Latest Technology News

Windows XP gained a little market share in January -- making for a nice, fun headline -- but the real point of that story is how poorly Windows 8.x appears to be doing. Despite being backed by an incredible advertising and marketing push its adoption rate really is pretty awful.

Two months ago Statista compared the global market share of both Windows 7 and Windows 8.x following their respective launches, plotting the results on a graph, and as I said at the time the difference was stark. Windows 7 showed a steep upwards trend, while Windows 8.x appeared to be heading for a plateau. Statista has since updated its chart, and the difference in fortunes between the two operating systems is now even more pronounced.

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Mozilla has released the latest version of its open-source, cross-platform web browser with the launch of Firefox 27 FINAL for Windows, Mac and Linux, with Firefox for Android 27.0 due to follow.

There’s only one major new feature of note in this latest release -- the SocialAPI, which allows providers to provide social networking updates directly from within the browser, can now handle multiple providers simultaneously.

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Firefox is a great browser in many ways, but malware protection isn’t one of them. The program tries to keep you away from dangerous sites, but isn’t particularly effective, and in our tests both Internet Explorer and Chrome do a much better job of keeping you safe.

This isn’t a major issue, of course, because you should also have an antivirus package to monitor your downloads, but if you’d like to add an extra layer of protection then a free Firefox add-on may be able to help.

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Samsung has announced that its first Unpacked event of the year will be held on February 24, in Barcelona, which coincides with the MWC 2014 opening day. The South Korean maker has also hinted at a possible unveiling of "The Next Big Thing". You did not see this one coming, did you?

Samsung has previously used the term The Next Big Thing prior to taking the wraps off new versions of its popular high-end smartphones, like the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3, and the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, all of which were also announced at the Unpacked events it held last year.

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With the rise in popularity of cloud services it's easy to forget about the impact on other models of IT delivery.

A new survey from network and business continuity specialist Talari Networks looks at the current state of WANs. Carried out in late 2013, the survey identifies the role of the WAN in supporting applications, achieving business goals, shifts in the use of WAN services and changes in WAN budgets.

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Glorylogic Software has released ISO Workshop 5.0, a major update of its disc image management, conversion and burning tool for Windows PCs. Version 5 comes with a brand new user interface based on the minimalist design found in Windows 8, while it also adds support for burning RAW images as well as other new formats.

The update also adds ISO and UDF settings, promises improved stability and performance across the entire suite and comes with a completely rewritten SDK.

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According to Steve Jobs, Android is the best mobile OS -- for porn. He infamously declared that people who want porn should buy Android, because iOS would be porn-free. With that said, porn can be accessed on both iOS and Android by using a web browser (so I've heard).

Despite what Steve Jobs says, and despite the fact that Android is based on the free and open Linux, Google's Play Developer Program Policy specifically bans porn. Unfortunately for fans of sexually explicit material, this appears to now apply to the Chromecast too.

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Trying to claw back its reputation of not being evil, and riding the wave of public interest in the surveillance activities of the government, Google releases some additional details about the government data requests it has received. Just last week, the Department of Justice announced that companies would be permitted to reveal more information about the requests made of them. Google has now updated its Transparency Report to include statistics about Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) requests.

Until recently, Google and other companies had been blocked from revealing any information about FISA data requests, causing them to group together to file a lawsuit in a bid to overturn this barrier. Today's report released by Google follows on from last week's agreement with the DoJ and includes details of requests made under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. For advocates of government transparency this sounds like a victory for freedom of information, but sadly it amounts to very little.

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Whenever I go to the pet store, I am amazed by the diverse selection of animals. Other than the typical cats and dogs, there are hermit crabs, chinchillas and snakes. Even more amazing is the amount of toys, clothes and treats for the pets. Some of the dog clothes cost more than mine!

While catnip and squeaky toys are still the standard purchases, isn't that a bit old school? I mean, come on, this is 2014 -- it is time to buy your pet a webcam. While this may sound crazy, Microsoft actually wants to see your pets on Skype.

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Today, Google launches the developer preview of Google Cast SDK, allowing for the development of apps for the company's plug-in-and-forget-about-it streaming unit. In a post on the Chromium Blog, Engineering Manager John Affaki, explains that developers will find it easy to make existing mobile and web apps ready for use with Chromecast as the SDK allows for easy integration. In addition to the Chrome extension, the SDK is also available for Android and iOS.

The lack of new and exciting apps that offer Chromecast support has partly contributed to the fact that Google's streaming device has not really caused the explosion of excitement that it should have done. Google will be hoping that by making the SDK available, developers will start to integrate the API into existing apps that are suitable for taking advantage of second screen casting.

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  Ventis Media, Inc has released MediaMonkey 4.1, a major update to its media management tool for Windows. Version 4.1, available in free and Gold editions, provides a powerful set of tools for managing and organizing music and video.

Version 4.1 builds on UPnP/DLNA library sharing introduced in version 4 with a number of improvements, but most notably updates its mobile sync capabilities for both Android and iOS users with some significant enhancements.

MediaMonkey 4.1 now supports wireless sync with the paid-for version of the MediaMonkey app for Android, allowing users to keep their music collection in sync between PC and Android device. Also added is bi-directional sync and support for iOS 7 devices. iOS 7 users were previously forced to install an iTunes plug-in as a workaround to allow MediaMonkey to sync with their devices.

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Hornil, creator of the popular StylePix editor, has released Hornil Photo Resizer, a free batch image processing tool.

Despite its name, the program isn’t just about resizing images. It can also rotate and flip them, apply various filters (auto level/ contrast, sharpen, more), add an image watermark, and batch rename them according to various rules.

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When I was a young man, there were only a handful of holidays that we celebrated. They were based on your faith, your country or to celebrate an exemplary figure like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. However, the internet has made it so that every day can be a holiday, as anyone can proclaim it to be so. Quite frankly, it is a bit silly to celebrate something like "Talk Like a Pirate Day", but apparently people like to do it. According to www.daysoftheyear.com, today is Carrot Cake Day. I love carrot cake, but come on now...

Google apparently wants to get in on the fun, but with real holidays -- based on national holidays from around the world. Yes, Google announces it is expanding the available holidays for Gmail users.

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Last week my colleague Derrick Wlodarz wrote a great deal about today's home automation push, comparing the entire thing to Skynet. I see his point, but I'm not sure I can resist the urge. After all, the convenience is so enticing, it's hard to ignore the technology that can add so much functionality to your home.

Over the weekend I stumbled upon an Indiegogo project that captured my fancy. bRight Switch is designed to replace your wall-mounted light switch, adding just a bit more technology to the room.

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Even though more than one year has passed since Windows Phone 8 arrived, Microsoft has yet to officially take the wraps off the upcoming new version of its tiled smartphone operating system. This long release cycle is uncommon in this business, as more popular competitors boast two major iterations launched in the course of a year. Windows Phone 8.1 has a lot of catching up to do, giving us plenty of leeway to compile and compare our own wish lists before the grand unveiling.

The foundation that Windows Phone 8 has laid out for its successor, starting with the original release that was subsequently improved by three minor updates, is solid enough for Microsoft to build upon and launch something mind-blowing (whenever that happens). Nothing else will cut it, as the platform needs a big boost to overcome the paltry 3.6 percent market share from last year. And, it is about time Windows Phone gets a solid head start on the competition, that has created an unshakable duopoly in the market, responsible for 94.4 percent of smartphone shipments in 2013. What Microsoft decides to bake in Windows Phone 8.1 can make or break the operating system's chances of ever becoming that respected third player, that is taken seriously due to its traits not its incidental place on the podium.

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