Today Microsoft refreshes the look of Bing News, giving the site a modern makeover that’s more in keeping with the look of Windows 8 and Windows Phone. But the redesign is about more than bringing products in line with each other, the new layout is "built for touch" recognizing the ever-increasing popularity of touchscreen devices -- not just phones and tablets, but also the likes of the Surface Pro and Yoga.

The new look not only embraces touch, but also takes into account the fact that many people use different devices to access the internet -- switching between a phone, tablet and computer is far from uncommon these days. With this in mind, the site now better adapts to different screen sizes.

In its continuing effort to thwart the evil Google (except when partnered with it) Microsoft announces another improvement to its search engine alternative, this time in the form of video. Microsoft terms this update "completely reimagined", but users can be the judge of that.

"We know there is more than one great video service out there and that’s why we showcase the best the web has to offer. On Bing you can not only find great videos from YouTube, Hulu and Vimeo, but also content from Dailymotion, Vevo, MTV, CBS, MSN and more", says the Bing video search team.

Lenovo is making a lot of announcements at Berlin's IFA. After unveiling an impressive list of ultrabooks, the company went on to show that it has yet more to offer those in the market for a portable device. The S5000 is the latest tablet to be added to Lenovo's range, and size and weight are the interesting figures here. At 246g it is lighter than the Nexus 7 and at 7.9mm thick, it is also slimmer than Google's 7-inch baby.

Running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean on a quad-core 1.2GHz Media Tek 8389 processor, Lenovo claims the 7-inch tablet's 3450mAh battery will power eight hours of Wi-Fi browsing sessions or six hours of HD video watching on the 1280 by 800 screen. Storage can be expanded through the "On the Go" USB port and Wi-Fi-only and Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available when the tablet is released some time in Q4 2013.

HP today announces two new All-In-One PCs with -- as is the fashion these days -- different positioning options. Available in 23-inch and 27-inch sizes, the HP ENVY Recline TouchSmart PCs have apparently been designed to allow “for a more comfortable experience and greater control than ever before”.

The press release accompanying the announcement states, "an HP study revealed that while using touch screens, an overwhelming majority of people preferred their screen in a low and close position for 100 percent of touch-related tasks". Seriously? HP needed to conduct a study to discover that?

The wait is over! After thirty days and thirty ideas, Yahoo whips back the covers from its all-new logo. Despite the hype and build up, the final decision turns out to be something very safe and ordinary. Looking almost like something created using WordArt, the reverse-etched design looks like something that could be used on a gravestone. Were it not for the exclamation mark, that is -- that would just be strange.

The logo was revealed by Kathy Savitt, Chief Marketing Officer, on Yahoo's Tumblr blog where it is described as sticking to the company's roots. Savitt focuses on the words "whimsical" and "purple" as well as referring to the famous exclamation point -- ah, yes, the exclamation point that is a thorn in the side of any writer.

When Windows 95 was released there was a lot of fuss about the Start menu and debate about whether it would catch-on. It was a significant departure from icon shortcuts in program groups; or superficially at least. In reality, it was simply the program groups (folders) put in a hierarchical order and rather wisely, the option to place folders, icons and shortcuts on the desktop remained (to this day).

The Start menu developed; it grew out of the logic of the program shortcut and built upon that logic. It was not intended to abruptly impose a new paradigm but to slowly replace the shortcut as customers became comfortable with the concept. That journey never really ended, as the icon shortcut was not phased-out -- why would it be?

Apparently smartphones are not the only area of technology that is growing, rather than shrinking. Tablets, it appears, are moving in the same direction, at least if Panasonic has its way. Beginning on September 7 you can purchase a massive 20-inch Windows 8 tablet from the hardware maker.

"The Panasonic Toughpad 4K will enable photographers, architects, cinematographers and other creative professionals to experience the cutting edge of high resolution tablet technology", says Microsoft's Gavin Gear.

Earlier in the week, Lenovo announced some intriguing new products -- business-focused laptops and a game-changing display. For most companies, this would be enough excitement for a year, let alone a week. However, the computer maker seems to be focused on clobbering consumers over the head with great products -- hey, no complaints here!

A couple of weeks ago, I reviewed the Yoga 11s. While I loved the machine, I did mention its Ivy Bridge processor as a very slight negative in the current Haswell world in which we live. Fortunately Lenovo will start giving the machine options of Haswell up to Core i7. This is great news as an already great laptop only gets better.

Unsurprisingly, Jelly Bean continues to increase its dominance in the green droid distribution charts, with the latest sweet in the family running on more than 45 percent of all Android devices visiting Google Play during the seven days ending September 4.

In the latest distribution charts, the first two Jelly Bean iterations -- Android 4.1 (36.6 percent) and Android 4.2 (8.5 percent) -- have a combined share of 45.1 percent, a number that is 4.7 percentage points higher compared to the previous data set that was released in early-August. A month ago, Jelly Bean had a 40.5 percent distribution level (34 percent for Android 4.1 and 6.5 percent for Android 4.2).

Evernote Corporation has finally released Evernote 5.0 for Windows Desktop, adding a new look and features that have already appeared in the program’s Mac build.

The cloud-based note-taking tool opens with a brand new redesign, the first since its initial release on the Windows desktop platform. Evernote claims the new look -- a flatter, stripped back one -- makes it easier to both browse and create notes by removing distracting on-screen elements. The new look is also designed to work better across different Windows platforms.

The countdown to Windows 8.1 is officially on. Whoever thinks that Windows 8.1 is squarely a consumer-centric release is heavily mistaken. After spending a month with Windows 8.1 Pro on my Thinkpad X230 Tablet, I can definitively say that Windows 8.1 is shaping up as a rock-solid option for the enterprise. I've previously written about why businesses should have been considering Windows 8 for their next upgrade cycles. With 8.1, Microsoft's latest OS is a service pack on more than a few steroids.

By any measure, I've been a vocal, bullish early adopter of Windows 8. My day to day consulting work for customers doesn't allow me to stay stuck on previous generations of Windows. Even if I did prefer Windows 7, my mixed client base is moving to 8 whether I like it or not. I need to be prepared for the questions and troubleshooting that ensues, which means I need to be their resident Windows 8 expert.

In recent weeks we've seen social collaboration become the new black as far as business computing is concerned. Gartner has reported growing expectations from social technologies and new product releases from major players have focussed on this sector.

Washington DC-based HyperOffice was an early entrant into this field and its current offering is aimed at SMBs looking for a scalable solution that will grow with the business. As well as social collaboration HyperOffice includes online document and project management, shared calendars and contacts. It also lets you build an intranet, maintain wikis and forums and handle business email as well as offering traditional project planning tools like Gantt charts.

After Microsoft announced that it was acquiring substantially all of Nokia's devices & services business, the stock market painted a fairly accurate picture of what this deal means -- Nokia investors were relieved as the stock surged by nearly 35 percent, while Microsoft investors responded by driving the stock down by 5 percent. Based on my prior experience in technology M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions), I wanted to take a look at the motivations for the transaction and the viability of Microsoft's long-term consumer strategy.

Let's begin by taking a look at the deal terms. Microsoft will be paying Nokia €3.79 billion for its handset division (including 8,500 design patents) and another €1.65 billion in patent licensing. As a part of the deal, Microsoft will gain rights to the Lumia and Asha brands, but Nokia will retain the rights to the "Nokia" brand. However, Microsoft has licensed the "Nokia" brand, exclusively for use on low-end S30/40 feature phones.

A good friend of mine called Microsoft buying Nokia "two stones clinging together trying to stay afloat". I wouldn’t go that far but I don’t think the prognosis is very good. On the other hand, I’m not sure it has to be good for Microsoft to achieve its goals for the merger. Huh?

This is why you come here, right, for my lateral thinking? I don’t think Nokia has to succeed in order for Microsoft to consider the acquisition a success.

AVG has announced the public availability of its 2014 product range, including AVG AntiVirus FREE 2014, AVG AntiVirus 2014, AVG Internet Security 2014, AVG Premium Security 2014 and AVG PC TuneUp 2014.

All the security applications now include a File Shredder, which allows users to securely delete files or folders so that they can't be recovered at some later date.