Fourth in a series. Before I switched to using Bing full time my view of Microsoft’s search service was that it was a slightly less reliable alternative to Google, but with some smart touches. I’ve been using it for over a month now and -- spoiler alert -- I actually really like it. Although it’s far from perfect.

As a Brit I do have a gripe with Bing though, and that’s it presents me with two choices. I can set my country to UK and get results that relate more to my life, or I can set it to the United States and get an all-round better search experience. Seriously, what’s THAT all about, Bing?

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If you were expecting Nokia to unveil a mighty new smartphone today then you will certainly be disappointed. Two days after the company released a teaser which showcased bits of a new device, the Finnish maker simply unveiled another phone in its Asha series, dubbed Asha 210.

The highlights of the Asha 210 include a QWERTY keyboard, a 2 MP back-facing camera with a dedicated physical button, WhatsApp button, support for Facebook, Twitter and email accounts, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, as well as support for dual-SIM in one of its two variants.

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Typing on touchscreen devices is very different from using a conventional keyboard and the traditional layout doesn’t help much. Researchers at the University of St Andrews, the Max Planck Institute for Informatics and Montana Tech have come up with a new layout that claims to allow tablet users to thumb type 34 percent faster.

Named KALQ  after the order that the characters appear, it's been developed to provide optimal character positions when typing on a tablet. By spreading the characters used in commonly typed words such as "on", "see", "you" and "read" which on a QWERTY keyboard would all need to be typed with one thumb, KALQ speeds up typing and minimizes strain.

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Swype is one of the most appealing and competent third-party keyboards that you can get on Android today, touting more than 250 million users worldwide. The app practically made swipe input popular, a feature which has since been adopted by SwiftKey and even the green droid itself in the second Jelly Bean iteration.

And today, citing user demand, Nuance Communications -- the company behind the third-party keyboard -- brought Swype to Google Play. The app is available for practically any device running Android 2.2 Froyo and higher and comes in at 15 MB.

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If you are a T-Mobile customer waiting to receive the Samsung Galaxy S4 then we have some bad news for you. The US mobile operator has announced that the smartphone's availability is delayed until next week.

The Galaxy S4 was supposed to be available starting today, April 24, on T-Mobile's website. However, according to the carrier, due to "unexpected delay with inventory deliveries" the smartphone's official sales date is now pushed to next week. "Online availability is expected to begin on Monday, April 29", says T-Mobile.

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Ashampoo has announced the release of Photo Commander 11, its all-in-one tool for organizing, editing and sharing digital images.

New features this time start with the program’s automatic backups. Images are preserved as you work, and with a click you can restore a previous copy, or return to the original file.

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The BBC tends to favor iOS when it comes to mobile apps. The broadcaster isn’t ignoring Android, it just takes a while to roll out apps for Google’s mobile operating system, and often those apps, when they do arrive, aren’t as slick or don’t have all the features found in the iOS versions.

Case in point -- the Beeb debuted the iPlayer Radio app for iOS seven months ago, but it’s taken until now for the Android version to appear on Google Play (it will also be available on Amazon’s app store "very soon").

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My Why I love Windows 8 piece last week generated a lot of comments and a good balance of pro and anti opinion. Thanks for taking the time to air your views. I received one particular comment concerning choice and that got me thinking that it was a subject which deserved a closer look.

In the past Windows has imposed relatively few restrictions on its users. You want to launch a program? You can click the desktop icon, select it from the start menu, select an icon from the task bar, use a gadget or track down the folder where it's stored and run it from there. You can even call up a command line if you want. It's your choice. As is installing a third-party menu system or an Apple-style widget bar, the permutations are endless.

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If TV shows and Xbox are your things, today is your lucky day. Xbox Live has been busy adding content to its Gold offering in an effort to beef up its entertainment features and bring in the non-gaming audience by positioning the console as a living room entertainment hub.

Today, Xbox Live chief Larry Hryb announces that the latest outlet to come on board is the CW network. This is also a unique offering in that, unlike channels such as HBO and ESPN, the CW will not require customers to verify a paid TV service subscription from a cable or satellite provider. The new app will offer shows ranging from "full episodes to previews and interviews, and is unique in that it will offer next-day episodes free with your Xbox LIVE Gold subscription" according to Hryb.

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The fight to keep brick and mortar commerce subsidizing e-commerce is in a crucial stage today.

You never heard of that fight? It also goes under the guise of fighting "Internet sales taxes". A bill (the "Marketplace Fairness Act") is moving along in the Senate that requires merchants with $1 million or more in revenue to collect any sales taxes due in the state of the buyer.

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Audible, a leading choice in the audio book market and a company that was purchased by Amazon back in 2008, is now working with Microsoft to drum up new business for both entities with offers to both the PC and mobile platform. The Amazon subsidiary has long offered free book deals in a number of forms, including the many podcasts sponsored with its advertising.

Today Microsoft announces that customers of both Windows 8 and Windows Phone can grab a free audio book with no subscription or credit card required. "Audible has apps for Windows 8 and Windows Phone that let you download and listen to books on the go. With over 135,000 titles from classics to New York Times bestsellers, you can enjoy endless hours of entertainment" says Microsoft's Kristina Libby.

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Today's closing bell brings answer to a question oft-asked over the past two weeks: "Will Apple profits fall for the first time in about a decade?" Not since 2003, when the fruit-logo company recovered from economic woes that sapped global PC shipments everywhere, has profit receded. Now we know.

For fiscal Q2, Apple reported $43.6 billion revenue and net profits of $9.5 billion, or $10.06 a share. Gross margin: 37.5 percent. A year earlier, the company reported revenue of $39.2 billion and $11.6 billion net quarterly profit, or $12.30 per share.

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The measure of a platform's success is applications -- and, contrary to Apple marketing, not how many but which ones. Windows Phone 8 gets a lift today with the addition of Tumblr, natively developed rather than homegrown like Facebook.

I don't have Windows Phone to test the app, but based on information Microsoft provides, all the basics are there -- posting photos from the camera, for example. There is voice recognition for dictating posts and support for animated GIFs.

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If you live outside of the US and Canada, you might have been wondering when -- or indeed if -- Microsoft's flagship Surface Pro tablet was going to appear in your part of the world.

It’s been all quiet on the Surface front for a while. Microsoft announced back in February that it would be broadening the availability of the RT version of its tablet, introducing it into 13 more European countries, but since then we haven’t had any other real news. That’s all about to change though, as Microsoft has finally delivered an update regarding worldwide availability for its Windows 8 Pro powered device.

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Back in January, I was fortunate enough to get an invitation to test the alpha version of the new BitTorrent Sync app -- an opportunity that excited me, given that I had recently learned my beloved Live Mesh would go away, thanks to Microsoft's own version of "Spring Cleaning". This left me in the market for a replacement.

Now BitTorrent announces that private testing is done and, while the app is still alpha, the company is ready to unleash it on the public. "We’re really excited about opening up this Alpha. The feedback has been universally positive. Those in the closed Alpha have already synced more than 200TB since we started the program on January 24", says BiTorrent's Christian Averill.

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