Samsung's 'Gear Solo' smartwatch could let you make calls without a smartphone
Samsung could put a SIM card inside its next smartwatch so that customers without a Galaxy smartphone are able to step aboard the company’s burgeoning wearables bandwagon.
Not content with its current smartwatch offering, the Gear Solo will offer owners the chance to have a device that has its own SIM card slot and allows it to connect to a mobile network without the need for a smartphone connection.
Best iOS apps this week
Eighteenth in a series. New and updated releases this week include a Vine-style video sharing app with filters, an animated story creator from Adobe, new games set in the Warhammer 40k and Soulcalibur worlds, a social network for dog owners, a fitness app that promises to "lift your butt" and an endless runner that gives you the chance to watch your friends being trampled by bulls.
As always, if I miss an app that you think should definitely have been included, let me know in the comments below, or drop me an email.
Belkin announces sexy QODE Thin Type Keyboard Case for iPad Air
I've never owned an iPhone -- I went from a Treo to BlackBerry and ultimately Android. However, I do own the iPad Air, which is my second-ever Apple tablet (the other being the first-generation iPad). While Android is great, I prefer iOS for my tablet needs; this includes consumption and creation.
Yes, the iPad is mostly a consumption-focused device, but I can successfully write on it by utilizing third-party keyboards. The problem is, many of them are heavy, thick or just plain bad. Finding a high-quality and thin iPad keyboard can be tough. Well, Belkin announces a solution -- the svelte and sexy QODE Thin Type Keyboard Case for iPad Air.
Windows 7 shows higher infection rates than XP in last quarter of 2013
The latest Security Intelligence Report from Microsoft reveals that malware infection rates soared in the final quarter of last year thanks mainly to three threats.
Infection rates measured in computers cleaned per thousand (CCM -- yes M, it uses the Latin for thousand) rose from 5.6 in Q3 to 17.8 in Q4 of last year on the back of the Win32/Senfit click fraud bot, along with two new distribution methods. Win32/Rotbrow, a program claiming to protect from browser add-ons, and Win32/Brantall which acts as an installer for legitimate applications but also bundles less welcome things.
Nintendo says no same-sex marriage for Mii
Real life sims are very easy to get wrong -- just look at The Sims, for instance -- and Nintendo's latest venture into this branch of gaming, Tomodachi Life, demonstrates this perfectly. Taking a collection of Miis (Nintendo's sickly sweet customizable avatars) and dumping them on an island, the game presents players with a "world full of possibilities". The game's website proclaims, "in Tomodachi Life, populate your very own island with the Mii characters of family, friends or anyone else you can think of!" As long as the Miis are not gay that is.
Yes, in the Disney-like world of Nintendo, same-sex relationships are not possible. You're free to do pretty much anything you like in the game, but when it comes to striking up a relationship and getting virtually married, it's boy-girl action only. Homosexuality simply does not exist in Nintendo's little bubble, and this is something that was noted by one gamer who then launched a campaign on Twitter to try to get the gaming giant to change its ways. Tye Marini 's Miiquality Twitter account was started to try to persuade Nintendo to rethink the game and allow for lesbian and gay relationships.
Dropbox Release Candidate offers auto sign-in installer, better handling of low-space installs
Cloud backup and sync provider Dropbox is almost ready to unleash its next major update on Windows, Mac and Linux users. Dropbox Experimental Build 2.8.0 is now at the Release Candidate stage, and may even ship in its current state if no issues show up between now and its planned release date.
Version 2.8.0 debuts a number of improvements to the program installer, informs the user when the hard drive is full and offers new icons in the pop-up menu that sits in the user’s Notification area or menubar.
Samsung design chief replaced following Galaxy S5 disappointment
Samsung has a new man in charge of its mobile design team, following criticism of its new Galaxy S5 flagship smartphone.
Chang Dong-hoon will be replaced by Lee Min-hyouk, who was the vice president for mobile design, Reuters reports. Samsung didn't have any comment to make about the move, though apparently Chang Dong-hoon offered to resign himself last week (likely under pressure by the sound of things).
New UK measures to combat piracy are far weaker than hoped for by copyright owners
A new deal could be struck between ISPs and representatives of the music and film industries in UK in a bid to combat online piracy. But the proposed scheme does not go anywhere near as far as had been hoped by the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) and the MPA (Motion Picture Association). Four of the country's biggest ISPs -- BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media -- have come together to create the Voluntary Copyright Alert Program (Vcap) which has the aim of educating downloaders of pirate material of the error of their ways. As the name suggests, the program is completely voluntary.
There have been years of debate on the topic, and the BBC has seen documentation that shows ISPs will be doing little more than sending out letters to those suspected of downloading pirated material. The letters are described as having an "educational" tone, while the industry bodies had been calling for warning letters to be sent out alerting downloaders to the possibility of legal action. They had also asked for access to a database of web users known to have downloaded pirated material.
Snap happy -- Google Camera app for KitKat is a winner [Review]
I was never a big fan of the camera interface that came with KitKat on my Nexus 5. Having to roll my finger about on the screen to get to the various menu options never really appealed. It felt awkward, and I was always missing the selections I wanted.
Anyone running KitKat may have come across the fact that the camera app has changed. My Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 both got it as an automatic download, but if you are running KitKat on a handset or a tablet and don't have the new camera app, you can pop along to the Play store and download it. It's called Google Camera.
Panda Cloud Antivirus 3 Free adds scheduler, USB vaccination
Panda Security has announced the release of Panda Cloud Antivirus 3.0, the latest edition of its popular cloud-based antivirus tool.
As with many other security packages, the program now has a Windows 8-style interface. Panda has made a better job of it than most, though: it looks good, is easy to use, and you can even drag the tiles around to rearrange them.
Twitter bolsters security with password reset and suspicious login improvements
Security is always important, but now that we find ourselves in a post-Heartbleed world, it seems that there is more importance than ever being placed on passwords and the safety of online accounts. The constant advice, that we should be using unique passwords of ever-increasing complexity for each service we use, means that there is a greater chance of forgetting our login details. This is something that Twitter recognizes with a couple of account safety changes that are being introduced today.
A new password reset procedure lets you choose whether reset details should be sent to your registered email address or phone number. Having a choice is helpful in case you no longer use the email address you registered with, or if you have switched phone numbers. Choice is good! Mobile users will also find that the reset process has been improved, and Twitter helpfully provides some tips to aid with selecting a strong new password.
Weapon up! Unreal Tournament to return as free, crowd-sourced game
Remember Unreal Tournament? Remember the hours (days?) you invested in it? Well, it's back! Or at least it will be soon… It's a game that we've heard nothing of for some time now, but Epic is wheeling out the classic title for a new airing. This time around, the gaming community is being called upon to contribute. In a post on the Unreal Engine Blog, Steve Polge says, "work on the future of Unreal Tournament begins today, and we're happy to announce that we're going to do this together, with you".
What does all of this mean? To cut to the chase, a new version of Unreal Tournament is, as of right now, being developed. Yippee! The UT community is a passionate one, and the new project is going to take full advantage of this. This is a collaborative project and the finished product will call upon the input of fans, Unreal Engine 4 developers, and Epic. If you fancy getting involved -- be it to contribute code, artwork, or just ideas -- you are free to do so.
ZTE begins selling Open C Firefox OS Phone on eBay for $99
Android and iOS pretty much have the smartphone market locked-up. Sure, Windows Phone and even BlackBerry still represent a small slice of the market-share pie, but they are non-factors -- for now. Sadly, when duopolies have a stranglehold on markets, it is hard for a third player to make an impact.
Mozilla is trying to change that with Firefox OS, but so far, it has not sparked the interest of consumers. However, Firefox devices have not been widely available; they have been relegated to developer devices being sold on eBay. Today, that trend continues with the consumer-focused ZTE Open C, which is being sold on the auction site for a wallet-friendly $99.
The scale of Windows 8.x’s failure is staggering
Once a month I report on the desktop operating system market share using data from NetMarketShare. The changes in fortune between the different flavors of Windows is usually fairly minimal -- a percentage point gained here, a percentage point lost there. And usually the rise or fall is a lot less than one percent, although as a month is quite a small time scale to measure market share changes over, and we’re talking about millions and millions of Windows users, that’s to be expected.
I decided, out of curiosity, to take a look at what a year’s worth of market share variations would look like, using StatCounter’s Global Stats, and the results were less than thrilling, with the different operating systems showing very little change. In May 2013, Windows 7 had 56.27 percent. 12 months later it is on 55.03 percent. A drop of just 1.24 percent. Windows XP fell 6.73 percent, while Windows 8.x grew 8.16 percent. The pattern is clear -- Windows 8.x sales look to be coming from upgrades (mainly XP) but people are mostly sticking with their older operating systems. Open up the time scale however, and a more dramatic -- and damning -- picture emerges.
Soon police will be able to trace photographs back to the camera that took them
Forensic experts have long been able to match a series of prints to the hand that left them, or a bullet to the gun that fired it. Now, the same thing is being done with the photos taken by digital cameras, and is ushering in a new era of digital crime fighting.
New technology is now allowing law enforcement officers to search through any collection of images to help track down the identity of photo-taking criminals, such as smartphone thieves and child pornographers.
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