YouTube announces winners in Super Bowl ads contest
The Seattle Seahawks overwhelming victory in this year's Super Bowl may now be a memory, but the ads certainly live on. Those that debuted during the big game continue to run during our daily TV shows, and Google's video service has been polling viewers to get a feel for what really came out on top that Sunday.
While everyone likely had a personal favorite, there was a consensus amongst the masses, and the company has unveiled its top five from the NFL championship.
Windows 8 Transformation Pack 8.0 arrives, gives earlier versions of Windows the 8.1 look
WindowsX has updated both of its skinning tools, Windows 8 UX Pack 8.0 for PCs running Windows 7, and Windows 8 Transformation Pack 8.0 for earlier versions of Windows, including XP.
The latest version of the tools, which aim to give users the Windows 8 look and feel in earlier versions of Windows, have been updated to better reflect the changes introduced in Windows 8.1 as well as provide a number of other tweaks and bug fixes.
The most popular stories on BetaNews this past week: February 9 -- February 15
It is usually Bill Gates who is heralded for his philanthropy, but according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, it is Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg who is currently the most generous. In another change from the norm, malware threats to OS X, Linux and Android have increased, showing it is not just Windows that is prone to attack. As if to prove this, Mac malware has been discovered that has been designed to steal Bitcoins from victims. Factor in all of Apple's devices and the company managed to sell more units than Windows PCs are sold, although this revelation caused quite some debate.
Twitter found itself in the headlines after the James Dean estate tried to gain control of a fan's James Dean-related account. Twitter has already spoken out about the shackles binding companies from being open about government data requests -- companies are practically falling over themselves to add their names to the list -- and Dropbox is in agreement. The European Commission has expressed a desire to wrestle some control of the internet from US hands voicing fears that too much influence was being exerted,
Brackets Sprint 36 is faster, more configurable and easier to use
Adobe’s open source code editor Brackets has received an update to Sprint 36, adding some significant new features.
Smart file watchers mean the editor and Project tree now recognize when files are modified outside of Brackets, and update automatically. You’re always looking at the latest state of your project, no manual refresh required.
Mark Shuttleworth concedes -- Ubuntu Linux to use systemd
Ubuntu is a wildly popular Linux distribution. Heck, it is probably the most well known distro. However, it is also based on Debian. While Canonical undoubtedly puts a lot of work into its operating system, many of the components are developed by others, including the Debian and Gnome communities -- it is a team effort.
Canonical has not exactly been a team player. If you recall, last year the company announced it was not using the Wayland display server in support of its own, called Mir. This angered many in the Linux community. With that said, Mark Shuttleworth, Canonical founder, shocks the open-source world by conceding in his fight against systemd. Yes, he announces that Ubuntu will abandon upstart as a result of systemd being selected by the Debian technical committee.
ScreenBlur is an ultra-configurable Windows lock screen
Leave a PC unattended for a while and the standard lock screen keeps it reasonably safe. Press Win+L, the lock screen appears, and only someone who knows your password will be able to restore the desktop.
This is simple, straightforward, and easy to use. It's not particularly configurable, though, so if you need more control then you might prefer ScreenBlur.
Laplink Sync for iOS launches, offers syncing between desktop and mobile
Laplink Software has released Laplink Sync for iOS 7.0, the latest release in Laplink's new Sync family, a collection of tools designed to allow users to manually sync media and other files across multiple platforms.
The app allows users to sync photos and videos between iPads, iPhones and iPod touches, and -- for an extra fee -- can also be used to sync with Android mobiles and Windows PCs running Laplink Sync for desktop. A Mac version is currently in development.
VoIP service Viber snapped up for $900 million
The world of VoIP services is one packed with various names bustling for attention. One of the biggest names in the game is Viber, which started small but grew impressively as it spread across platforms -- now it has grown to the point that it is deemed worthy of handing over $900 million. At least that is the view of Rakuten, the Japanese firm behind Play.com and the Kobo eReader that agreed to part with this not insubstantial sum of money for an outright purchase of Viber Media Ltd.
With around 280 million registered users, Viber could be quite a money-maker for Rakuten who explained that the service has a "rapidly growing numbers of users, especially in emerging countries". With its fingers already in various online pies -- ebooks, shopping and streaming media through Wuaki.tv -- Viber represents yet another string to Rakuten's bow as the company "aims to be the global number one internet services" provider.
Best Windows 8 apps this week
Sixty-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's edition of the Best Windows 8 apps series.
After last week's negative growth we are seeing a slight increase in apps this week. It is nothing to brag about though, as the total number of apps increased by 50 only, but still better than negative growth.
Microsoft to reward all-Skype all-stars with prizes
Years ago, when people thought of the future, videophones were prominent in their imaginations. Television shows such as Star Trek and The Jetsons made use of video communication. Today, we have many different choices when video chatting -- Apple's Facetime, Google's Hangouts and Microsoft's Skype are a few popular ones.
However, when it comes to multi-platform video communication, for many people, Skype is the best choice. No other popular video chatting service will work on iOS, Windows Phone, Android, OS X, Windows, etc. With that said, Microsoft is looking to give prizes to some people that utilize Skype often on multiple devices.
On Valentine's Day, T-Mobile's CEO wants you to break up
For many, Valentine's Day is about being with a loved one, making gifts, and celebrating their relationship. However, for eccentric T-Mobile CEO John Legere, this day is about breaking up and feeling good about it. Eh?
That is not quite logical at first, until you realize that Legere is actually talking about breaking up with your mobile operator of choice and showing T-Mobile, the self-proclaimed Un-carrier, your love. And, the man has some nice pictures to go along with his new advice for Valentine's Day.
Personal and entry level storage market sees strong end to 2013
According to data from market intelligence specialist IDC worldwide shipments of personal and entry level storage (PELS) grew by 13.6 percent in 2013.
By the end of the year 75.2 million units had been shipped. Shipment values were up too, growing 6.2 percent over the year to reach $6.7 billion.
Auto-correct document captures with CyberLink's YouSnap - Camera Scan to PDF for Android
Smartphones make it very easy to capture documents or notes -- just point your camera, and tap -- but the results aren’t always good, and may require some work later.
CyberLink YouSnap - Camera Scan to PDF is an Android app which can take photos of documents, screens, whiteboard presentations and more, automatically squaring them up, optimizing image quality, and saving the results as a JPEG or PDF.
The Old Reader gets a Premium level, adds better search and more
Since the death of Google Reader last year, it seems RSS has been steadily heading towards becoming a paid service. Many of the front-runners in the field, while still offering a free plan, are pushing "premium" access.
Now The Old Reader joins Feedly, InoReader and others in entering this field. The company is promising a number of perks for those who pony up the $3 per month, or $30 per year. Features will include full-text search, faster feed refresh times, six months of post storage and more.
Google will get you in the mood this Valentine's Day
For many, the ultimate goal on Valentine's Day is to get their significant other in the mood... for romance. There are many ways to do it, such as massages, lighting candles and relaxing on a bearskin rug in front of a fireplace. Unfortunately, most people do not own a fireplace -- they can be expensive and dangerous. After all, Weird Al Yankovic's parents died from one.
Luckily, hope is not lost -- if you don't have a fireplace, there may still be an option. Google has announced that for $35, you can have your own fireplace with romantic music too. How, you ask? Read on.
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