Jolidrive brings your personal cloud to iOS
With all of the cloud and social apps these days, our content becomes increasingly spread across vast reaches of the Internet. It is a modern-day problem that is less easy to solve than you may believe and accomplishing the feat has generated its own mini-industry within the tech world.
One service aiming to unify our vast web of data is Jolicloud, which uses its Jolidrive app to bring this sprawling mess together in a central location for customers to access. Now the service releases its iOS app, which is built for both iPhone and iPad and brings together much of your cloud-based life.
Aging desktop search tool Everything now receives major update
Five years have passed since the search tool Everything first appeared, and the program's amazing speed gets it fans ever since. It's easy to see why, too -- there's no fuss, no complexity, just enter part of a file or folder name and results appear just as quickly as you can type.
What is a little more surprising, though, is that the program's last stable release was back in March 2009. But there's no need to worry, Everything isn't dead, just "resting", and a series of betas released this year show that the developer is determined to make up for lost time.
Edward Snowden is a patriot
It's big news and rightly so. Whistleblower Edward Snowden is now the US government's number one enemy. He is called both a traitor and patriot by the public, press, and government officials. His story sparked a debate over where America's best interests lie, whether in freedom or in safety.
The Justice Department is gathering all the information it needs to press a criminal case against Snowden, who has leaked secret documents on the NSA's expansive surveillance programs. From Snowden's leaks, it appears that the agency is increasingly focused on regular American citizens rather than terrorists and suspected criminals.
Mega gets official Android app, iOS and Windows clients to follow
Cloud storage locker Mega has turned a blind eye to the ever increasing popularity of mobile devices, offering no official app for Android or iOS (let alone BlackBerry or Windows Phone) to complement its security-oriented service. Now, though, Mega looks to finally fix the oversight.
The cloud storage locker just introduced its first mobile app called Mega which, at least at the moment, is only available for Android devices. The offering, according to the changelog, was "acquired by MEGA and is now being maintainted [sic] by MEGA contractors". Let's take a look at the features.
Doug Engelbart, visionary
To most people who recognize his name Doug Engelbart was the inventor of the computer mouse but he was much, much more than that. In addition to the mouse and the accompanying chord keyboard, Doug invented computer time sharing, network computing, graphical computing, the graphical user interface and (with apologies to Ted Nelson) hypertext links. And he invented all these things -- if by inventing we mean envisioning how they would work and work together to create the computing environments we know today -- while driving to work one day in 1950.
Doug had a vision of modern computing back in the day when many computers were still mechanical and user interfaces did not even exist. He saw in a flash not only the way we do things today but also the long list of tasks that had to be completed to get from there to here. Now that's vision.
Microsoft opens up Xbox 360 update beta
Xbox One may be unveiled and on tap for release later this year, but that does not mean its aging predecessor is dead. Microsoft today announces the beta rollout of the upcoming Xbox 360 update, something that usually reaches RTM (Release To Manufacturing) status in the fall of each year.
"We're inviting Xbox Live members worldwide to participate in the 2013 Xbox Live Update for Xbox 360 Public Beta", says Xbox Live chief Larry Hryb (also known as Major Nelson). "It will include updates to improve overall performance and the ability to conduct transactions with local currency, as Microsoft Points will be retired later this year".
S-commerce -- Matching service buyers and sellers in a blur
The use of e-commerce sites has radically changed the way consumers buy day-to-day items. Now the blur Group is hoping to do the same for business services with an addition to its successful global services exchange.
The blur Group site provides an exchange which allows enterprises to list project requirements for services like design, content creation, legal and accounting services, experts can then pitch for the work. This type of social commerce (s-commerce) platform is proving increasingly popular as it allows SMEs to compete on a level playing field with larger businesses when looking for services. The launch of blurSense, an intelligent matching system which uses a clever algorithm to match pitches with projects, should allow businesses to further streamline the way they buy services.
8StartButton 2.0 gets radical revamp, adds support for Windows 8.1 Preview
TotalIdea Software has released 8StartButton 2.0, a major new version of its Start menu replacement tool for Windows 8. The latest variant, which adds full support for Windows 8.1 Preview, comes with new features and a revamped look.
In Windows 8.1, the tool can integrate itself into the new Start button rather than use its own custom design. Paid-for users can now also customize the background color of the button when choosing a custom design.
SMEs have the edge in rush to digital business models
According to a panel of technology experts brought together by hosting company UK Fast, smaller companies are leading the way when it comes to embracing digital business models.
The panel highlighted innovation as one of the key factors, using digital technology to drive change within the company. UK Fast CEO Lawrence Jones says, "Large businesses have a much different process to go through than SMEs. If small businesses don't innovate digitally and don't try harder, they don't survive. So I think we've seen a lot more digital transformation in smaller companies".
Thoroughly remove programs -- even in Windows 8 -- with Revo Uninstaller Free 1.95
One of the biggest causes of detritus on Windows computers are the files and Registry entries left behind by programs when they are uninstalled. Sure, you can employ the services of cleaning utilities like CCleaner, but the fact you are scanning for "remains" from programs removed weeks or even months ago makes it hard to spot which bits are safe to remove and which ones are not (that can cause problems further down the line).
Far better, then, to remove these leftover elements with a dedicated program, which is where an uninstaller like Revo Uninstaller 1.95 Free and Portable comes in.
Vine for iPhone gets new major features, Android users will have to wait
Vine, the popular Twitter-owned video-sharing service, just released an update for its iPhone app, which is designed to increase user engagement and provide beefed up sharing options.
"This is our biggest, most exciting update yet -- and we've got even more coming soon", says Vine cofounder and CTO Colin Kroll. The iPhone app now offers access to 15 channels, including Arts & Experimental, Cats, Comedy, Dogs, Family and others, which users can browse and post to straight from Explore. Each channel comes with a custom theme and Popular feed.
Vet social networking app privacy settings with MyPermissions Cleaner
With privacy higher than ever on the news agenda, it is not surprising people are starting to wake up to the fact they have happily allowed all kinds of personal information about themselves to appear online. It might be too late to stem the tide, but if you are thinking about reviewing your personal privacy, one place to start might be with the apps added to various social networks.
If this idea appeals, then desktop users should install one of MyPermissions Cleaner for Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari, while iPhone and Android users can go with Online Privacy Shield -- once done, you are ready to start taking action to tighten privacy settings.
Bing Audio reaches 'more', but not all Windows Phone 8 users
"Many features, most of which are available everywhere" is the tagline Microsoft should use for Windows Phone 8. Why? Well, because the complete functionality provided by the tiled smartphone operating system is not offered or fully working in all markets. For instance, until two months ago the complete photo and video backup feature was available in just a limited number of regions and, only yesterday, did the software giant expand Bing Audio support to a larger number of countries.
"Bing Audio is one of those Windows Phone features that, once you know it's there, you find yourself using all the time", says Microsoft's Michael Stroh. It allows users to identify tunes, similar to Shazam and SoundHound. "The good news is that now more of you will have a chance to try it", adds Stroh. "More" but not all.
IBM bets the server farm on flash
You may have seen the news that IBM has decided all enterprise Tier 1 storage should be flash-based and is putting in place plans to make the transition as fast as possible. Big Blue will be investing $1 million to integrate flash into all of its servers and storage systems and is introducing its own flash-only appliance.
Why the sudden move? Data centers increasingly demand the ability to process information more quickly, but traditional hard drives have only shown a small increase in speed over the last few years. IBM claims that flash solutions can speed up processing by around 90 percent for banking and trading applications. Other benefits include lower energy consumption, less maintenance and a smaller footprint.
Skype 6.6 for Windows and Mac offers video messaging tweaks, squashes bugs
Microsoft has released Skype 6.6 for Windows and Mac, which introduces minor updates to the company's popular chat service that "focus on quality by addressing user feedback and improving ease of use".
Version 6.6 concentrates on adopting consistent entry points for sending video messages across all platforms, plus implementing a number of platform-specific fixes.
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