlink and Charter.

Continue reading →

Watching a movie via Netflix has never been easier -- well, depending on your ISP, that is. Now EA would like to bring the same experience to playing games on that new Xbox One console sitting in your living room.

Electronic Arts has rolled out Access -- a new game service that works quite a lot like the movie service. Also like Netflix, it will work on a subscription basis, there is no free ride here. However, the games available should make it worthwhile for those wishing to partake.

Continue reading →

You’ve accidentally deleted some irreplaceable images. There are no backups; file recovery tools can’t find anything; it seems like they’ve gone forever. But wait: there may still be just a little hope.

Browse a folder in thumbnail view and Explorer generates thumbnails for every supported file, saving them in a local cache. These can live on for a long time, even if the source files are deleted, corrupted or otherwise trashed. And you can recover any or all of them with just a couple of tiny free tools.

Continue reading →

When people hear the word BitTorrent, they tend to leap to conclusions, some of which are inevitably wrong. The fact is, the technology is used to distribute all sorts of content, including Linux distros and music and movies that artists and directors make available.

However, it is largely one of those keywords that sets off alarm bells with Apple, which keeps a tight rein on the content that appears within its iTunes app store. That's why it was a bit shocking when Blue Downloader made its debut.

Continue reading →

German developer Ashampoo has unveiled Photo Optimizer 6, the first major new build of its fast, user-friendly photo tool for over two years.

The program adds a number of new portrait-enhancing tools and a slew of extra effects, but also delivers various "structure" improvements to the user interface and promises a more efficient, faster image-editing tool. It also drops support for Windows XP.

Continue reading →