HP boosts its mobile business device portfolio with ElitePad 1000 G2 and ProPad 600
 
          
           
          There have been a lot of interesting announcements made at MWC this year, and HP is one of several companies making it clear that business users have not been forgotten. The new HP ProPad 600 has been unveiled alongside an upgraded HP ElitePad 1000 G2, and both have been designed with mobile computing in mind.
Both tablets run Windows 8.1 and the ElitePad 1000 G2 picks up where the HP ElitePad 900 G1 left off. The hardware is impressive enough, but there is a strong focus on battery life and portability.
Watch Samsung’s Galaxy S5 announcement here
 
          
           
          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wOnaoq1AYE&feature=share
There’s already been a lot of big announcements pouring out of the Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, but the really big one is still to come. Samsung is set to introduce its Galaxy S5 smartphone today, and thanks to the usual round of photo leaks we already have a good idea of what to expect.
Is it a notebook? Is it a tablet? HP announces its new convertible PC
 
          
           
          If you can never decide whether to take the notebook or the tablet with you when you go out, HP may have the machine for you.
Its new Pavilion x360 is a convertible PC with a 360-degree hinge so you can use it as a conventional notebook, a tablet, or in what the company calls "tent mode". Sadly this means only that you can stand it up on a table not actually go camping under it.
Stream audio from your PC to any AirPlay device using TuneBlade
 
          
           
          AirPlay is, as we all know, Apple’s solution for listening to music wirelessly wherever you are. Leave your Mac in the study and stream music to a wireless speaker in your living room, or beam a TV show from your iPad to the big-screen TV through Apple TV or a HTPC running XBMC. It’s a key part of the media-friendly home.
Of course, one hole in AirPlay’s attempts to become universally adopted is a lack of PC support. Thankfully, third-party developers have come to the rescue, and one of the newest AirPlay streaming tools for Windows is TuneBlade 1.0.
ASUS announces two Fonepad 7 Android tablets, with cellular connectivity on board
 
          
           
          Tech companies are taking advantage of the MWC conference, held in Barcelona, to showcase their latest products. So far, we covered the announcements of Nokia's X Android smartphone series, Sony's Xperia Z2 smartphone and slate, and a couple of 64-bit mobile processors, that are aimed at Android devices, from Intel and Qualcomm.
ASUS is also among the many companies present at MWC 2014. Today, the Taiwanese maker announces two new Fonepad 7 tablets, adding to the number of Android devices that were just unveiled at the conference.
Maintain your email privacy with ShazzleMail
 
          
           
          Email may be a quick and convenient way to exchange messages, but it’s not exactly private. Or secure. Key details about the email are sent in plain text, your message is held on a server somewhere, and it might even be mined by your provider for useful data.
ShazzleMail is a free service which works a little differently. It transfers messages by establishing a direct, encrypted connection between the sender and the receiver. Your emails are never stored in any central server, and so the company can’t access or analyze their contents.
Emulex adds Sourcefire connector for improved network forensics
 
          
           
          One of the key tasks in investigating network security breaches is being able to capture packets to allow a thorough understanding and quick resolution of the problem.
Network management specialist Emulex Corporation has used the RSA Conference to announce its Endace Fusion Connector for Sourcefire Defense Center, which allows 100 percent packet capture at speeds of up to 100Gb Ethernet.
Microsoft now fighting the Windows 8.x war on two fronts -- can it win either battle?
 
          
           
          According to reports, Microsoft is set to slash the price it charges OEMs for Windows 8.x. This doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to pick up a copy of the tiled OS for any cheaper, but it does mean significant savings for (some) PC builders.
At the moment, Microsoft charges all OEMs $50 per copy of Windows 8. The price cut will see this license figure reduced by 70 percent to $15 per copy. However, there is a caveat -- it will only apply to devices that will be sold for $250 or less at retail. In other words, Microsoft is hoping to kick start a run of lower-priced PCs, in an effort to compete with Chromebooks.
Comcast friends Netflix, promises better video performance
 
          
           
          Comcast has had a busy couple of weeks, with a proposed acquisition of rival Time-Warner and rampant accusations of throttling bandwidth for Netflix subscribers. The former awaits approval, while the latter was illustrated by the offended service, which posts monthly reports on ISP performance.
Now the US's largest cable provider wants to kiss and make-up with Netflix, partnering with the video service with the promise of better times ahead for the couple.
Intel unveils the Z3480 mobile processor, its 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon rival
 
          
           
          If it is not obvious enough by now, 64-bit is the new black in mobile processors. Apple has the A7 that powers the iPhone 5s and latest iPads, and Qualcomm has the Snapdragon 410 and, as of today, the Snapdragon 610 and Snapdragon 615. Intel now also joins the party with its own 64-bit offering and contender, the Z3480, codenamed "Merrifield".
The Z3480 was unveiled today at the MWC conference, in Barcelona, as a 2.3 GHz quad-core solution aimed at Android smartphones and tablets. Intel says its new processor delivers "the ideal combination of fast, smart performance and long battery life", for the devices that it will power. The Z3480 competes with Qualcomm's similar Snapdragons which also target the open-source mobile OS.
Windows Phone's growth stalls in major markets, except US
 
          
           
          Nokia's underwhelming Lumia sales from Q4 2013 had a negative impact on Windows Phone's momentum in the most important part of last year. The disappointing performance continues as, sadly, the growth of the platform's market share stalled in the three months ending January 2014, according to a new report issued by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, compared to Q4 2013.
Compared to the three months ending January 2013, Windows Phone actually posted higher year-over-year market shares in most major markets. But, its performance is more or less flat when we take into account the Q4 2013 results. The exception to the rule is US, where the tiled smartphone operating system managed to increase its share, albeit slightly, in the three months ending January 2014, when compared to the same period of last year and Q4 2013.
Sony announces Xperia Z2 smartphone and Xperia Z2 Tablet, er, tablet
 
          
           
          There's already a lot of news coming out of the Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, and Sony is using the 2014 event to launch the latest additions to the Xperia range. The Xperia Z2 is a waterproof handset that is being billed as "the world’s best camera and camcorder". This is a claim backed by the inclusion of a 20.7 MP sensor, a 5.2 inch HD screen and the ability to capture video in 4K. Sound is recorded with digital noise canceling, and image stabilization is borrowed from Sony's existing range of camcorders and can reduce ambient noise by up to 98 percent.
The phone is driven by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor with 2.3 GHz quad-core Krait CPU as well as the Adreno 330 GPU. To ensure maximum shooting time, Sony saw fit to include a 3200 mAh battery, and power-saving technology is used to automatically switch off any phone features that are not being used.
New networked flash storage solution delivers competitive advantage
 
          
           
          San Diego-based Astute Networks is announcing a new software release for its ViSX family of performance storage.
ViSX OS 5.0 adds Network File System (NFS) v2, v3, and v4 to its existing iSCSI support. The ViSX range also now offers an expanded range of capacity options to meet the growing demand for high application performance in both physical and virtual environments, including OpenStack support for cloud deployments.
Adobe Photoshop Express, BBM to arrive on Windows Phone
 
          
           
          Windows Phone is off to a good start in 2014. Microsoft just announced that more smartphone vendors will embrace its tiled operating system, and extended the hardware support to include more Qualcomm Snapdragon processors. A new iteration is reported to arrive shortly, to bring its feature set on par with those of its main rivals, Android and iOS.
And, today, BlackBerry announces that it will bring its BBM service to Windows Phone. "BBM continues to grow in popularity as millions of people use our mobile platform for chatting and connecting with friends or colleagues, and we are very excited that we will soon welcome Windows Phone and Nokia X users to the BBM community", says BlackBerry Global Enterprise Solutions president John Sims. Also, Adobe's Photoshop Express will soon be offered on the platform as well, after reaching Android and iOS first.
Nokia takes the wraps off its Android-based X smartphone series
 
          
           
          Today, at MWC 2014, Nokia was expected to break away from its Windows Phone exclusivity and introduce an Android smartphone called X. But, the Finnish company just took the wraps off three handsets under the same umbrella, called X, X+ and XL.
According to Nokia, the X smartphones slot between its low-end Ashas and high-end Windows Phones, with prices to kick off at €89 for the entry-level model. The beefier X+ and XL will cost €99 and €109, respectively. Is there something you should get excited about?
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