GOCLEVER announces 7-inch Aries 70 to bridge phone/tablet divide
With the release of the Nexus 7, Tesco's Hudl and new Kindle Fire HD and HDX, there are certainly plenty of tablets to choose from with screens around the 7-inch mark. GOCLEVER is the latest contender to enter the ring, announcing the availability of the 7-inch Aries 70.
Although this is a tablet with a budget- to mid-range price tag (£159.99 or €189.99), there is still a quad-core processor lurking in the innards -- pegged at 1.2GHz. Integrated GPS is a useful feature and, coupled with the 3G connection, makes it ideal for popping on the dashboard and getting directions on the road. The preinstalled maps perhaps reveal the Aries 70's roots or target market -- if you need to find your way around Poland, the Czech Republic or Slovakia, you're good to go right out of the box!
How to find, lock, ring and wipe your Windows Phone remotely
Windows Phone receives quite a bit of bad press for its immature feature set and lack of killer apps. The smartphone operating system, however, has a few neat tricks up its sleeve which some users may not even know about. The one feature that I find to be quite useful yet highly understated is the ability to find, lock, ring and wipe Windows Phones, officially known as "find my phone", which comes in handy in case of theft or misplacing the handset.
The feature is available, and probably operational too, out-of-the-box. You only need a couple of minutes to spare, a Windows Phone and access to a computer, smartphone or tablet, to set it up properly and find, lock, ring or wipe your handset remotely.
Ashampoo Anti-Virus 2014 now available
German software developer Ashampoo has released Ashampoo Anti-Virus 2014 ($39.99), a full-featured antivirus tool which combines the Bitdefender and Emsisoft engines to help keep you safe online.
The package offers all the core functionality you’d expect from a modern antivirus package: real-time protection, on-demand scanning, behavioral monitoring, browsing protection and more.
RealNetworks simplifies video sharing with RealPlayer Cloud
Now here's a blast from the past. RealNetworks (remember it?) is launching RealPlayer Cloud, a new service that aims to make it easier than ever to share videos between devices and across platforms. The service has been developed to help avoid the need to transfer videos from one device to another or upload them to an online storage repository ready to download elsewhere.
The idea is that users do not have to worry about the platform videos will be viewed on, or the format they are saved in. There are a huge number of video codecs in use, so the appeal of something that helps to overcome compatibility issues is understandable. There are plenty of services that already make it possible to stream video wirelessly from a PC to an iPad or other device. This is nothing new, nor is the ability to pick up from where you left off watching when you switch devices.
Roku reveals three new streaming devices and M-GO integration
Roku is expanding its streaming media product line with the release of the Roku 1, Roku 2 and Roku LT. The three new devices join the flagship Roku 3, and are targeted at the entry-level and mid-range market. The cheapest of three is the Roku LT at $49.99. It will only be available in the US and supports video output up to 720p. Next in line is the Roku 1 which will retail for $59.99 and ups the video support to full 1080p HD.
Topping off the new releases is the Roku 2 which will retail for $79.99 and will, like the Roku 1, be available in the US, Canada, the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Borrowing ideas from the existing Roku 3, the new Roku 2's remote includes a headphone jack and the device itself features dual-band Wi-Fi. All three models are available for pre-order now, and are expected to hit stores at the beginning of October. The entire range sports an updated look that is in keeping with the Roku 3.
Amazon turns its Fire on the enterprise
Earlier today we reported on Amazon's launch of three all-new Kindle Fires. Thanks to the introduction of improved enterprise and productivity features in Fire OS 3.0, Amazon hopes to make the latest Fire HD and HDX more attractive to BYOD and business users.
"Kindle Fire is already the second most popular tablet at work in the US," says Raghu Murthi, Vice President of Enterprise and Education at Amazon. "As employees increasingly bring their own devices to work, the new Kindle Fire tablets can be easily integrated into the workplace with the new enterprise features, including encryption, secure Wi-Fi, a native VPN client, integration with leading MDM solutions, and Kerberos support for Intranet access".
Twitter updates @MagicRecs recommendation system for mobile users
Twitter is in the process of rolling out a new notification system designed to help users find interesting people to follow. It is not an entirely new system -- the micro blogging site is basing the feature on its @MagicRecs account, which started off as an experiment earlier in the year, making "magic recommendations" about who Twitter users might like to follow.
@MagicRecs monitors the activity of the people you follow and people in your network and sends out direct messages letting you know when several people you are connected to follow a particular user. The thinking is that if two or more people are interested in following someone else, there's a high chance that you will be too. In a blog post, Senior Software Engineer, Venu Satulur explains how the recommendation system has been tweaked and updated.
Clarizen links with JIRA to streamline development
Work collaboration and project management specialist Clarizen has announced that it now provides connectivity to JIRA, Atlassian's bug and issue tracking software. The integration allows users to plan projects, portfolios, resources, budgets and more, while seamlessly integrating research and development activities from JIRA to Clarizen and vice versa.
"While Clarizen customers appreciate our native functionality, they are also looking for ways to seamlessly interact with their other mission-critical systems," says Guy Shani, chief strategy officer at Clarizen. "A core part of our business is to continually support the needs of our customers, so we listened to those who have standardized on JIRA in their R&D environment. Rather than managing bugs and issues in a silo, our new integration allows the data to sync with broader projects and cross-departmental teams using Clarizen. The bi-directional nature of the integration now closes the loop between project management and R&D, allowing teams to fully implement agile methodologies".
Amazon announces all-new Kindle Fires -- faster performance, better screens
It’s all about tablets this week as following on from Microsoft’s Surface reveal, Amazon today announces three new Kindle Fires -- the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD, and the Kindle Fire HDX, in 7 and 8.9-inch sizes. The new devices offer a slimmer design, better screens, faster hardware and an updated OS.
The $139 Kindle Fire HD has a high-definition display with 1280 by 800 resolution and 216ppi -- 66 percent more pixels than the previous generation Kindle Fire. It’s powered by a dual-core 1.5 GHz processor, and has dual stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus audio.
Google (arguably) improves YouTube commenting with censorship
I am a big fan of YouTube. I particularly enjoy videos by iJustine and Chris Pirillo. While the videos are great, the comments usually aren't. Quite frankly, YouTube comments are often vulgar, racist and upsetting -- an overall blemish on humanity in my opinion.
Today, Google announces that "starting this week, you’ll see the new YouTube comments powered by Google+ on your channel discussion tab. This update will come to comments on all videos later this year, as we bring you more ways to connect with familiar faces on YouTube."
Microsoft's Surface 2 lineup can win you over, but it won't
If we are to believe all the comments posted on the Interwebs by Microsoft fanboys, then the Surface lineup should have delivered two of the most popular tablets on the market and Apple and Android OEMs should have gone out of business by now. But, once reality sets in and we overlook the silly one-sided comments, people just don't care enough about Microsoft's slates -- the 4.5 percent Windows market share, from IDC's Q2 2013 report, coupled with the $0.9 billion write-off speak for themselves.
Now there's a second-generation Surface lineup which was unveiled yesterday, comprised of Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, that quietly wants to change people's perception about Windows-based slates and their preference towards Android tablets and iPads. On paper, the new Surfaces look great. Microsoft appears to have gotten the hint -- more power, more battery life, more versatile kickstand, more accessories. The new Surface lineup is simply "more" than its predecessor. Yet I don't think many people will notice that and rush to pre-order now or buy on sales day.
Google apologizes for yesterday's lengthy Gmail outage
The response to an apparent Gmail issue seems mixed here at BetaNews -- some claim to have experienced email delays, while others noticed nothing. But, regardless of how real or wide-spread the problem was, a problem did exist and Google would like to explain how it happened in an effort to retain trust in its email service.
"We’d like to start by apologizing -- we realize that our users rely on Gmail to be always available and always fast, and for several hours we didn’t deliver. We have analyzed what happened, and we’ll tell you about it", begins Sabrina Farmer, Senior Site Reliability Engineering Manager for Gmail.
Apple's iPhone 5s failure
If a prominent analyst's sales estimates are correct, Apple hit, at best, a single rather than homer launching iPhone 5s and 5c. Yesterday, the company announced first-weekend sales of 9 million, which compares to 5 million for iPhone 5 a year earlier. But today, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster tells Bloomberg:
"When I saw that 9-million number, I basically fell out of my chair. But you have to put that 9 million in context here". Apple's so-called sales includes "channel fill of the 5c". Based on that, the real number of total new iPhone sales was "closer to five-and-a-half million". I cannot overstate what the number really means for the launch.
Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements gain new mobile-friendly features
Adobe has released brand new versions of its consumer-level photo-editing and video-editing suites with the launch of Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 and Adobe Premiere Elements 12.
Version 12 of both suites add mobile-friendly features and a number of new editing tools, but critically remain standalone applications, allowing users to purchase them outright as opposed to signing up for an ongoing cloud subscription.
Apple updates iMac range with four new models
We're delighting in iOS 7 (mostly) and enjoying our new iPhones. Thanks Apple! As if this wasn’t enough, there are now new updated iMacs coming out from the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant. All told, there are four new models: two 21.5-inch and two 27-inch variants, with entry-level and high-end versions of each to choose from.
All four iMacs feature updated quad-core Intel Core i5 processors, and graphics and Wi-Fi have also been enhanced. With support for next generation 802.11ac, wireless performance is improved by up to three times. There's also support for faster PCIe-based flash storage, with a claimed speed boost of 50 percent. Graphics performance has been improved across the board with new chips from Intel and NVIDIA to be found throughout the range. No sign of Mavericks yet; the new iMacs are supplied with Mountain Lion.
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