App downloads set to hit 102 billion in 2013 -- mostly all free
If you own a smartphone it’s likely you download apps for it, and given the proliferation of mobile devices, it’s not surprising that the volume of app downloads is continuing to rocket.
According to Gartner, mobile app stores will see annual downloads reach 102 billion in 2013, up from 64 billion in 2012, with free apps accounting for a whopping 91 percent of the total downloads this year.
Apple's iPhone 5s and 5c go on sale today
Starting today, the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c are officially available to buy from Apple's online and brick and mortar stores in select markets. Depending on your location, the two smartphones can be purchased, directly from Apple, alongside a mobile operator contract -- you can expect heavily subsidized pricing -- and/or unlocked -- prepare for a hefty bill.
In the US, early adopters have to pay $199 for a 16 GB iPhone 5s, with a two-year contract ($649 unlocked). For those who have higher storage requirements, the 32 GB and 64 GB models are also available, for $100 and $200 more, respectively, on top of the aforementioned base prices.
Microsoft: Windows is superior to Android for government and education needs
A new white paper compares Android and Windows devices for use in the public sector and education. It looks at four areas it considers critical -- ease of use, security, productivity and lifecycle -- and finds Windows devices to be the "superior choice".
The paper says there are "significant challenges and issues with Android" and that Windows devices "offer better security and utility, enabling new usage models AND more productive users, while giving IT flexible deployment options to evolve the existing infrastructure and in some cases even produce savings as no new processes need to be developed". But since the white paper comes from Microsoft, those findings are unsurprising.
The secret of iOS 7
The Innovator’s Dilemma, a 1997 book by Harvard professor Clayton Christensen, made the point that successful companies can lose their way when they pay too much attention to legacy products and not enough attention to new stuff. They are making so much money they either don’t see a competitor rising up or are too complacent to feel threatened. In either case the incumbent generally loses and the upstart (usually one of many) generally wins. The best way for successful companies to avoid this problem is by inventing the future before their competitors do.
We see this pattern over and over in high tech. Remember Lotus? Remember Word Perfect? Remember Borland? And it’s not just in software. Remember IBM sticking too long with the 80286 processor? Remember the Osbourne Executive?
Google releases a refreshed Quickoffice for Android and iOS -- for free
When I bought the first-generation iPad in 2010, I intended to use it for taking notes in college classes. Unfortunately, the iPad didn't come with an office suite and Microsoft's was not available. And so, I was forced to try a bunch of alternatives. Ultimately, I found one that stood out among the rest -- Quickoffice. I found it to be complete and a pleasure to use.
While my iPad is long gone, Quickoffice has followed me to Android with great results. However, Google bought my beloved Quickoffice in June 2012 and I became very nervous. My concern was that the software development would cease under Google's leadership. I am happy to say that my concerns were for naught -- Google announces today that QuickOffice has been updated and is now free.
Google rolls out new menu, you can get it NOW
The Google homepage changes little, though minor tweaks here and there have been known to take place. The company, and its customers, largely prefer a sleek, clean look. Minor changes to properties contained in the top menu bar and the color of said bar have been the biggest changes we normally must learn to deal with.
Today, that status quo is upset by a major, at least in relative terms, design change to that tried and true interface. The menu bar across the top of the screen disappears and is replaced by a new pop-up menu.
New My Yahoo aims to make the internet personal again
Not content with its new logo, Yahoo is now pushing the personal homepage with the relaunch of My Yahoo. It's a blast from the past in many ways. The personalized portal is something that had virtually died off, but Yahoo is keen to dust it off, give it a polish and entice people back into using it.
If you’re the kind of person who likes to be able to access everything in one place, the resurrected My Yahoo just may well appeal. "Resurrected" might not be the right word. My Yahoo never really went away, it just faded into obscurity and everyone forgot about it. But now it's back with knobs on -- and quite a lot of purple.
Chrome 30 for iOS improves Google App integration
Just in time for iOS 7, Google has announced the release of Chrome 30 for iOS. Or for iOS 6-7, anyway -- the search giant has shifted its minimum requirements, so anyone still on iOS 5.x is now out of luck.
If you missed the release of Chrome 29 -- hardly surprising, as it only appeared last week -- then that extended searching with what Google called "intelligent pronoun understanding". And basically this gives your searches some context, so if you ask "Who directed Star Wars?", then "Where was he born?", you’ll get sensible answers in each case.
iTunes 11.1 rolls out iTunes Radio, Podcast Stations
Apple may have been focusing on its recent iOS 7 release, but the company has still found time to roll out a major update to iTunes with the release of iTunes 11.1. Despite the minor revision number, version 11.1 ships with a number of notable new features.
The headline new feature is iTunes Radio, which Apple has set up to compete with other streaming music services such as Last.fm and Pandora. Over 250 stations are available covering different genres, or users can create their own using a favorite artist or song as a starting point.
PowerArchiver 2013 improves performance, adds cloud support and encryption tools
It’s taken a little while, but ConeXware has finally released PowerArchiver 2013 (aka version 14). We’re not really surprised that it’s taken some time to get through beta, though: this is no cosmetic upgrade, rather it’s crammed with significant changes and major new features.
Extensive cloud support means you can upload, add files or download from services like Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure, Box.et, Dropbox, Google Drive and SkyDrive.
7 things I LOVE about iOS 7
Like my colleague Mark Wilson, I was excited about the launch of iOS 7 yesterday, but the update to the new mobile operating system took hours and hours to complete. Starting, failing, doing nothing… When the upgrade finally began -- for real -- it did so at a glacial pace. I have a 100Mbps connection, but the iOS 7 download was at dial-up speeds.
Eventually though, the install was complete, and after a few seconds of setting it up (choosing a PIN in case someone stole my iPad, etc.), I was good to go. By this time I’d read a lot of negative comments and was expecting the worst… but actually I really like iOS 7.
7 things I HATE about iOS 7
So… it's here. iOS 7 has lumbered its way onto hundreds of thousands of iPhone and iPads all over the world -- mine included. My iPad 2 may be slightly aging, but it still does the job for me. I've yet to find a compelling reason to upgrade to a more recent model, but the prospect of a major OS upgrade is always exciting.
I'd read great things about iOS 7 previously, but having never taken the step of jailbreaking my tablet, I had not been able to try it hands-on. The download from Apple's servers was going to be my first proper experience of the update.
Apple's iCloud now syncs bookmarks from Chrome and Firefox
Yesterday, Apple refreshed the iCloud web interface with a new look and feel, bringing it close to the new iOS 7 in terms of overall design. The company however hasn't stopped there as it also released an update for the iCloud Control Panel for Windows, that introduces support for Chrome and Firefox bookmarks sync.
Chrome and Firefox join Internet Explorer as the supported browsers in iCloud Control Panel for Windows. The new feature allows users of the cloud-based service to sync bookmarks from the Windows versions of the two aforementioned browsers with Safari, on iOS and OS X.
New cloud storage technology expands scalability and performance
San Francisco-based storage specialist Riverbed Technology has announced an expansion of its Whitewater cloud storage appliance family with the launch of new hardware and updates to its operating system. These provide greater capacity, faster speeds and more replication options.
The latest models have up to triple the cache of previous versions and can support up to 14.4 petabytes of logical data. Enhancements to the Whitewater Operating System (WWOS 3.0) include a 10 gigabit network interface and the ability to pair devices in order to replicate data to another location making it ideal for real-time backups and hot recovery sites and for integrating with public cloud services.
LICEcap records desktop activity in animated GIFs
When you need to show someone exactly what’s happening on your desktop -- to create a tutorial, say, or get help with some technical problem -- then it’s usually time to install a screen recorder. This will capture anything what you like and save it in a video, which you can then edit, maybe add a soundtrack, or otherwise fine tune to produce the best possible results.
What if you just want something simple, though? A lightweight, easy-to-use program to record a few seconds of activity, which you can then use anywhere, without having to worry about video support? Then you might prefer the free, cross-platform (Windows and OS X) LICEcap.
BetaNews, your source for breaking tech news, reviews, and in-depth reporting since 1998.
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. About Us - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy - Sitemap.