Nokia Lumia 520 is the handset that has helped Windows Phone become a serious competitor in the low-end smartphone market. It is also the first Windows Phone I would wholeheartedly recommend to folks looking for an affordable, yet capable smartphone. (I like it so much that I have actually bought one for my other half, to replace an aging iPhone.)

Consumers have taken notice of Lumia 520, proof being that the best low-end Windows Phone has topped 12 million activations, according to Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner. That may not rival iPhone's figures anytime soon, but it still makes it a huge hit among Windows Phone users.

Continue reading →

News and review website CNET has been targeted by a team of Russian hackers called W0rm. CNET's servers were hit over the weekend, but details have only just been released.

Although CNET has not given a concrete confirmation of exactly what happened, the site explains that a representative of W0rm claims to have stolen a database containing the usernames and passwords of over a million users. It seems a security hole in the Symfony PHP framework was exploited, and it is not yet clear what the fallout could be.

Continue reading →

In the past IT departments have always been about crunching numbers and processing data. But emerging technologies are beginning to take IT into unfamiliar areas that in turn have an impact on the wider operation of the business.

Research specialist Gartner has identified six areas that it sees as potentially being adopted by business and which CIOs need to consider.

Continue reading →

Sports programming network 120 Sports has announced that its free app is now available in the Google Play store.

Already available for iOS, the (US-only) 120 Sports app offers what the company calls "hosted programming delivering timely narratives of the stories across every sport, featuring breaking news, video highlights and live look-ins, all integrated with social conversation, expert analysis and a new production style focused on the digital generation".

Continue reading →

A new report suggests that smartphone manufacturers will be bending over backwards to create flexible screens in the next few years.

According to market research firm DisplaySearch, flexible smartphones will constitute 40 percent of the global smartphone market in 2018. That's a whopping increase from just 0.2 percent in 2013.

Continue reading →

The human brain is an enigma. No one knows how it works in its entirety. Sure, scientists have some understanding, but there are still mysteries to discover. While one should never say "never", I am dubious that the brain will ever be fully understood. Still, the possibility of impossibility should never deter the human desire for knowledge. In other words, scientists should forever try to deconstruct and understand the mind, even if it proves to be fruitless.

Ultimately, one of the major motivations of understanding the brain is to recreate and ultimately surpass its power. It has been the dream of many scientists to create artificial intelligence that exceeds a human's. Today, Microsoft announces Project Adam -- an attempt at duplicating the power of the human mind with computers. Could the name "Adam" be shedding light on a parallel with the character from the biblical Adam and Eve story?

Continue reading →

Ashampoo has unveiled Ashampoo Photo Commander 12 for Windows, a major update for its comprehensive photo management, editing and sharing tool.

Smarter access to cloud services means the program now offers 1-click copy-move operations to Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive.

Continue reading →

Of all the mobile platforms out there, Windows Phone 8.1 was literally the absolute last option I ever thought I would land upon. I had a burning hatred for Windows on the mobile side, seeing that I was forced into using a Pocket PC 6700 (Windows Mobile 5) years ago while working for a former employer. To say that experience soured my opinion of Windows Mobile is an understatement.

Frankly, and I don't care what the diehards say, Windows for phones prior to Windows Phone 8 should very well be erased from memory for anyone who had to deal with it. From unintuitive interface design, to cludgy touchscreen navigation with a stylus, it was a Picasso of a mobile OS for exactly all the wrong reasons.

Continue reading →

The Vision Keynote for the WPC 2014 has ended now, and Microsoft covered a wide range of topics, and even delivered some surprising news -- Windows Phone is apparently now the fastest growing mobile operating system, with more shipments than iPhone in 24 markets.

Microsoft also talked about forthcoming Windows devices, including $99 tablets, and even had some news about the next version of its operating system, Windows 9. If you didn’t attend the conference, and would like to know more about what Microsoft revealed, you can watch the keynote here. And because it’s not live, you can even skip through all the boring bits, and the music!

Continue reading →

The usefulness of a small Windows tablet is debatable. While I understand people's hesitance to embrace Microsoft's desktop operating system on such a small screen, their trepidation is misplaced. Sure, a 7 or 8-inch Windows tablet would be a poor choice for someone's only Windows machine, but it works beautifully as a companion device.

I have a Surface Pro 3, but recently bought a Dell Venue Pro 8. Why? Because sometimes a lighter and inexpensive tablet is preferable. For example, you wouldn't want to use Surface Pro 3 on the toilet or by a pool. Heck, reading a book can be nicer on a smaller tab too. Today, Fujitsu reveals a new 8-inch Windows tablet for business --  the ARROWS Tab Q335/K.

Continue reading →

Get ready for another rash of "Year of the Chromebook" stories. It isn't, but tongues will wag. Today, NPD released new data about U.S. commercial computer sales which, like the last set, is sure to be misquoted. Spurred by educational buying, Chromebooks accounted for 40 percent of U.S. commercial channel notebook sales for the three weeks ended June 7. But some nitwits are sure to claim all sales, as they did following December's data drop. Commercial sales are more limited and represent those to businesses, educational institutions, governments, and other organizations.

That's not to diminish Chromebook's success, considering the category is but three years old and supplants OS X and Windows sales in the coveted education market. Users gotten young often stay with a platform for life. The browser-based computers aren't singular entities, either. Android and stand-alone Chrome platforms benefit, too, from halo sales going both ways.

Continue reading →

There are a number of reasons why businesses might move data to the cloud. To reduce storage costs, improve accessibility or simply reduce the need for on-site equipment. But how can you be sure that moving data to the cloud is the correct decision?

We looked at how businesses can approach this earlier today. Now archiving specialist DocuLynx is using the Microsoft Worldwide Partnership Conference in Washington to launch a new product aimed at making cloud storage decisions easier.

Continue reading →

No matter how you slice it, Windows Phone Store is a ghost town. Too many popular titles just aren't there right now. As developers take their sweet time to release the desired offerings or overlook the platform altogether, could Android apps be the answer to Windows Phone's long-lasting shortcoming?

It wouldn't be unusual for Microsoft to get in bed with Android, as the software giant already sells Android-based devices, which make up its Nokia X series (admittedly, Nokia launched it). If it works there, it could work just as well for Windows Phone. It's not like the platform has anything to lose, considering the measly market share it claims since inception. Right? Well, it's not that simple.

Continue reading →

According to the Ponemon Institute, cybercrime costs the average UK business around £3 million a year. As applications, platforms and devices grow, so does the number of opportunities for hackers to develop sophisticated attacks. As wearable technology begins to infiltrate the workplace this will be yet another concern for IT, and another opportunity for the hacker.

Add this to the long list of concerns that IT Admins already face: Mobile devices, laptops, desktops, and servers all need to be maintained from an update perspective or companies increase their risk of being exposed. Moreover, different users require different technologies, complicating how IT manages the IT estate. With a plethora of new office technologies surfacing and an expectation from users to work from the devices that make them productive, how do IT departments prevent vulnerabilities across their estate?

Continue reading →

There have been many rumors coming out of Asia with accusations of child labor violations. It's one of those things that pulls at western heart strings -- none of us wants to think that young children are being forced to work in factories, perhaps building the devices we buy.

Now Samsung has announced that it has taken the step of suspending its agreement with Dongguan Shinyang Electronics after conducting an investigation into the latest allegations. "Following the investigation, Samsung decided to temporarily suspend business with the factory in question as it found evidences of suspected child labor at the worksite. The decision was made in accordance with Samsung's zero tolerance policy on child labor", the companys says in an official statement.

Continue reading →