Latest Technology News

Kaspersky Labs has released Kaspersky PURE 3.0 Total Security, the latest edition of their extremely comprehensive security suite.

And although you might have thought the package already included just about every security option you could possibly want, the company has found several ways to improve the new build.

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Yesterday Microsoft, at long last, rolled out Internet Explorer version 10 for Windows 7 -- a browser that had been available to Windows 8 users since launch back on October 26, 2012. Today the software giant followed up with language packs for that new software release.

Each language pack comes as a separate download and is, of course, completely free. There are countless ones available from Afrikaans to Marathi and all the way through to isiZulu.

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Editor's Note: Muted in the noise from Mobile World Congress is an interesting drama between developer Presselite Studio and Facebook. Apparently, the social network, which bought Instagram in April 2012, is blocking Vintage Camera. The scuffle raises questions about Facebook clamping down on competing products, which, if true, should chill every developer. Apple favoring its stuff over partners' products is old news. Is this really where Mark Zuckerberg and company want to go? Perhaps it's all a misunderstanding. We asked Antoine Morcos, Presselite cofounder, to make his case. If screenshots can tell a story...

Facebook has decided to disable and block "Photo Sharing on Facebook" feature in Vintage Camera application available for iPhone and iPad. The reason for the app being denied of uploading photos, according to Facebook, is that it was receiving a "high amount of negative user feedback", which is not true...

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Plymouth, MI-based Stardock Software has released Stardock DeskScapes 8.0, a brand new version of its Windows desktop and screensaver animation tool. Version 8.0, which costs $9.99 after the intial 30-day trial expires, adds full Windows 8 compatibility to the tool’s roster, plus debuts a brand new user interface that’s designed to be easier to use.

DeskScapes 8.0 allows users to customize existing desktop wallpapers with animations and over 40 special effects. Users can also apply, and create, specially animated desktops created using Stardock’s own proprietary Dream format. A number of examples are provided with the program, but dozens more are available to download via wincustomize.com. Stardock, which specialises in desktop customisation tools, is celebrating its 20th year.

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How could I resist something like this? A bug in Amazon Kindle for iOS 3.6.1 de-registers the iPad or iPhone, deleting all content and settings from the device. Because of the iTunes Store review process, Amazon resorts to posting a warning that existing customers shouldn't install the app. What's wrong with this picture? That's my question for you, oh faithful, snarky commenters (surely you have words for me, too -- ouch).

Amazon's app note: "There is a known issue with this update. If you are an existing Kindle for iOS user, we recommend you do not install this update at this time". That was hours and days ago. Today, Amazon bumped up the app to v3.6.2, which supposedly resolves the problem. I don't have an iOS device, so would you mind checking for us all please -- lab rat in the Kindle Store.

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Today Microsoft reminded rank-and-file customers that the productivity suite cloud isn't just an option for consumers. New Office 365 SKUs are now available, bringing the focus back to businesses. Kurt Delbene made the announcement, claiming that "Microsoft’s most complete Office cloud service to date has new features and offerings tailored to the needs and budgets of small, medium-size and large organizations".

The updates start with Office 365 ProPlus. This is surprisingly similar to the new home version. It includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access, though adds InfoPath, which is an app designed for creating, distributing, filling and submitting electronic forms, and Lync. Like its consumer brethren, ProPlus can be used on up to five devices. However, Delbene points out that "IT departments also get the controls they need, including the ability to run Office 365 ProPlus side-by-side with other versions of Office and tools to streamline and manage updates for their users". This will be available as a standalone offering for $144 per user for an annual subscription.

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IBM has come up with a new way to present its social content, and engage with customers. IBM Voices is a real-time data service that showcases live social feeds from across the company.

It aggregates blogs, tweets, videos and photos, and presents them on a single page, along with a search box, a word cloud showing trending topics, and the ability to connect with the company via LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and IBM Communities.

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Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia has launched a new app called NFC Writer, for Lumia devices running Microsoft's new mobile operating system. The app is designed to take advantage of the built-in NFC (Near Field Communication) chip by automating various tasks through the use of tags.

Nokia yet again leaves other Windows Phone 8 devices -- such as my HTC Windows Phone 8X -- outside of the playing field as the Nokia NFC Writer comes as part of its exclusive Nokia Collection suite. The app is available for the Lumia 620, Lumia 720, Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 and nothing else. Which is a shame because there are some pretty nifty little features.

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Google has created a new sports game for Chrome, which lets you challenge up to four friends at running, swimming and cycling.

What makes Chrome Super Sync Sports so special is while the game is displayed on your computer screen, the characters are controlled using smartphones or tablets.

To play it you need to have Chrome installed on your computer, and on any Android or iOS devices you want to use as controllers.

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Team Win Recovery Project, the group of developers behind the popular custom Android distribution TWRP, is at it again with a new version. The latest iteration sports a significant number of changes, bug fixes and improvements over the previous release.

TWRP 2.4.2.0 adds a screen timeout feature which will automatically turn off the display after 60 seconds of inactivity, in order to save precious battery life and prevent screen burn-in, the latter feature designed "especially" for AMOLED panels. The popular custom recovery also introduces a brightness setting, a feature available for specific setups and with support only for "some devices".

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If you have an Android phone, check your apps -- you’ll likely have a new one lurking there. The green Google Settings app, added today, gives users quick access to various settings for services such as Google+, Apps with Google+ Sign-in, Maps & Latitude, Location, Search, and Ads. The options you see will depend on your device and what’s enabled.

The biggest, most noteworthy feature here is of course Google+ Sign-in which lets you to use your Google ID as a universal sign-in for third-party apps and services. My colleague Joe Wilcox discussed the possibilities of this following Google’s announcement of its new authentication system yesterday.

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Dell has rolled out a new, more secure iteration of the 10-inch, business-oriented Windows 8 tablet it originally launched five months ago.

The Latitude 10 in stock trim, retails from $449 as an "essentials" model, but the American computer manufacturer has government agencies, financial institutions and healthcare organizations in its sights with the more expensive Enhanced Security model, which is available for $779, a not so insignificant difference.

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Adobe’s Photoshop Touch app for tablets is a great photo editing tool and now it’s available for handsets running iOS and Android, so you can polish up your snaps before sharing them online, or do something even more creative.

The app is packed with powerful features such as layers, selection tools, adjustments and filters, and there’s even a clever Camera Fill function which will let you use your device’s camera to fill an area on a layer. The app can handle images up to 12 megapixels in size and you get 2GB of free Adobe Creative Cloud space to store your pictures in.

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If you’d like to edit an audio file then there’s plenty of free tools around to help, however most of them are prone to altering your files in unexpected ways. To test this yourself, just open any file, save it with a different name, and compare that file with the original. Even though you’ve not performed any operations on the second file at all, you’ll still often find there are differences, and inevitably that’s going to mean some compromise in sound quality.

WaveShop takes an alternative approach. The program is specifically designed to be bit-perfect, only altering your audio when it’s absolutely necessary. So if you open a file and then save it immediately, there will be no changes. And if you carry out some editing task on one area of the file -- fade it out at the end, say -- everything else remains exactly as it was.

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My colleague Mihaita Bamburic posted his first impressions on the preview version of Ubuntu Touch yesterday, and now Canonical has announced its intention to bring the early version of the mobile operating system to a further 20+ devices.

Originally only available to install on the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 7, and Nexus 10, the developer preview gives installers an early start with Ubuntu Touch, but it’s currently a taster, more than an actual, fully usable operating system.

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